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.