In article .com,
"lavendula" wrote:
Moved into this new house, manufactured home, 2400 square feet and
really nice, but I'm crying now. In November, I paid $305 for gas and
electric. This is Minnesota, but not as cold as you might imagine.
Paying .07 per Kwh and .876 per therm for gas. Can someone give me some
comparisons? Hopefully not Florida! Thanks.
I am also in Minnesota, in a 2100 square foot townhouse built
in 1998. End unit with a north-west exposure. Forced air gas
heat. I keep the temp set at 71 degrees year around, with the
A/C running from March to November, and the furnace fan running
all the time. I like it comfortable.
Gas = Center Point Energy, billing date 12/20/2006.
29 day reading, 47 therms at $1.046 per therm, plus a bunch
of fees, for a total of $56.97.
Electric = Dakota Electric Association, billing date
of 12/13/2006. 34 day reading, 801 kWh at 0.0725 plus fees
and taxes for a total of $73.91.
So, you are getting better rates on power and gas than I am.
Your usage must be out of whack. You didn't break down the
electric vrs gas, so I cannot tell where the issue is.
You say you have a new manufactured home. If this is a factory
built house that looks like a traditional house and sits on
a foundation, then I would say something is faulty. These
types of homes are normally insulated very well. If you mean
a trailer house, then that is your problem. Trailer houses
sit a few feet off of the ground. Cold air circulates under
them. They are grossly hard to heat as a result. Some people
pile up dirt or put layers of hay bales around these homes.
That helps, but it is ugly and expensive. The best bet is
to take this as a lesson, and start saving money to dig a
foundation. Putting it on a basement will help.
From there, you want to call your utility company and have
them come out and do an energy audit. They can put meters
on various appliances to see if something is drawing excessive
power. I would suspect your water heater of being a cheapie.
Maybe going with an electric storage unit would help. You
might have also been stuck with a 80% furnace if you didn't
go for the upgrade. 92% units are common today, and 96% to
98% units are available (but generally cost so much more that
the extra efficiency will take a long time to pay for, if
ever).
A last point to consider is if you have an attached garage.
Many folks go from the garage into the house, which acts like
an airlock to keep the cold air out when you open the door.
If you built without a garage, you likely open the entry door
to the outside each time, letting in lots of cold air. That
can really add up.
-john-
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John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
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