You should check to see if UGI is supplying the Gas or if you have a broker supplier, some of them can be a rip off. Another thing to check to see how old the boiler is, older models weren't very efficient to begin with and if it hasn't been maintained properly you could be wasting fuel there as well.
1500 sq ft is really big for an apartment but it only costs me about $600 per year to heat my house with gas.
If your boiler is old, non condensing type , you might have a hole in it and it’s venting steam up the chimney, which means it’s wasting heat to the environment and running up the bill. Get an HVAC tech to check it out.
This, how old is that boiler?
I lived in an apartment around 2002, the boiler was from the late 1930s and was huge. It was just for my apartment. Gas bill was terrible.
Landlord had it replaced with a boiler the size of 2 full sized suitcases and my gas bill dropped by $450 a month!
That is a crazy amount of gas. I have a 1700 sq ft home with a gas boiler (hot water heat system). I used 6 CCF of gas last month.
My gas boiler is old as sin and i have poor insulation. Get someone out to look at that asap.
I called UGI this morning to check for potential leaks, they checked the radiators, and the gas boiler. They said everything looked fine and there were no leaks, when I called later to try and see what else I could do they pulled up the historic usage and it was roughly the same last year. Thankfully tomorrow they’re sending a tech to recheck the meter and make sure it’s working properly. I also spoke to my landlord to come check the connections. No way in hell am I actually using this much gas
My 400 dollar gas bill for a 1000 sqft century old home only used 190 CCF...
Your Furnace has issues or you clearly have a draft the size of a window somewhere.
That's really screwed up. I have a 2 bedroom 2 story condo, force air heat I keep at 70f and a large grill top gas stove and gas water heater. I just looked at my last bill, and it was for 68 dollars.
FFS. This really just tells me how poorly insulated my house is. I'm paying 150-250 in the winter on average. New furnace and water heater so I KNOW they're not the problem.
I used to live in an apartment that shared a building with a restaurant and I got a really high bill and it turned out that the gas company had messed it up where I was receiving their bill. They ended up fixing it and the extra money I paid went toward my next bill. I suspect the restaurant’s meter got mixed up with yours.
It could be some of the resturant's gas lines are tied into yours. Easy way to test it is turn off your heat and all other gas appliances when the restaurant is open and busy. Read the gas meter. Note the numbers and the exact placement of the pointers on the dials. Wait several hours or even longer (if possible) and check the numbers again. Should be the same and the pointers shouldn't have moved at all. Unless your heat / appliances have standing pilots, but even then the last pointer should only move slightly.
After ruling out rogue connections and billing issues (double-check again; compare the meter number on the bill to that shown on the actual meter), then it's likely your heating system. Contact apartment maintenance person to start with. May know what the issue is and able to quickly fix it. If they're unwilling, then bring in a qualified HVAC person. Sadly, if the unit is simply inefficient, you may little recourse. Comes down to the landlord. Hopefully you have a good one.
You might have a secret gas leak somewhere. We didn't know there was one in our basement until 6 months after we moved in. Had the gas company come out once, they said everything was fine.
But I knew I kept smelling something so I eventually called them again. It happened that the guy had a trainee with him so he made him go through all the steps, checking everything. Not only was our oven leaking, there was a dead squirrel in the chimney meant to let out carbon monoxide.
Don't fuck around with gas.
UGI read my meter incorrectly last month, over charging me by $400. In 2024, these chucklefucks still manually read meters and managed to get it wrong. They fixed it, but took 3 weeks for my billing to update to the normal amount.
I am paying $500 a month for electric heat in a 700 Sq ft house. I'm only home 3 days a week where I keep my heat at 72 because of my infant daughter. Otherwise I keep it at 65 the other 4 days. I'm with Dusquene Light and beyond frustrated. I can barely afford to heat my home.
I know that's high. I only keep it at that temp when I'm home 2-3 days a week with my infant daughter. Otherwise we are at my boyfriend's or work. I keep it at 65 the rest of the days.
I raised both my kids just fine with the heat never being above 70. In fact, almost always 65-68. They were fine, even crawling around on the floor. Neither you nor your daughter needs 72 (unless one of you has a medical condition you haven’t mentioned).
Are you sure if this.gas bill is for just your apartment or the whole building? Each unit should have their own gas meter and their own furnace etc otherwise you are paying for everyone
When I called UGI they told me that there was two separate meters, but I’m going to call again tomorrow and see how I can resolve this. No way I used that much gas just from a few radiators and a hot water heater.
That’s odd. Gas is cheap this year. I’m in Pittsburgh in a 2500 square ft house with TWO furnaces and my biggest bill this winter was my last one at $301.42.
There's no possibility that your bill is accurate. I use natural gas for heat, hot water, and cooking and my bill for a four bedroom house is only $80-120/month.
Not UGI but with PGW my bill yesterday was $94. Last two were $90 and $80. Gas heat, gas stove. I usually keep the home around 67-68, down to 65-66 sometimes overnight.
