| jestmaty |
My electric bill from June 2 to July 3 was $349!!!! The month b4 was $190, May 2 to June 1
Now granted, I live in hot, HUMID, Houston Tx and have 'things' that use a bunch of power.
We are a household of 4, 2 boys ( 6 and 10 ) and mom and dad. The dishwasher runs just about every day. The clothes washer and dryer... same thing. We are blessed to have a 3000 square foot 2 story house with a beautiful swimming pool.
The pool pumps (2) run about 4 hrs per day ( 4 hours less than recommended yet the water tests clean and bacteria free ). We are in the gas heated hot tub 3-4 times a week, running the blower that make s the bubbles that get the hot tub bubbling.
The air conditioners seem to have trouble keeping up with heat build up in the house, They run constantly during the heat of the day, trying to keep even 83 degrees in the house.
We generally keep it about 83 degrees during the day and just turn the central air off at 10 pm.. bedtime. I bought a couple of window units last summer, sized appropriately for the master br and my boys room. We suffer during the afternoon hours, yet sleep comfortably during the night in cool conditions. Those run until about 8am.
The main HD tv in the house, a 62" Toshiba DLP uses about 250 watts and is off/on a good portion of the day.
I did a rough count of light bulbs in the house (60) and have about 20 of them changed over to CFL's which use about 75% less power than incandescent bulbs..... not to mention the reduction in heat.
I guess I just needed to b**tch about the bill to someone other than my neighbor and spouse.
I know the Lord has blessed me to have such a gripe, it just sucks to have gone from a 1900 square foot house that I lived in for 10 years ( highest bill ever was $260 ) to this. This new house is much bigger and has a pool, which has to add significantly to the electric bill. The next bill will probably be $400... At least I cut my own grass every 7 days, saving me about $100 per month in lawn services.
So... flame me for being such a whiney ass and then tell me what your bill is/was. |
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| N_Jay |
Just wait till the greenies get transportation energy loaded on the grid (Electric cars, Rechargeable Hybrids, and Hydrogen cars).
Then we will see real prices. |
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| rocky |
Texas is unique in this country as it has its own electrical system-unlike everywhere else that uses interstate connection systems, and even in New England/NY importing power from Canada. Maybe the problem is in your state house.
How many KWH did you consume?
Notice that you are using CFLs. I've not yet found a reliable brand that doesn't start to flicker after a couple of weeks and fail to light. So much for going to Home Depot and my local hardware store. Which brand are you using? I've just picked up some GE CFLs and am hoping for better experience |
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| jestmaty |
quote:
Originally posted by rocky
Texas is unique in this country as it has its own electrical system-unlike everywhere else that uses interstate connection systems, and even in New England/NY importing power from Canada. Maybe the problem is in your state house.
How many KWH did you consume?
Notice that you are using CFLs. I've not yet found a reliable brand that doesn't start to flicker after a couple of weeks and fail to light. So much for going to Home Depot and my local hardware store. Which brand are you using? I've just picked up some GE CFLs and am hoping for better experience
All CFL's I bought were from walmart, some are GE and others are another brand (Feit?) and all are doing well many months into their use.
KWH = 2403
First 800KWH X 15.4 cents per kwh = 123.22
2nd 700kwh X 14.6 cents per kwh = 102.20
Last 903kwh X 13.8 cents per kwh = 124.61
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350.03
Avg was 14.56 cents per kwh |
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| N_Jay |
quote:
Originally posted by rocky
Notice that you are using CFLs. I've not yet found a reliable brand that doesn't start to flicker after a couple of weeks and fail to light. So much for going to Home Depot and my local hardware store. Which brand are you using? I've just picked up some GE CFLs and am hoping for better experience
You should have your voltage checked.
Other than low temps (garage in the winter) and overheating (enclosed fixtures) I have had no problems with the 20 or so around my house. |
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| coubs |
Beginning of May to end of June was 34 bucks!
We only pay 6.7 cents per kWh but we have many hydro electric dams in my province.
I just built a new house 1.5 years ago so everything is high efficiency etc. we are starting to swap out bulbs to CF as well - no problems and some have been running for a year.
