How many m3 (natural gas) do you use per month?

[don242]

I think temp wise, we've been about the same, give or take a few degrees here and there. The windows made and still make a big difference for us. They are top of the line windows that we got a great deal on at the time. We were on a gas contract the yr before the new windows and the yr of so price was the same. The Enbridge weather calculation was that the yr with the new windows was actually 5% colder yet we used 25% less gas. I will say that we purposefully bought the south side for solar gain in the winter as we face east/west. I get full sun more than half way through the house at any given time of the day through the winter months. My kitchen is at the back of the house with an east exposure and my living room is at the front with a west exposure... Now the kicker, we still have the original builders furnace in the house that is 22 yrs old! We certainly can't justify putting a new furnace in at this point until we absolutely have to as we seriously doubt we'll see any real cost savings.

A south facing is definitely nice in the winter. It is amazing how much difference the sun makes (of course the sun has to actually come out once and awhile). For us the south side is pretty much shaded by the neighbours. We get the west side sun in the windows which always warms the place up. We did put the UV film on the windows though this past summer (to protect the new furniture) and I find it blocks some of the heat. Good in the summer but not so nice in the winter.

Temperature in Niagara Falls is about 3C warmer than here on average. That works out to 40-50m3 for us so you are still doing great, especially with an old furnace. Is it high efficiency? Would be hard to justify the expense in your case. I guess at some point you will have to get a new one. It would be interesting to see if there is much difference. We had a mid efficiency at our other house (1100sqft, attached end unit, north side) and used about 3.07m3 per day. This house has a high efficiency (1650sqft, detatched) and we use 3.11m3 per day (year average). So many variables so really difficult to attribute it all to the furnace only.

[chen0289]

2050 single house a year old, unfinished basement, 9ft ceiling, temp set to 73 24hrs/day(ppl always home), natural gas water tank.

Nov - 350m3
Dec - 375 m3
Jan - 962m3

we have done nothing differently, the weather was a little colder in jan then Nov/Dec, but wow almost 3x the amount we used?!? Whats the best way to find out if theres any leaks in the house? thermal imaging?

[chen0289]

anyone?

[don242]

anyone?

It is a big jump from Nov to Dec but that is common. I suspect most people will be almost double. Your jump may be on the high side.

For best way to find out why, I guess an energy audit. Thermal imaging also seems to be a good tool. Never done it myself so I can't really comment, though I wouldn't mind seeing it in a couple of rooms in our house. See it on tv and seems to show cold spots well. What you can do about them is always the tricky part.

[Keigotw]

2050 single house a year old, unfinished basement, 9ft ceiling, temp set to 73 24hrs/day(ppl always home), natural gas water tank.

Nov - 350m3
Dec - 375 m3
Jan - 962m3

we have done nothing differently, the weather was a little colder in jan then Nov/Dec, but wow almost 3x the amount we used?!? Whats the best way to find out if theres any leaks in the house? thermal imaging?

Also go outside by the meter and see if you smell gas, (leaking gas)

[chen0289]

Also go outside by the meter and see if you smell gas, (leaking gas)

can't smell anything... booked a thermal test scan date next week... we will see

[don242]

can't smell anything... booked a thermal test scan date next week... we will see

Let us know how it turns out and the cost. I am curious what you see and what suggestions they provide for fixing.

[fieldhousehandyman]

Figures rounded to nearest 10 m3

Aug- 30
Sep- 40
Oct- 150
Nov- 320
Dec- 460
Jan- 650

125 yo, 3000sf double brick victorian, two and a half story, Lennox g61v 90k btu furnace @95% eff. 50 gallon pv water heater. family of four

[BinaryJay]

I too sometimes hope that something is wrong with the meter but unfortunately, it just costs a lot of money to heat houses in the winter in Ontario. :P I think it's easier to swallow somewhat if you don't do the stupid equal billing and just cough up what you use month to month... it's like ripping off a bandage. In general at least you know you are only going to have 2 or 3 of the high bills and the rest of the year will be smooth sailing.

You of course are better off in a townhouse than a detached as you have less exterior walls and usually a much smaller roof footprint as townhouses tend to be skinny tall things.

Good thing natural gas is cheap right now, if it goes back to historical highs it's gonna hurt big time.

[fergy]

2050 single house a year old, unfinished basement, 9ft ceiling, temp set to 73 24hrs/day(ppl always home), natural gas water tank.

Nov - 350m3
Dec - 375 m3
Jan - 962m3

we have done nothing differently, the weather was a little colder in jan then Nov/Dec, but wow almost 3x the amount we used?!? Whats the best way to find out if theres any leaks in the house? thermal imaging?

Some of your bills are probably estimates and others actual readings. That alone can skew your numbers.

[ofdoom]

98 year old 2000 sq ft 2.5 story, with 650 sq ft heated basement in Winnipeg. We added quite a bit of new insulation at the end of November so usage is lower in December than November even though the temperature was a bit lower. The heating system is a gas boiler 83% efficiency, we don't use gas for anything else.

Jan 850 daily: 24.3 Avg temp: -10.8
Dec 596 daily: 20.5 Avg temp: -7.1
Nov 649 daily: 19.6 Avg temp: -4.2
Oct 282 daily: 10.1 Avg temp: 5.8
Sep 78 daily: 2.8 Avg temp: 13.6

We just went through the ecoEnergy program so we had an energy audit done which ranks the house at 53 out of 100 up from 17 before the upgrades.