Budget Buster...gas bill!!

[cjnix29]

Oh my gosh!! We moved into a new house over Thanksgiving. Got my first gas bill for it. Almost $300!! Never in my entire life have I had a bill this high! I have lived in houses much older than this one, one even larger! It's about double our largerst bill in our last house. Yikes!!!! So much for the pay increase my DH got to take this new job! I even have my heat on 66! How much does a new furnace cost?! This one is about 17 years old. Wonder if it will be worth it to buy a new one.

 

[WizardLarz]

Have someone come out and run a check of your current system, including checking the ducts and everything.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

That is nothing. We had gas (propane) bills of $700 or $800 per month in the colder months. We ended up buying an outdoor wood furnace, but we live in a very rural area so we don't have any close neighbors to complain about the smoke. We haven't even bought any propane in over a year so it wiped out our bills all together!

 

[sydneysmom]

that TOTALLY stinks !!

You know, you might want to call your gas company (or electric company). Alot of these companies will come out to your home, at no charge, and do an energy assessment for you. they'll show you where you have leaks, where you need insulation, show you how to wrap the pipes and water tank, etc. It's WONDERFUL. We had our electric company come out and I learned alot. And we followed all of their tips and it dropped both our electric ( air conditioning) and gas (heat). it's worth looking into.

 

[SOnotLayuh]

that TOTALLY stinks !!

You know, you might want to call your gas company (or electric company). Alot of these companies will come out to your home, at no charge, and do an energy assessment for you. they'll show you where you have leaks, where you need insulation, show you how to wrap the pipes and water tank, etc. It's WONDERFUL. We had our electric company come out and I learned alot. And we followed all of their tips and it dropped both our electric ( air conditioning) and gas (heat). it's worth looking into.

I'm going to have to check this out!

We have a 4 bedroom house that was built in the mid80s (I think). We keep our heat on 60 during the day at 55 at night... and we still ended up paying around 190 this past month

 

[Disneybuckeye]

We have a big (7000 sq ft) old house (112 years) and a furnace that is less than 10 years old. I keep it at 68 and bills of over $700 are not uncommon if that makes you feel better. We even have replaced most of our windows with high efficient Pella windows at about $900 a pop as most are 3' by 6'. I would look into the energy company program if your area has one. Some houses are just more expensive to heat. On the flip side, with 11' ceilings our house is much easier to cool in the summer.

 

[mjkacmom]

I pay $400 a month on the budget plan (12 months) for my 1800 square foot 100 year old home (but that includes electric).

 

[WizardLarz]

Yes see if your utilites offer a Buget Billing plan! They'll adjust the amount you pay once or twice a year based on the past years usage. My mother loves it!

 

[Tsbrea7]

I agree with the Budget Plan, we are signed up for it and it is about $81 a month in Michigan (not including electric), they average your gas use over the year and that is the amount they charge per month, if you are over or under for the year you either get refunded or charged the difference. I am not sure how they work it for new customers but it would be worth checking out for sure!