My roommate and I moved into an apartment right at the end of April/beginning of May and for both May and June our gas bill has been about 19 dollars. Our water heating is supposed to be provided, we only cook about 3 times per week, and since it's summer we're not using the gas furnace. Our gas company is Alagasco. Does this sound right or do you think we have a leak? Some people have commented in the past with smelling gas but we keep our windows open, so if there really was a gas leak it would not affect us physically. Any comments on this?
I do since they are the best stable since Evolution.
Home owners can add extra insulation up in the crawl space if you can get to it. This is money well spent.
Unplug electric items (or use a timer). The TV set, even turned 'off' is on standby waiting for a signal from the remote. It is still drawing power. Your VCR, computer, printer, stereo, video games, too. Use a timer to shut down the power completely during the night will reduce this load (rather then plug and unplug them yourself). Some power companies will (free!) install a timer for your refrigerator which cuts power to it for several hours overnight. They figure that you're not opening the door during the night, so the sealed door will keep the contents cold until morning. Other appliances can be scheduled like that, too. The coffee maker, chargers for toothbrushes and phones and the base-stations for cordless phones all draw power constantly (just a little, but all the time). Anything with a clock will draw power. Adding insulated drapes, draft blockers at doorways, and making sure that the dryer vent 'shuts' - preventing air leaks - will retain heat and cool.
