Gas Bill Calculator: Easily Calculate Your Gas Bill
Having the amount of a bill not be what you expected is rarely a good thing. Unless you are paying way less than you expected, most of the time you want to know exactly what that amount is going to be.
Let’s take a look at easily calculating your gas bill, so there is never any confusion when you get that monthly notice. There are a few simple steps you can take to ensure that you have the correct amount, and we will be looking at a few different ways to do so.
For those of you who prefer to do the math yourself, we will be giving you step by step instructions on completing the calculation. If you would rather find a calculator online that does the work for you, we will offer some suggestions as well.
Calculating the Bill Yourself
If you are more interested in simply calculating the amount of the bill yourself, there are a few steps you will have to take.
Reading Your Meter
First, you will want to make sure you check the gas meter both on the first day of your billing cycle, and the last day. Note the values that you see on both of those days. Your gas meter will provide usage figured in 100 cubic feet, or CCF.
Then you will want to subtract the value you started with from the end value to determine how much natural gas was used that month in CCF. After that, you will multiply that value by 1.025 to convert it to therms, which is the standard unit of measure for natural gas billing. For an example of this, 100 CCF of natural gas will equal 105 therms.
After those steps, check your most recent gas bill to find out what the expense per therm of gas in your area is. Multiply the number of therms consumed by the expense per therm to find out what you will the amount of your bill.
It is also a good idea to add in extras, like delivery charges, pressure charges, storage, or anything else your gas company may have added on. You can always check with them to get a more accurate estimate of what you will be paying for the present month.
Calculating Consumption
For calculating the consumption of gas, make sure to check the tags, manuals, or plates on the gas appliances to see how much gas they consume.
It is going to be measured in British thermal units (BTU). This means that the number of BTUs listed is what the burner uses each hour. Estimate how many hours you are using all of the gas appliances in your house. This will include a furnace, gas water heater, and any other heating appliances that are being used. You will be able to use the rating on each separate appliance to calculate the total monthly gas consumption.
Once you have the last few steps taken care of, you can convert the Btu estimate to therms by simply dividing the total Btu consumption for the month by 100,000. Then, multiply the number of therms by the local gas rates (per therm).
If there are any extras found on your previous gas bills or stated by the provider of your gas, make sure to add them onto the final number you calculated. Once you have done this, you have determined your total gas bill.
Using an Online Calculator
If calculating the bill yourself makes you a little uneasy, there are a multitude of different options online for simply inputting the information and having it calculate the amount for you.
This calculator from Peoples Gas is a fantastic tool. You are able to easily put in your information for each appliance, and everything is explained well. If you forget what a certain section is referring to, it will be easily explained to make sure your calculation is done correctly. The calculator also has an entire section at the bottom explaining common BTU ratings as well.
UDR’s calculator is also a fantastic way to find out what your monthly bill is going to be. They actually separate the appliances in each room of your house, so you are able to easily make sure you didn’t miss a single thing. The calculator also has notes on the bottom of the calculator with notes to ensure that nothing is confusing as well.
Happy Calculating
Now that you have all the tools you need to calculate your monthly gas bills, this task should be a breeze.
If you aren’t sure which method works best for you, trying out both manually calculating the numbers and an online calculator could be really helpful. Neither way is better, it just really depends on what you are most comfortable with.
We wish you the best of luck. If you calculate your monthly bill already, what has been the best way for you?
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