• Why is Your Natural Gas Bill Going Up?

 

·                                                                              It’s that time of year when it’s still cool outside and houses are running their heat (at least at night). Your natural gas utility bill might also be going up! Let’s have a quick look at why your natural gas bill can still be high this time of year and what you can do to reduce the expense.

 

Why is your natural gas bill so high?

Where do you use natural gas in your home? You probably have a natural gas water heater. You might have a natural gas stove and maybe the clothes dryer. So for much of the year, your natural gas bill is probably fairly predictable and low, but when the temperature drops and you start running your natural gas furnace, the bill can spike up fast! On colder days, depending on where you live, you could be heating your house to be 20, 30, 40, or even 50 degrees above the outdoor temperature. That takes a lot of energy.

 

Now, if you do have a natural gas stove, you might be using it more this time of year. People tend to like more warm meals and baked favorites. And if you have a gas dryer, we do tend to layer up our clothes in cooler weather and this ultimately means washing more clothes and drying more clothes.

 

What can you do to reduce your natural gas bill?

 

●        Turn the thermostat down

This is the #1 way to reduce your natural gas bill. According to the Department of Energy, if you lower the thermostat by 7 to 10 degrees for eight hours a day, you can reduce your gas bill by as much as 10 percent. This is easy to do if you’re away from home for work during the day or you can get used to sleeping in a cooler home.

 

●        Install a smart thermostat

You can program a smart thermostat to lower the temperature of ten degrees during the day when everyone is away and then raise it back up 60 minutes before the first person returns home.

 

●        Get your furnace serviced

An HVAC technician from your preferred home services company can ensure that your furnace is running at maximum efficiency. Annual inspection and maintenance is vital to keeping your furnace working at its best. And the technician can also advise you on when it’s time to replace an older furnace with a new, more energy-efficient model.

 

●        Lower the water heater temperature    

Check the temperature on your water heater. It doesn’t need to be 150 degrees. The Department of Energy recommends 120 degrees.

 

●        Cook smarter

Crockpots are awesome and much more energy efficient than using the oven. Toaster ovens and convection ovens also save energy.

 

●        Air dry your laundry

You can purchase racks for air drying your laundry. Even if you only air dry half your laundry, that’s still a 50 percent savings.

 

Summary

Your natural gas bill is likely to go up in colder weather, but of course comes down in warmer weather. But no matter when you run it, there are many things you can do to keep it from skyrocketing.