gas company worried

[tinkabranc]

I just received a red notice from my gas company in the mail today warning me
that my furnace may be in need of maintenance.
Why? Because they are concerned that for the month of december my bill
reflects only the minimum charge which has never happens in the winter.

I am so excited! There is NOTHING wrong with my furnace at all.
I just have not been using it :lol:

This is my first season with pellet burning and the stove was meant for supplimental
heat, but it has exceeded our expectations with heating up the house.
This is the very first time that I have not cringed when I saw the heating bill.

stepping down off my soapbox now...Just so excited that I had to share!

 

[latichever]

Last year, when I started using my pellet stove, my fuel oil company wondered what was going on too, having noticed a greatly reduced use of oil.

 

[SilverCityzen]

Good on you! Always a good thing to worry a utility company! :lol:

 

[stop drop & roll]

Awsome!! Better the money in your pocket, not theirs

 

[freebird77]

When I bought my Harman this summer, I didnt know if Id save on fuel for sure, or not. I know if I do it will take some time seeing as Ive paid so much for the stove, install, and extras. But I figured if the price of pellets do go way up, and I know eventually Ill need service due to the moving parts that are sure to break down, at least Ill be paying to an American company or possibly Canada for my fuel and not the tyrants that are holding this country hostage from overseaswith there outrages prices. Just my .02

 

[buildingmaint]

When I installed my pellet stove I started reading my natural gas meter on guesstimating months. The first time I called in my meter reading the person on the other end gave me BIG TIME ATTITUDE and demanded that I tell them why I had not used the right amount of gas . Since they were not nice I declined to tell them that I had installed a pellet stove . Boy were they mad , must of had stock in the National Fuel Gas Company .

 

[kevin fitzsimmons]

I have been waiting for the gas company to ask us what is up, or at least poke around to see if we have tried to cheat he system. The two big skies are the winters we didn't have the stove, 2002 and 2003, the rest is all wood heat, gas for hot water and cooking. The real kicker is that our bill is still close to 40$ a moth all of it fixed charges. >:-(

 

[stoveguy2esw]

hey , ive heard stories about gas companies wanting to come inspect homes to see if their equipment had been altered, one even said , the gas company wanted to come in the house to look , and when they walked in and saw the pellet stove , they said , thanks for your time , and left

 

[drizler]

Someone once made sense of that for me once when I posted how I turned the pilot light off my parents furnace and stove in the early 80's . The logic is that they notice the difference and are honestly concerned that there is something wrong with your gear for safety purposes. Who knows it may even be true. Anyone calls me demanding explainations for anything they better have a court ordered search warrant or I tell them to break it off in their keyster. That goes triple for phone inquiries. Don't worry the gas company won't take away your birthday or even your Christmas, believe me. My best encounter with the gas company was when I dropped by to try to buy one of their used 100 lb propane tanks. They had a few hundred sitting around in a pile. You would have though I was asking for Kiddy porn at the Vatican, all the safety concerns. I was truly touched. Must be they found out that people can buy their own propane at the gas station and save 40 percent. I am always warmed to hear of someone who has my safety interests at heart with their hand in my pocket. Truly touching.

 

[jed12674]

Our gas company called us 2 months after we installed our wood stove (3 years ago, replaced it with a pellet stove this year) and wanted to take a look at our gas meter and replace it. They said it wasn't reading right. I asked the lady if their meter reading guy noticed any thing different the last time he read the meter LIKE A CHIMNEY 6 FOOT ABOVE THE METER(yes it is ok'd by the zoning inspector). Its kind of hard to miss, 16 feet tall and very shiney. lol I told her we burn wood most of the time now, its cheaper than paying $400.00 to $500.00 a month for gas.

 

[BrotherBart]

Never had a problem with the electric company here. When the young lady reads the meter it is hard for her to miss the 13 cords of wood sitting 15 feet away from the meter.

And the meter is beside the double masonry chimney.

 

[pegdot]

Oh, I LOVE it!! Worried?!? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.....NOT! Anyone ever had the gas company call or come by to check things out when your usage went up? An unexpected jump in usage should be cause for concern since it could indicate a leak but a drop? Come on, who are they trying to fool?

Utility companies seem to think nothing of increases in usage but they get bent out of shape at sharp declines. A few years back I about hit the floor when I got a $250 water bill for a 30 day period. Our bill had averaged $20 to $25 prior to that. Okay, so I've got a major leak somewhere. After turning 2 acres around our house into what looked like a prairie dog city I finally located the leak UNDER the pool and fixed it. The next bill was for $15 dollars so apparently there'd been a slow leak there for years. The following month I happen to come home to find the water company changing out the meter. The guy said that they suspected it was faulty! lol Funny how they didn't question a huge increase but a small decrease got their full attention. >:-(

You go get 'em Tink! :coolsmile:

 

[mrmojo]

