November heat costs down 21%

After we got our home air sealed and added insulation back in August I've been trying to figure out exactly how much it is saving us on our heat bills. I just got the November electric bill so now I can see what we're saving 21% in November this year.


Reviewing the October results:

Previously I discussed the heat savings we saw in October.

October 2009 : $113.77
October 2008 : $149.30

If we assume other non-heat electricity use of $80 a month then that is a 52% drop in our heat costs for October.

Examining November's results:

The electric bill for November 2009 was $187.37 which is $28.91 lower than last year.

Electric bill
November 2009 : $187.37
November 2008 : $216.28

Assuming $80 electric costs
Heat costs
November 2009 : $107.37
November 2008 : $136.28

That represents a 21% savings in our heating costs for November this year compared to last year.

Now lets compare how cold it was this November compared to last year.

I use WeatherUnderground to find the average daily temperatures and then calculated the degree days myself. Average temperatures were about 3F degrees colder at 49F in 2008 and 46F in 2009.

November 2009 : 590 Degree Days
November 2008 : 492 Degree Days

So November 2009 was significantly colder than Nov. 2008.

I'm also working under the assumption that other electric usage through the month didn't vary significantly from 2008 to 2009.

November and October combined

If you look at October and November combined we've saved $64.44 total so far this year compared to last year. That represents about a 31% savings on our heat costs so far.