Coldest Winter Ever – How Much Did it Cost?
Now that it feels like summer time, it seems like a good point to turn back and reflect on this past winter. On the books, it was our coldest and snowiest winter ever recorded (it might have been 2nd coldest, idk). We practiced some good energy saving tips such as keeping the thermostat set low (62 for most of the winter), closing unused rooms, wearing extra clothing, and sealing up any leaks that we could find.
Below is our gas usage history. Our utility company estimates the meter every other month, that is why January, March, and May (actual readings) are high while December, February and April (estimated readings) are low.
In the summer months when we were only using gas for cooking and the water heater, our bill was about $15. If I subtract out $15 from November-May, our furnace gas consumption for the coldest winter cost us $632.83. That’s right around $90/mo for heating.
Other heating costs included one routine inspection, $99, and one furnace breakdown, $230.
How’s that compare?
I’m always looking for good quantifiable data. I suppose it is the scientist in me that wants to be able to say, “here are the facts.” This article from Chicago Business talks about what Chicago residents paid on average for heating in 2014. Most of the article discusses the stark pricing difference between Chicago gas and suburbanite gas. While we don’t live in the suburbs of Chicago, we do have the same gas company mentioned in the article. Yep, Chicagonites paid an additional 78% per therm compared to us ($1.21 vs $0.68). Ya gotta love the city that works.
On average, the not gauged folks paid $626 for heating from November through March. We paid $633 for November through May.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we paid a little bit less than the average for our area. Our circa 13 year old furnace did break down once and the repair cost put us over the average. So long winter!
Hello summer! Did I mention our AC is broken?