NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/misc/consumer/house/14843

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-20 | 1.6 KB

Xref: sparky misc.consumers.house:14843 sci.physics:19299
Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!mp.cs.niu.edu!uxa.ecn.bgu.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!f0o
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 08:53:34 EST
From: <[e-mail]>
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,sci.physics
Subject: How to cut back my heat bill?
Lines: 23

Hi netters!

   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:
   We all know that if you keep you home at a constant temperature and
the outside temperature goes down to say 20 degrees, your furnace will
come on more often then if the outside temperature was 45 degrees.  So
I would think if you cut back your thermostat, this would decrease the
delta between the inside and outside temps and it would take longer for
the inside temp to drop to a point to turn on the thermostat.
   Now, I don't know the physics behind heat transfer, which is why I
cross-posted this to sci.physics.  I'd really like to see some comments
on this topic, since if cutting back doesn't save money, then why do it?


                                                           [Tim]