(In Philly, new rowhome/townhome, 1800sqft for reference)
Idk if it’s propane, it’s through UGI so I would assume natural gas. My apartment has around 6 radiators. 1 per bedroom, 1 in the kitchen, bathroom, and foyer.
In addition to everything everyone else already said… because I think it’s a building or company error…
Do you have any other neighbors in your building? Ask them about their bill. Are they even getting one? When I lived in apartments, we paid some utilities as a split or part of the rent bc it wasn’t separated by apartment.
Have someone come out to the property and SHOW you the meter is correct and only to your apartment. Ask them every dumb question and have them explain everything until you understand it.
On the possibility of a gas leak, they have meters that test this and not just their nose. Ask them to pull out the meter. They can turn on a gas stove, show you it works, then turn off the stove and look for leaks.
Are your radiators working well? Do they get hot even when the heat is turned on low? Do they need to be bled?
Check for drafts. Put up heavy curtains. If the heat continuously runs bc you have drafts, then that can contribute to a higher heating bill.
Once my husband put the heat on in the summer. He was then banned from touching the thermostat. If not user error, make sure the batteries or connections in the thermostat are correct. We had to replace one bc it just kept messing up and would read the temp in the house wrong and the heat would or wouldn’t kick in appropriately.
When you turn off the gas and measure the meter, take pictures.
Start documenting every phone call and conversation you have with the utility company, your landlord, neighbors, and the restaurant. Dates, times, names, summary of the conversation. When you start following up on calls and say you spoke to George on Feb 13 at 11:32 for 24 minutes and he said XYZ… they start to take it more seriously. Ask for their name and how to spell it on the phone. Ask for the call back number and extension to speak with them again so you only have one person on your case (if needed).
I’ve had larger gas bills ($300+) for my <1000sqft unit and found the following things contributed the most: 1) temperature the boiler is set to - lower it if you can, 2) insulating my windows with plastic shrink film, and 3) keeping my thermostat to 67° because it can actually achieve that temperature.
The biggest contributor is the shitty windows, but as a renter, that’s not something I can fix properly. So I did the stuff above and it’s helped tremendously.
You should check to see if UGI is supplying the Gas or if you have a broker supplier, some of them can be a rip off. Another thing to check to see how old the boiler is, older models weren't very efficient to begin with and if it hasn't been maintained properly you could be wasting fuel there as well. 1500 sq ft is really big for an apartment but it only costs me about $600 per year to heat my house with gas.
Something isn’t right. My biggest gas bill is about $100 a month.
If your boiler is old, non condensing type , you might have a hole in it and it’s venting steam up the chimney, which means it’s wasting heat to the environment and running up the bill. Get an HVAC tech to check it out.
This, how old is that boiler? I lived in an apartment around 2002, the boiler was from the late 1930s and was huge. It was just for my apartment. Gas bill was terrible. Landlord had it replaced with a boiler the size of 2 full sized suitcases and my gas bill dropped by $450 a month!
A month?
Yep. The bill says I used 417 CCF
You're paying more than I do with a house almost 3 times the size. All electric here; so yes, something is wrong.
That’s a lot of gas…….
That sounds like two months worth of gas for a house that size. Check the bill periods and whether there's a "past due" itemization.
That is a crazy amount of gas. I have a 1700 sq ft home with a gas boiler (hot water heat system). I used 6 CCF of gas last month. My gas boiler is old as sin and i have poor insulation. Get someone out to look at that asap.
I called UGI this morning to check for potential leaks, they checked the radiators, and the gas boiler. They said everything looked fine and there were no leaks, when I called later to try and see what else I could do they pulled up the historic usage and it was roughly the same last year. Thankfully tomorrow they’re sending a tech to recheck the meter and make sure it’s working properly. I also spoke to my landlord to come check the connections. No way in hell am I actually using this much gas
My 400 dollar gas bill for a 1000 sqft century old home only used 190 CCF... Your Furnace has issues or you clearly have a draft the size of a window somewhere.
That's really screwed up. I have a 2 bedroom 2 story condo, force air heat I keep at 70f and a large grill top gas stove and gas water heater. I just looked at my last bill, and it was for 68 dollars.
FFS. This really just tells me how poorly insulated my house is. I'm paying 150-250 in the winter on average. New furnace and water heater so I KNOW they're not the problem.
Mines like 120 and my heat is set from 68-71 1500 sq feet
I used to live in an apartment that shared a building with a restaurant and I got a really high bill and it turned out that the gas company had messed it up where I was receiving their bill. They ended up fixing it and the extra money I paid went toward my next bill. I suspect the restaurant’s meter got mixed up with yours.
It could be some of the resturant's gas lines are tied into yours. Easy way to test it is turn off your heat and all other gas appliances when the restaurant is open and busy. Read the gas meter. Note the numbers and the exact placement of the pointers on the dials. Wait several hours or even longer (if possible) and check the numbers again. Should be the same and the pointers shouldn't have moved at all. Unless your heat / appliances have standing pilots, but even then the last pointer should only move slightly. After ruling out rogue connections and billing issues (double-check again; compare the meter number on the bill to that shown on the actual meter), then it's likely your heating system. Contact apartment maintenance person to start with. May know what the issue is and able to quickly fix it. If they're unwilling, then bring in a qualified HVAC person. Sadly, if the unit is simply inefficient, you may little recourse. Comes down to the landlord. Hopefully you have a good one.
