NStar Home Energy Report

[notnatalie.livejournal.com]

Does anyone else get those NStar Gas monthly Home Energy Reports? Mine started in July, and I think the letter suggested I was maybe somewhat randomly chosen, although I don't quite recall now. I absolutely applaud NStar's efforts to help people realize their energy usage and suggest efficiency tips, but I wonder how meaningful the reports are.

If you don't get the report, it compares your "gas heat" usage(what about my gas stove?) and charts it against "approx. 100 occupied apartments or condos that have gas heat and are an average of 0.06 miles away" - I live in a 2-unit house and there are multi-unit condo buildings all around me. But I'm struck by some of the figures, which suggest that while I'm no energy hog (I get a GOOD rating, with one smiley face) I was using twice as much heat over the last winter as my most efficient neighbors. Seeing as I live alone, never set the thermostat above 67 at MOST (when my heat-loving sister visits) and had a caulking/foam wrapping/insulating party when I moved in 2 years ago, I just find that hard to believe.
Could it be that my steam radiators are being compared to new condo buildings heating system, and whatever that is is more efficient than steam?

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had the same kind of results, and I have baseboard heating, and I generally keep the thermostat set no higher than 62, when I turn it on at all. The heat rarely even kicks in when it's on--my house stays fairly constant, temperature-wise. But then, my landlord has an illegal 3rd floor studio in this building that he rents out, which is metered off of my apartment. Fortunately, the landlord pays 40% of my heat and electric bills every month, which is pretty fair considering the tiny size of that apartment.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

I get these too, and had similar thoughts. I also wonder if they're controlling for unit size - much easier to heat a tiny studio than a big condo.

[notnatalie.livejournal.com]

Yes I guess that's my question. Is there any other categorization, or simply spitting out the results of the surrounding units, regardless of size. I live in a small one-bedroom flat. That's what surprises me - I am probably a smaller-than-average unit size.
I just realized as well that I have a washer and dryer in my basement, while it may be that, with a laundromat a block away, these other units may not. Also, is hot water included? Cooking? Or is it really just heat?

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

efficiency of your furnace and your insulation are the biggest factors involved. Size of space and # of windows,etc will also play a part. But, furnaces last sometimes 20-30 years, and the olders ones are horribly less efficient.

[junesrose.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine that they are able to separate heat from gas stove usage, washer/dryer, etc, unless you have a separate heating source or furnace for each appliance. Gas is gas, and if it's being pumped into the house, whatever is used is used. At least that's what I'm thinking, but I'm no energy guru.

I'm actually in the process of replacing a 100+ yr old furnace with two separate heating systems for the two apartments we have in my mom's house. I can't wait till next winter to compare the costs before and after.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

this. "gas heat" is what your stove uses (in reference to the OP, obviously) - i don't think they are using it as a specific term to refer to just heat. either way, gas stoves use next to nothing anyway. when i lived with four other people on two separate occasions in which that was the only gas thing we owned (heat/hot water was included and/or electric) the biggest bill i ever saw was something like $12.

[nathanjw]

Compare your winter gas usage to summer gas usage - cooking gas and domestic hot water are pretty small. It's pretty fair to assume that 90% of winter gas usage is heat.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

When you say you had an insulation party, what about the actual walls? If the walls aren't insulated inside, that makes a big difference. And there's only so much you can do around windows that just suck.

[notnatalie.livejournal.com]

yes, walls were already well insulated. And I insulated my living room floor, which was over the garage (and got big rebate for doing so). Huge difference in comfort in that room the second winter.

[red-liner.livejournal.com]

Sounds like this is what you got picked for:

http://www.nstaronline.com/ss3/nstar_news/press_releases/2010/opower.asp

[withinmywill.livejournal.com]

Well, all I can say is that I definitely know people in the area who do not turn their heat on at all to save money, so they could definitely be throwing off your numbers.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

I've sort of done this in that at times when I've been living alone I'd leave the thermostat set at 55 or so. The fact that I lived above someone meant that I mostly didn't heat my place.

On the other hand people are starting to build houses that don't need furnaces/heaters just by insulating them sufficiently (you and your appliances radiate a fair amount of heat and can more than cover the losses of a very well insulated house). Sadly these aren't yet popular in the US.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I haven't turned on the gas to my boiler for the winter yet. Even when the thermostat is off, the boiler keeps its water at about 120 degrees. So it would use at least $30 of gas per month for this, even in the summer.

When the thermostat is on, the water is heated to 180 degrees.

At some point, I'd like to upgrade the boiler's controller so I can set the baseline water temperature around 80. Can anyone recommend a contractor who does that kind of work?

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

The one tool that can really improve heating efficiency is a programmable thermostat. Heat can cut down at night while you are sleeping and during the day when you are away from home (or most other patterns) -- and have the place toasty when you arrive home/get up. You don't have to remember anything and you can adjust if it's too hot/cold at the moment.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Seconded. My apartment is at 60 for about 2/3rds of the hours of the week, but it's never below 66 when I'm in it. Also, it's on the third floor, which means that often times the heat doesn't come on anyway (I think my downstairs neighbors keep their place much warmer than I do). Given that top floor dwellers benefit from their downstairs neighbors' wastefulness without the associated ding in energy efficiency, even if their apartment may be as large as your house in terms of square footage, this may explain the wide discrepancy in your numbers.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Seems like comparing you to your most efficient neighbors could be misleading; are they including units that are uninhabited during the winter? Seems like comparing to the median and mean would be more informative.