reducing our gas usage

On a regular basis I get an email from the gas company telling me about our natural gas usage. The message has always told me we are using slightly more gas than average users in similar houses. This has always puzzled me because while we do a lot of cooking we have the thermostat set to minimize our house heating. The most recent message I received, however, told me that while we were using more gas than the most efficient users, we were using significantly less gas than average users.

We hadn’t changed any of our gas usage habits, so at first I thought that this must be because of the new attic insulation we had installed. But I looked at the period that the report covered and it turned out to be February 16 to March 17. That couldn’t be it, because the insulation was installed on March 14.

That left one other explanation: the new water heater we had installed on February 3. Terry had noticed there was water seeping abound the base of the water heater, so we decided we had better get it taken care of. The water heater didn’t look that old to me, but the plumber, who does a lot of work here in Four Seasons, said that it was the original water heater installed when the house was built. That would make it sixteen years old, so yeah, I guess it was due to be replaced.

So we are using less gas now. That is a Good Thing.