As soon as I fired up my Englander 5 years ago, the gas co called about faulty equipment (not using gas). I told them I switched to pellets and wished I would have told them MYOB. It is my fear that they will use their clout to grease the legislation somehow and cut us off. They could influence zoning somehow. There is talk of using biomass and wood chips to fuel various business's and I am afraid that will either drive up the cost or cut the source off altogether. Just look at the price of corn with the ethanol scam. They did find a faulty furnace when I rented years ago, but as far as I'm concerned they have no business knowing what or how we heat. If your company is not like Enron it will evolve into it, "never forget the donkey punch". Never trust them, I lost one receipt and I always pay with cash, when they double billed me the next month they claimed I was out of luck because of paying in cash. I raised so much hell they found the overage for that day and gave me credit. I was lucky some people will get an escort out by the police and a DC for talking back. As far as my stove goes I will always stick with Englander, they are the only ones I know of that give you great support and the stove's are heavy duty and user servicable (no sheet metal spot welded augers).

 

[bbb123]

[quote author="Driz" date="1198552800"]Someone once made sense of that for me once when I posted how I turned the pilot light off my parents furnace and stove in the early 80's . The logic is that they notice the difference and are honestly concerned that there is something wrong with your gear for safety purposes. Who knows it may even be true. Anyone calls me demanding explainations for anything they better have a court ordered search warrant or I tell them to break it off in their keyster. That goes triple for phone inquiries. Don't worry the gas company won't take away your birthday or even your Christmas, believe me. My best encounter with the gas company was when I dropped by to try to buy one of their used 100 lb propane tanks. They had a few hundred sitting around in a pile. You would have though I was asking for Kiddy porn at the Vatican, all the safety concerns. I was truly touched. Must be they found out that people can buy their own propane at the gas station and save 40 percent. I am always warmed to hear of someone who has my safety interests at heart with their hand in my pocket. Truly touching.[/quote



Home Depot and Lowes sell 100 lb propane tanks for around $100

 

[woodzilla]

That's Fantastic.

We are on an all electric system. The local utility has notified me that they want to change the meter out.
First season heating with our insert.

 

[buildingmaint]

Our gas company was so tired of their customers using less and less gas they threatened that if the trend continued they would start charging their customers for using less gas . They wanted to charge us for not using their gas. I wonder if this is what is being taught to students in college now. Get people to pay you for not using something ? It sounds ridiculous, but the US government has been paying farmers for not growing crops for years.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Our gas company was so tired of their customers using less and less gas they threatened that if the trend continued they would start charging their customers for using less gas . They wanted to charge us for not using their gas. I wonder if this is what is being taught to students in college now. Get people to pay you for not using something ? It sounds ridiculous, but the US government has been paying farmers for not growing crops for years.

Where is this? What company? Keyspan ?

 

[Chad S.]

I have a friend that had to buy his propane tank because it hadn't been filled in years. They were going to cut him off

 

[buildingmaint]

Our gas company was so tired of their customers using less and less gas they threatened that if the trend continued they would start charging their customers for using less gas . They wanted to charge us for not using their gas. I wonder if this is what is being taught to students in college now. Get people to pay you for not using something ? It sounds ridiculous, but the US government has been paying farmers for not growing crops for years.

Where is this? What company? Keyspan ?

National Fuel Gas in Northwestern PA

 

[Corey]

I haven't received any notice, but I did get a new gas meter last year - I wonder if they thought the old one might have been goofed up - usually have pretty low gas bill due to the insert. Trouble was, the first month they installed the meter (March) I ran low on wood and decided to save the rest for an emergency supply. So as soon as the meter went in, the gas bill shot up!

Been getting them back this year - haven't even lit the pilot on the furnace yet. Although that is about to change - have to get some heat while we are away visiting the in-laws for four days

 

[petejung]

I am so looking forward to the day that Duke Energy calls me to find out what's up. We've already cut our gas usage more than half, and that's not even in the cold months yet. Our electricity went up about 15%, gas down about 65% so far, and the gas will probably drop to 80-85% less in the cold months, and the electricity shouldn't go up but maybe another 5%. Duke is REALLY going to be po'd at me!

 

[sparkydog00]

Never had a problem with the electric company here. When the young lady reads the meter it is hard for her to miss the 13 cords of wood sitting 15 feet away from the meter.

And the meter is beside the double masonry chimney.

Like they get out of the car to actually read the meter anymore...The meters all have radio transponders now. Company just drives down the street once a month slowly. Reads both sides of the street at the same time and data logs it. Technology has come a long way for the lowly meter reader.

 

[jed12674]

Must be we are behind in times, they still read our gas and electric meters manually. My water meter is radio transmitted though.

 

[petejung]

Must be we are behind in times, they still read our gas and electric meters manually. My water meter is radio transmitted though.

Same here.

I had just opened the garage door one day, an unusual day when I was home in the afternoon, and walked out and some dude (turns out it was a meter reader) came around the corner of the house. Scared me half to death. The guy was lucky he didn't get punched or tackled! As it was, I went inside and changed my underwear and everything was OK (j/k)