Is the thermostat in set in the auto or the fan mode. In the auto mode the fan operates only when the furnace calls for heat. In the other mode, the fan run continuously. The fan running all the time will consume much more power.

Have you had usually cold weather? This may explain the additional gas usage. When was the last time the furnace was serviced? You may have other problems.

The thermostat is set on "fan" mode. In this case, it is not constantly running, but rather I am manually overriding the temp for a specific temperature. (Auto mode would require me to read the manual and program the different times/temp, etc.)

However, in this mode, I it works the same as auto. The fan/furnace only kicks in when the furnace turns on. The fan does not stay on constantly even if the furnace is not firing up.

We are having a typical CA winter (sans the rain). The gas usage I'm fine with since I'm using the heater.

What has me perplexed is the additional electricity usage which i'm suspecting is due to the heater. Which is counter-intuitive.

Any other comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Yoda

What do you mean by "heater". This is a room electric resistant heater used for spot heating?

You have made an effort to eliminate the possibility of some other malfunctioning electrical appliance in your home?

Fan blower should be set to "auto".

What are your electric and nat gas rates?

IMO

Sorry, when I say heater I mean furnace.

Yes, the fan blower is set to "auto"

As far as rates, I need to investigate that.

I guess my main question really is this, "does using the furnace use a lot of electricity?"

My furnace runs on natural gas, but obviously the blower/fan uses electricity. I'm wonder if that is sucking up a lot of power.

Thanks!

Yoda

While you have a low end 80% eff Trane furnace, to answer the question about the blower, the answer is no.

The blower motor unless malfunctioning could not be the cause of your electric bill doubling.

I have to ask this question and rarely do I receive an answer. How old is your furnace and when was your system last serviced and checked by an HVAC pro?

IMO

This would be right around the time of year that PG&E electric bills might double from a few months earlier - combination of higher actual usage plus creeping into higher rate tiers. Ironically most pronounced if household is already fairly efficient in electricity usage, because the additional usage jumps from Tier 1-2 ($0.13/kwh) into Tier 3 ($0.30/kwh), as opposed to heavy users who were already substantially into Tier 3-4.

So for example:
-50% more usage in Dec than October - furnace blower running 3X more, more lighting in AM and PM on shortest days of year, Xmas lights, people staying up for parties and New Years, humidifiers and other devices.
-2.3X more per kwh - PG&E reduced baselines by 10% last year, additional usage pushes into Tier 3.

50% x 230% = 115% of previous bill, in this example.

1 kWh is 1000 watts of power consumed over a 1-hour period of time. 1000 watts would be ten 100-watt light bulbs. Or five 200-watt bulbs. Or one 100-watt bulb running for 10 hours is also equivalent consumption.

2.23 kWh 8 PM to 10 PM is 2,230 watts used over a 2-hr period.

Instantaneous power draw (demand) is referenced as KW (without the 'hour' component). An electric water heater (4,500 watts) + a portable space heater (1,500 watts) + a clothes dryer (5,200 watts) all running at the same time would be an instantaneous draw of 11,200 watts, or 11.2 KW. If that load ran for an hour, then 11.2 kWh of power would be consumed.

Power usage is measured in kWh for billing, but there may also be a demand charge involved for whatever is the peak KW draw during the billing period.

What does this have to do with this thread?

If you have gas, use GAS. If you have a heat pump or electric furnace, use ELE.

Yoda888 Did you ever find out what was going on? I realize this was 8 years ago,I am seeing very unusual usage supposedly coming from our home as well.And during December, we didn't have Christmas lights on our house and we apparently used 227% more electricity than our neighbors?

Hi HU-etc,

I'm having the same problem in the Bay area. I think i figured it out for myself, at least. We have a gas heater in our living room, but several electric wall mounted heaters in the bedroom. These are the electricity vampires. I always assumed they were connected to the main gas heater, but they aren't (which of course makes total sense now that I've discovered it!).

Hope that helps. PGE can suck it. Bunch of total a-holes.

Hi,

Check the compressor and fan these two mainly increases the electricity bill.

I live in Michigan in an 1,100 sq ft bungalow. I have solar panels/net metering. Yes less energy is generated in winter. This winter there was a doubling of my electric usage but the only change was my gas furnace. (All my lights inside and out are on timers).

Thanks Jerry. ....My furnace is 15+ years old and I will have a pro look at it to determine if the motor or compressor is bad...

But I’m curious about a YouTube video where a 7amp cap(?) was added to make the furnace run at the correct amperage. This ”cap” plus oiling the motor and changing the filter made things run better.... is this possible to inexpensively prolong the life of my furnace until I can replace it?