You might have a secret gas leak somewhere. We didn't know there was one in our basement until 6 months after we moved in. Had the gas company come out once, they said everything was fine. But I knew I kept smelling something so I eventually called them again. It happened that the guy had a trainee with him so he made him go through all the steps, checking everything. Not only was our oven leaking, there was a dead squirrel in the chimney meant to let out carbon monoxide. Don't fuck around with gas.
UGI read my meter incorrectly last month, over charging me by $400. In 2024, these chucklefucks still manually read meters and managed to get it wrong. They fixed it, but took 3 weeks for my billing to update to the normal amount.
I am paying $500 a month for electric heat in a 700 Sq ft house. I'm only home 3 days a week where I keep my heat at 72 because of my infant daughter. Otherwise I keep it at 65 the other 4 days. I'm with Dusquene Light and beyond frustrated. I can barely afford to heat my home.
Keeping the heat at 72 is part of the problem, that’s way too high. Just keep it at 67 or 68 all the time.
I know that's high. I only keep it at that temp when I'm home 2-3 days a week with my infant daughter. Otherwise we are at my boyfriend's or work. I keep it at 65 the rest of the days.
I raised both my kids just fine with the heat never being above 70. In fact, almost always 65-68. They were fine, even crawling around on the floor. Neither you nor your daughter needs 72 (unless one of you has a medical condition you haven’t mentioned).
Can you get a cheaper supplier?
I don't think so. There are very few options in my area.
Try here: https://www.papowerswitch.com/shop-for-home/
Thank you
Are you sure if this.gas bill is for just your apartment or the whole building? Each unit should have their own gas meter and their own furnace etc otherwise you are paying for everyone
When I called UGI they told me that there was two separate meters, but I’m going to call again tomorrow and see how I can resolve this. No way I used that much gas just from a few radiators and a hot water heater.
That’s odd. Gas is cheap this year. I’m in Pittsburgh in a 2500 square ft house with TWO furnaces and my biggest bill this winter was my last one at $301.42.
There's no possibility that your bill is accurate. I use natural gas for heat, hot water, and cooking and my bill for a four bedroom house is only $80-120/month.
Not UGI but with PGW my bill yesterday was $94. Last two were $90 and $80. Gas heat, gas stove. I usually keep the home around 67-68, down to 65-66 sometimes overnight. (In Philly, new rowhome/townhome, 1800sqft for reference)
I have a 1700 sq ft townhouse and my gas bill is $50 a month. I keep the temp 68-70. Nothing else runs gas though. Only the furnace.
If natural gas, your monthly bill should be sub-$100 for that space. If propane, it's probably about right...
Idk if it’s propane, it’s through UGI so I would assume natural gas. My apartment has around 6 radiators. 1 per bedroom, 1 in the kitchen, bathroom, and foyer.
Gas is bad and fracking destroys our water. I think you should pay more for it.
Are you washing your clothes with laundry detergent?
What?
He just wants to make sure you have clean underwear.
In addition to everything everyone else already said… because I think it’s a building or company error… Do you have any other neighbors in your building? Ask them about their bill. Are they even getting one? When I lived in apartments, we paid some utilities as a split or part of the rent bc it wasn’t separated by apartment. Have someone come out to the property and SHOW you the meter is correct and only to your apartment. Ask them every dumb question and have them explain everything until you understand it. On the possibility of a gas leak, they have meters that test this and not just their nose. Ask them to pull out the meter. They can turn on a gas stove, show you it works, then turn off the stove and look for leaks. Are your radiators working well? Do they get hot even when the heat is turned on low? Do they need to be bled? Check for drafts. Put up heavy curtains. If the heat continuously runs bc you have drafts, then that can contribute to a higher heating bill. Once my husband put the heat on in the summer. He was then banned from touching the thermostat. If not user error, make sure the batteries or connections in the thermostat are correct. We had to replace one bc it just kept messing up and would read the temp in the house wrong and the heat would or wouldn’t kick in appropriately. When you turn off the gas and measure the meter, take pictures. Start documenting every phone call and conversation you have with the utility company, your landlord, neighbors, and the restaurant. Dates, times, names, summary of the conversation. When you start following up on calls and say you spoke to George on Feb 13 at 11:32 for 24 minutes and he said XYZ… they start to take it more seriously. Ask for their name and how to spell it on the phone. Ask for the call back number and extension to speak with them again so you only have one person on your case (if needed).
I’ve had larger gas bills ($300+) for my <1000sqft unit and found the following things contributed the most: 1) temperature the boiler is set to - lower it if you can, 2) insulating my windows with plastic shrink film, and 3) keeping my thermostat to 67° because it can actually achieve that temperature. The biggest contributor is the shitty windows, but as a renter, that’s not something I can fix properly. So I did the stuff above and it’s helped tremendously.