Shayna 23

Marc, yes you are right. My post was inspired by my $425.00 utiliity bill for 33 days. For an 1800 square foot warehouse, that seemed excessive. The only power I used was my 5 hours of lighting (2100 watts total), and the 12.8 Amp Furnace running constantly. Because electricity and heat cost different amounts in different parts of the country, I chose to post the Therms and kWh's, rather than what my utility company charges for those. I wanted to see if 303 therms for 33 days was a lot and 970 kWh was a lot. And by "a lot" I mean is that even possible. I remember a few years ago when I called my own utility company, they said that even if everything was running non-stop continuously, my bill should only be about $100 a month. But, I think the reason they said that is because I didn't know what I was talking about, and all this "therms" and "kWh" is like a foreign language, and I probably didn't make myself clear to them. But over the years, it's been bothering me that maybe they were right and that somehow there was an actual power "leak" (e.g. someone else tapping into my power), so I thought I'd post those numbers on this forum to see if 970kWh and 303 therms was even possible.

Thank you all so much for answering! The brick building is a warehouse I'm renting, and I totally understand/realize that it has no insulation (you can see the outside light coming in through the mortar of the brick LOL). Because it is so cold outside (25 degrees average), it does not matter whether I set the thermostat at 60, 68, 70 or even 50 -- as soon as my 80000 BTU furnace brings the temperature up to the thermostat setting, the heat just "flys out the window" so to speak, and has to start right back up again. Regardless of these inherent (and fixable) problems, I guess my question was purely a mathematical question, as follows: Does 9.1 Therms per Day, and, 29 kWh per day sound normal for having my 12.8 Amp furnace run 24/7, and 5 hours of 2100 watt lighting on a day? Lastly, I want to let you all know I really really appreciate your advice. I know you all aren't all just sitting around waiting for lame people like me to drum up questions for free answers LOL, so I do understand that it is very generous of you all. But, I really, really tried to figure the math out all on my own (with charts, calculations, etc.), so much so that I've given myself eyestrain. I just thought that there might be someone out there who has worked with these sorts of calculations for so long that just by glancing at "9.1 therms and 29 kWh per day" they might know if that sounded "in the ballpark" or not? Thank you!!

My electric and gas bill seemed high ($427 for 33 days). The average temperature here is 27 degrees and in 33 days I used 303 therms (Natural Gas) and 970 kWh (Electricity). Does that seem high? Obviously, the specs are all important. Here they are: 1.) Building size: 1827 square feet 2.) Building type: all brick, with insulation in ceiling and east/west walls (north and south walls just brick, no insulation. 3.) This is the only power I use: a.) 28 75-watt fluorescents, running 5 hours a day. b.) One 9-amp Single-stage 80-AFUE furnace (4 vents blowing out air, one big intake vent), running 24 hours a day. So, with my lights (twenty-eight 75W bulbs) on 5 hours a day, and my furnace running 24 hours a day, should this eat up that many kWh and therms? The furnace DOES run CONSTANTLY. I mean it blows hot air for several minutes, then the IMMEDIATE SECOND it finally shuts off, it starts right up again because it's so cold around these parts, so at any given hour, minute, or second of the day, the furnace is blowing! I love my building, I love the furnace, and I love it to be warm, so although any suggestions to insulate or change furnaces, or move, etc., are understood and appreciated.... however, my question is one of curiosity and I'm hoping someone can look at the figures I've posted here and tell me if 303 therms and 970kWh is in the ballpark. My concern would be if somebody read this and said "Oh my goodness, even if you had your lights on constantly and the furnace on all the time, you should only be using 50 therms and 100 kWh" then I'd worry that somethin' ain't right somewhere Thank you!