Measuring Energy Consumption - Home Energy Information - page 23

So, as you can see the billing cycle for this month actually starts in the middle of
the month. We might consider this to be January's bill since it ended in January. This
would tempt us to read the gas meter ourselves on the first and last day of the month.
However, with gas meters, this becomes a little more complicated. Since most gas
meters show consumption in CCF you would have to convert that to therms using
the thermal factor provided on the invoice. Keep in mind the thermal factor may be
different from one month to the other. Here's how you might determine your gas
consumption by reading your gas meter in CCF.

January Natural G as Readings

1/31/2014 Reading ACTUAL 56619 CCF

1/1/2014 Reading ACTUAL 56420 CCF

199 CCF

Thermal Factor = 1.0489 (from invoice)
January Use = 199 × 1.0489 = 208.74 therms

Now, you can record these values in a similar manner as the electric values
(Table 3.2 ).
As you can see, reading the utility meters ourselves gives us much more con-
sistent start and end dates. This is the way we must measure the consumption for
propane and fuel oil since these services are not metered services.

3.3 Propane and Fuel Oil Consumption

Propane and fuel oil are not metered services. The providers deliver them on an “as
needed” basis. Customers typically call and ask for delivery when their fuel holding
tanks get low. Therefore, there are no invoices for specific time periods to measure
consumption. We must read and record the tank fluid levels ourselves in order to be
wise consumers.
You can use a record similar to the Propane Use Log (see Table 2.2) for any such
fuel delivered and stored in liquid form. Recording the levels at proper intervals
will allow you to arrive at monthly consumption values. Be sure to record the level
of the tank immediately before each new delivery. Remember that propane gauges
show the volume of liquid in the tank as a percentage. Once you arrive at a monthly
consumption amount you can record the values in the same manner as electric and
gas consumption values (Table 3.3 ).