Colorado Heating Costs (house, heat pump, theater)

[virginia farm girl]

We have friends that just purchased a 4,000 square foot home in Ft. Collins.

With all the c-o-l-d weather lately, they expect to be paying only $150.00 a month in heating costs.

Is this possible?

I'm not sure of what type of heating they have. Just hoping they're not too "off base".

[amymcf]

$150 for a 4000sf house doesn't sound bad at all; actually sounds kind of cheap for the size of the house...i have a 3000sf house and probably pay just over that, keeping my heat set at 68 degrees all winter.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by virginia farm girl

We have friends that just purchased a 4,000 square foot home in Ft. Collins.

With all the c-o-l-d weather lately, they expect to be paying only $150.00 a month in heating costs.

Is this possible?

I'm not sure of what type of heating they have. Just hoping they're not too "off base".

Frankly, I doubt that figure. Unless the house is super-insulated and/or takes advantage of passive solar, fuel costs would likely be above that. People should also not be giddy over Colorado's current natural gas costs. They are considerably under the national average right now because there is insufficient pipeline capacity to transport natural gas being produced in the Rocky Mountain region to other areas of the US. At times in the last year, the wellhead price for natural gas in the Rocky Mountain region has been half or less of the national market price. Local gas consumers have benefitted from that disparity. New pipelines are now under construction that will very significantly increase the transportation capacity of natural gas out of this region--particularly heading towards the Midwest and East. When that happens, natural gas prices will increase significantly in the Rocky Mountain West (good for the gas producers) and the result will be much higher natural gas prices for local consumers. Coloradans current heating bills may be a pleasant surprise, but it is not a situation that will last.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by virginia farm girl

We have friends that just purchased a 4,000 square foot home in Ft. Collins.

With all the c-o-l-d weather lately, they expect to be paying only $150.00 a month in heating costs.

Is this possible?

I'm not sure of what type of heating they have. Just hoping they're not too "off base".

Maybe that's averaged out over the year. I agree with jazzlover that it sounds low.

[Mike from back east]

We've a 3800 sq ft home in COL SPGS. Two gas-fired forced hot air heating systems. One never runs as it stays 70 degrees downstairs. We bump it up to 73 when we go down to use the home theater system or the bar, otherwise it's off. Also, range top and hot water are gas fired as well. House was built 2005, is very well insulated, double-e windows, and constructed IAW the CO "Build Green" program.

DEC 2006, gas only, $114 for 164CCF of gas.
NOV 2007, gas only, $114 for 147CCF of gas (i.e., rates are a bit higher now).

Our total electric bill was $70 for each of those months, and no more than $20 of that was for the juice to power the fans. That means our heating bill is $135 month for a 3800 sq ft home, thus the estimates of your friends seem in the ballpark.

FWIW: We pay less here for this house than we did for a 2000 sq ft house back in Chantilly, VA, that had an electric heat pump with central resistance electric main when needed (2 lines at 60 amps per line).

The new high efficiency gas systems are superb, but I wish our nation would get on with solar, wind and nuclear power, asap.

[virginia farm girl]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

We've a 3800 sq ft home in COL SPGS. Two gas-fired forced hot air heating systems. One never runs as it stays 70 degrees downstairs. We bump it up to 73 when we go down to use the home theater system or the bar, otherwise it's off. Also, range top and hot water are gas fired as well. House was built 2005, is very well insulated, double-e windows, and constructed IAW the CO "Build Green" program.

DEC 2006, gas only, $114 for 164CCF of gas.
NOV 2007, gas only, $114 for 147CCF of gas (i.e., rates are a bit higher now).

Our total electric bill was $70 for each of those months, and no more than $20 of that was for the juice to power the fans. That means our heating bill is $135 month for a 3800 sq ft home, thus the estimates of your friends seem in the ballpark.

FWIW: We pay less here for this house than we did for a 2000 sq ft house back in Chantilly, VA, that had an electric heat pump with central resistance electric main when needed (2 lines at 60 amps per line).

The new high efficiency gas systems are superb, but I wish our nation would get on with solar, wind and nuclear power, asap.

That's amazing...$135.00 total a month for heating a 3800 sq ft home.

Maybe I'll move there too!!

[Katarina Witt]

I don't have my bill close at hand, but I checked my bank statement and last month we paid $148.13 for gas and electric. The electric doesn't fluctuate much except in extreme summer heat. November was a fairly warm month. We'll see about December. This is for a 2500 sq ft house. We did just get new windows which are supposed to be more insulating.

[LBear]

That doesn't sound right. I bet it will be closer to $200+ a month to heat that home. Unless, like stated, it is super-insulated.

[oberon]

Mike's results are not unreasonable IF you have a well-built home. Excellent insulation, double windows, high efficiency heat generation, etc. However, most homes currently available aren't built to that standard. And many are still being built with substandard methods. The end result is you'll pay for the difference in your energy bills.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Wow your gas rates are about 1/2 what I pay. Of course I don't consume nearly as much.