December's energy bill!

[MickinMD ★]

Another pleasant surprised in my rebuilt house, with no drafts, windows with argon gas between the double-pane windows, 92% efficiency furnace, etc.

I'm on track to save at least $1000/year over previous years, despite higher prices for gas and electricity.

My January BGE bill for December's gas and electric Usage:

2018: $299.16, avg. Dec. temp: 39.7 °F

2019: $366.05, avg. Dec. temp: 39.9 °F

2021: $166.24, avg. Dec. temp: 45.5 °F

A warmer December than normal, but I'd still have been under $200 if it was normal!

January should tell the tale of how well my house's new insulation and furnace are doing: the avg. January temperature is 34.3 °F

The PVC pipe with the elbow pointing down is the exhaust pipe for my furnace.  The chimney can't be used because so much heat is extracted by the furnace for heating the house that the exhaust is barely warm and the water vapor created by burning natural gas would condense in the chimney and drip back into the furnace.

You can see a small, dark indentation under the pipe: that's from water dripping out of it.  The exhaust itself will warm your hands but that's about it.  Directed down at the snow, it has only melted about 1" of a 9" oval in the snow after several hours.

[Dirtyhip]

13 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

Another pleasant surprised in my rebuilt house, with no drafts, windows with argon gas between the double-pane windows, 92% efficiency furnace, etc.

I'm on track to save at least $1000/year over previous years, despite higher prices for gas and electricity.

My January BGE bill for December's gas and electric Usage:

2018: $299.16, avg. Dec. temp: 39.7 °F

2019: $366.05, avg. Dec. temp: 39.9 °F

2021: $166.24, avg. Dec. temp: 45.5 °F

A warmer December than normal, but I'd still have been under $200 if it was normal!

January should tell the tale of how well my house's new insulation and furnace are doing: the avg. January temperature is 34.3 °F

The PVC pipe with the elbow pointing down is the exhaust pipe for my furnace.  The chimney can't be used because so much heat is extracted by the furnace for heating the house that the exhaust is barely warm and the water vapor created by burning natural gas would condense in the chimney and drip back into the furnace.

You can see a small, dark indentation under the pipe: that's from water dripping out of it.  The exhaust itself will warm your hands but that's about it.  Directed down at the snow, it has only melted about 1" of a 9" oval in the snow after several hours.

Mine is a little cheaper, but not by much,  Our last home was smaller.  Also, we tend to heat our new home more.  The last home has cadet heaters in the back of the home that we rarely turned on.  It was cold back there and cold in our master bath.  The home was much colder.  We keep the new one comfortable.

We don't have a water or sewer bill.  We paid heavily for that already.  

[bikeman564™]

@MickinMD that's quite a savings.  You're analytical like me, and I understand the dollar amount is what it boils down to and fluctuates, but do you compare usage e.g. kWh & CFM?

[Razors Edge ★]

22 hours ago, MickinMD said:

My January BGE bill for December's gas and electric Usage:

Maybe you need to track the energy amounts, not the cost of the energy?  Seems, especially if there are swings in pricing over the months, that the real question is whether the home has become more efficient (using less power/energy) rather than costs are lower/higher.  Like a car with MPG vs fueling costs.