March 2005
What's It Cost

Ever wondered how much your gas appliances cost you each month? According to reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, home appliances account for about 20 percent of your energy bill.

Walton EMC Natural Gas has researched various natural gas appliances and estimated the cost per hour for each appliance.

An approximate hourly cost was calculated using the February 2005 apples to apples price per therm, $1.11 for Walton EMC Natural Gas. Taxes and customer service charges are included in the apples to apples price per therm. The variable rate was $0.899 per therm without including these items.

Notice some of the appliances listed cycle on and off depending on the time of use. Consider this when determining the usage of your home's appliances.

You might run your dryer 50 minutes at a time. Running the dryer one hour at 20,000 BTU costs approximately 22 cents per hour. But the dryer would cost about 18 cents to run 50 minutes due to cycling. (To calculate: Cost per hour times 60 minutes equals cost per minute).

Measuring energy of natural gas The cost of natural gas appliances measures differently than calculating the cost of operating electric appliances. The energy produced by natural gas is measured in British thermal units (BTU), while electricity is measured in kilowatt-hours. BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of pure water one degree Fahrenheit.

Walton EMC Natural Gas sells natural gas to you in therms. 100,000 BTUs is equal to one therm. If your household consumes 5,000,000 BTUs of natural gas a month, that's the same as 50 therms. At $1.11 per therm, your bill would be $55.50 (not including the Atlanta Gas Light base charge).

The amount of energy, or BTU, produced from your gas appliances may differ from these listed below. To fairly calculate an estimated energy usage for your appliances, you must determine the amount of BTU your appliance produces per hour. The nameplate on your appliance should indicate this information.

Estimate appliance cost

Keep in mind that the price per therm for natural gas varies month to month. Also, the amount of BTU your appliance consumes per hour may vary.

Dryer Grill

20,000 BTU/hour........$0.22/hour 40,000 BTU/hour........$0.44/hour

25,000 BTU/hour........$0.28/hour 50,000 BTU/hour........$0.56/hour

Water Heater Logs

30,000 BTU/hour........$0.33/hour 16,000 BTU/hour........$0.18/hour

40,000 BTU/hour........$0.44/hour 36,000 BTU/hour........$0.40/hour

Outdoor Light Range (energy per burner)

2,000 BTU/hour........$0.02/hour 6,000 BTU/hour........$0.07/hour

9,500 BTU/hour........$0.11/hour 15,000 BTU/hour........$0.17/hour

Space Heater Pool Heater

10,000 BTU/hour........$0.11/hour 175,000 BTU/hour........$1.94/hour

30,000 BTU/hour........$0.33/hour 400,000 BTU/hour........$4.44/hour

Note: The estimated cost per hour may vary depending on the efficiency of each appliance.

Read other articles from The Walton EMC Gasette:
Springtime-Season for Outdoor Chores
Your AGLC base charge accounts for pipeline and meter maintenance to esure delivery of natural gas to your home or business.
Read other articles from The Walton EMC Gasette:
Convenient Bill-Pay, Instant Information
Learn what's in store at waltonemcgas.com. It's more than a link to paying your bill!
Read other articles from The Walton EMC Gasette:
Gas News
Walton EMC Natural Gas updates call center hours.
Read other articles from The Walton EMC Gasette:
Gas Up the Stove
This month's recipe features Company Chicken.