natural gas consumption is very high, suspect hot water heater

[Lewis Dean Thompson]

gas bill is through the roof. suspect hot water heater. notice that cold water intake is hot to the touch. have not monitored closely yet. suggestions?

[wesParticipant]

Do you have any other natural gas appliances? Sometimes I leave my outside grill on overnight (not intentionally) which would if you did it enough time make your bill shoot up.Usually if your waterheater is the culprit you would notice very very hot water or the T&P valve going off because of extremly hot water or very high pressure.How old is your waterheater, newer ones are a little more efficient. Good luck..

[wesParticipant]

: gas bill is through the roof. suspect hot water heater. notice that cold water intake is hot to the touch. have not monitored closely yet. suggestions?If your getting back flow that would account for an elevated gas bill . The easiet way to alleviate this problem is to install a heat sink. What this prevents the hot molicules from traveling to the cold water ( heat goes to cold) This heat sink is nothing more than taking your Cold water supply and dropping it 27 in a U shape this is used with great success on high risse buildings 47 stories and above and on one family homes. To monitor your exact usage of your gas fired appliance (heater) you run some hot water till it fires up then look at your gas meter and time the dial on the Cubic feet measurement. Natural gas (fuel) is sold by cubic feet and depending on the heating value of your fuel supplier. (Natural gas has a rating from 900-1200 )btus per CU FT. Once you have the EXACT time for one cu ft of fuel to go through this meter you can now read the DATA plate on the heater. This will tell you BTU input. The only thing about this system is you may have to call your gas supplier to get the heating value of a CU FT. This comes in very handy for high useage accounts. The gas meter can be used to tell you exactly which appliance uses the most fuel.H/W heaters do not normally require that many BTU as they dont run constantly. Make sure you have no dripping faucets as this could also account for an elevated fuel bill. Good luck

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