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MN Renovator · 11-17-10, 05:35 PM

I'll put in my 2 cents here.

From July until October I used 7 or 8 therms a month with a gas bill of about $15($8.50 is a 'basic service charge' that I pay even if I don't use any gas at all) which was no use of the furnace. I cook with a gas stove/oven and my electric dryer is electric(came with the house) even though I have a gas line right next to it.

So my water heating and cooking to put it simply is about 8 therms. What was interesting is I actually experienced what the pilot light can do when I left the house for a week on vacation and nobody else was home. I set the temperature down to vacation and when I came back a week later, the first thing I wanted to do when I got out of the car and into the house was take a shower so I went downstairs to the water heater and turned the temperature knob and once it got to the selected temperature I usually have it set to, I thought the water heater was broken because it didn't click to fire up the burner.

It turns out that just a little turn farther than where it was and the burner fired up at about 135 degrees and clicked off right at the 125 which is where I keep it at(halfway between 'A' and 'B'). So basically this means that the burner probably only fires up when I'm actually using the hot water and is maintained by the pilot.

I just went down and it wasn't running, I put my hand on the vent pipe and it was cold and I put my hand in the exhaust area under the hood and I didn't feel any heat. Putting my hand against the actual metal heat exchanger inside and that was lukewarm. I think the pilot might have a fairly efficient heat transfer and I wouldn't consider it all waste. ...but next time I go on a week vacation in the summer, I'll strongly consider cutting the pilot but that is likely going to save me $1.50 or less for a week.

For what it's worth, the energy star label says the unit uses 250 therms a year or $232 of gas. That math doesn't add up unless they figure a family of 5 people are using it. 250 therms/12 months=20.8 therms a month. I'm nowhere near that figure. It's a 9 year warranty unit installed in 2008, 40 gallons and a first hour rating of 71 gallons. According to the energy star label it is more towards the worst side than the better side of comparable units.

11-17-10, 05:35 PM	#9
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	I'll put in my 2 cents here. From July until October I used 7 or 8 therms a month with a gas bill of about $15($8.50 is a 'basic service charge' that I pay even if I don't use any gas at all) which was no use of the furnace. I cook with a gas stove/oven and my electric dryer is electric(came with the house) even though I have a gas line right next to it. So my water heating and cooking to put it simply is about 8 therms. What was interesting is I actually experienced what the pilot light can do when I left the house for a week on vacation and nobody else was home. I set the temperature down to vacation and when I came back a week later, the first thing I wanted to do when I got out of the car and into the house was take a shower so I went downstairs to the water heater and turned the temperature knob and once it got to the selected temperature I usually have it set to, I thought the water heater was broken because it didn't click to fire up the burner. It turns out that just a little turn farther than where it was and the burner fired up at about 135 degrees and clicked off right at the 125 which is where I keep it at(halfway between 'A' and 'B'). So basically this means that the burner probably only fires up when I'm actually using the hot water and is maintained by the pilot. I just went down and it wasn't running, I put my hand on the vent pipe and it was cold and I put my hand in the exhaust area under the hood and I didn't feel any heat. Putting my hand against the actual metal heat exchanger inside and that was lukewarm. I think the pilot might have a fairly efficient heat transfer and I wouldn't consider it all waste. ...but next time I go on a week vacation in the summer, I'll strongly consider cutting the pilot but that is likely going to save me $1.50 or less for a week. For what it's worth, the energy star label says the unit uses 250 therms a year or $232 of gas. That math doesn't add up unless they figure a family of 5 people are using it. 250 therms/12 months=20.8 therms a month. I'm nowhere near that figure. It's a 9 year warranty unit installed in 2008, 40 gallons and a first hour rating of 71 gallons. According to the energy star label it is more towards the worst side than the better side of comparable units.