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QUESTION:I live in a trailer which has is only a year old and has double
insulation in it. I have a Miller propane heat furnace and my stove
is also gas. Last year, I ended up paying over $600 in gas! This
seems like *alot* of money to me. I had someone come over to take a
look, and there are no leaks.
My question is, will turning my thermostat back to 60 and keeping
it there save me more money then if I would keep it at 72? I would think
it would, but the person from the gas company said it wouldn't. This
doesn't make sense to me for the following reason:
ANSWER: I think you said it all when you said you live in a
"trailer", and I am assuming you mean mobile home. Notoriously,
they are built with thin insulation, R-11 or less, where a house
normally has R-19 or more in the outside walls. You might also
look at your windows and at the efficiency of your furnace. If
the furnace is letting too much flue gasses go out, you are doing
a fine job of heating the environment- not your house. Go outside
and see if the steam from the roof jack (on a cold day while the
furnace is running) is going straight up, or slowly drifting
about. Drifting about is what you want, that means you are
getting good heat transfer from the combustion to the inside air.
If it shoots straight up, then the flue gasses are hot and you are
wasting energy.
It is true that the greater the temperature differential
is, the more often your furnace will come on. The furnace repair
monkey is wrong- but there is no big look of suprise on my face.
If you can stand keeping your house a bit cooler, then you will
thusly save on the heating bill. My reasoning tho is that for a
few dollars more I will be comfortable- so I keep it where I want
it and don't worry about the cost so much. My gas bill for my
house is about 40 dollars a month- but the furnace running adds
about 20 dollars to the power bill.............sq
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