Next gas bill will tell of furnace’s economics

By Jack Money

Published: November 12, 2008

Believe it or not, I’m eagerly awaiting my natural gas bill.

Now that the heat’s been running a while, I’m interested in knowing how much money I’m saving.

Earlier this year, I lost the condenser unit on my home heating and air conditioning system. The breakdown, which happened in mid-August, marked the third-such breakdown for my system in perhaps the past five years.

I was getting pretty tired of replacing the condenser on the system. And the rest of it — kind of a mixed and matched hodge-podge of gear that was original equipment on the home — needed its share of attention over the years, too.

Power usage fell

So I took the plunge, spending a bunch of money up front on a new furnace and air conditioning system to hopefully save some cash over the long-run. The salesman said my new system would be solidly efficient.

And when it came to electricity usage normally associated with running the air conditioner, August and September did not disappoint.

The bottom line on electricity? During August and September in 2007, I used probably about 2,500 kilowatt hours of power with the old equipment.

During August and September this year, I used half that much power — perhaps, even a little less.

So, I’m definitely better off during the summer months.

Here’s hoping wintertime saves me just as much cash.

Your thoughts!