One of our tv stations did a study on how much energy appliances etc. use when not in use and it was crazy. Supposedly more electricity is used on the clock than warming food with your microwave. A cable box or satellite receiver uses more electricity than a dishwasher or something like that (because it is always downloading the channel guide etc.?). Supposedly if you turn off a lot of appliances now days it still consumes power so you can cut your electric bills by up to 20% if you unplug things when not in use. |
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| OB3 |
we are on leveled billing, so we pay $130 a month all year and typically get a refund of $100-$200 at the end of the cycle.
3 bedroom cape cod, familyroom, central air... although gas drier.hot water.stove.
my neighbor has a heated inground pool and CA and paid $950 this month
ouch |
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| jestmaty |
I just did a quick average over the last 10 bills and got a total of $2001.80.
That is right at $200 per month since last September.
My neighbor's house is a one story and he keeps it 73 degrees all day, every day. He does bump the a/c up to 78 at night, but uses an 8,000btu window unit during the night. His house is approximately 750 sq ft. smaller than mine, yet is single story. The bill for the same period...... $301. |
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| jrinjax |
My Winter bills average around $100.00 For 2100 sq.ft. House with a lot of outside continuous nighttime lighting. My last bill, reflecting a 20% rate increase was $200.00.
JR |
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| Bill Balmer |
| Your window a/c units may be doing more harm than good. Your central a/c will work much more efficiently and under a lighter load if you leave it on overnight rather than asking it to suck all of that humidity out of the house every morning. Keeping the whole house at a reasonable temperature and humidity level would probably make you happier, lower your bills, AND extend the life of your central A/C. |
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| mikesrc |
| 152.00 this last month. 3500 sq ft, 5 ton downstairs, 3 ton upstairs. We keep the temp at 71 all summer long and if we have guests over we lower it to 69 to take care of the extra heat load. House was built in 03 so its well insulated. Use CFLs all over the house and they work great. Ive been buying Home Depots house brand. Most of the ones on the outside of the house are 3 years old or so and the come on at sundown. Been cool here this year, but last was very, very hot highest bill then was about 195.00 I think. Not enough to bother us. I'm like the guy above keep the central unit at a constant temp that way you won't have to suck all the hot air out of the house every morning. I sure can feel your pain. I once lived at a place that was total electric and saw some bills that were well over 400.00 |
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| rocky |
quote:
Originally posted by N_Jay
You should have your voltage checked.
Other than low temps (garage in the winter) and overheating (enclosed fixtures) I have had no problems with the 20 or so around my house.
Interesting you say that. Whenever power goes out the power from the generator or rather voltage results in a brighter light.
Sadly the power outages/fluctuations reduces the lifespan of many household components eg fridges and freezers etc |
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| jestmaty |
quote:
Originally posted by mikesrc
152.00 this last month. 3500 sq ft, 5 ton downstairs, 3 ton upstairs. We keep the temp at 71 all summer long and if we have guests over we lower it to 69 to take care of the extra heat load. House was built in 03 so its well insulated. Use CFLs all over the house and they work great. Ive been buying Home Depots house brand. Most of the ones on the outside of the house are 3 years old or so and the come on at sundown. Been cool here this year, but last was very, very hot highest bill then was about 195.00 I think. Not enough to bother us. I'm like the guy above keep the central unit at a constant temp that way you won't have to suck all the hot air out of the house every morning. I sure can feel your pain. I once lived at a place that was total electric and saw some bills that were well over 400.00
Man, that is an incredibly low electric bill. How many kilowatts did you use? Do you know the kwh rate?
I have a gas bill too!!!!!! The hot water heater, clothes dryer, stove, and furnace/heater are all natural gas.
If you notice my very first post that started this thread, you will notice that I have a lot of things that are energy whores. Pool, hot tub, seperate freezer in the garage (full of food), etc... YOU GOT TO PAY TO PLAY I also have 2 young boys and we're always washing clothes, dishes, playing video games on 2 different tvs in 2 different rooms. I am staying home with them this summer so we're home all day going in and out of the house. Thank goodness I've trained them to quickly get in or out and don't leave the door open. Leaving lights on is a different story....
I have decided to just LEAVE the a/c on 82 and just say to heck with it. We are comfortable at that temp, and it keeps the humidity out of the house. I'll still turn it up even higher when we go to sleep 'cause it rarely gets any warmer once the sun sets. I have thermometers all over the place and it never gets over 82 inside during the night.
I checked today and I used 1000 kwh in 14 days, 71.43 kwh per day for the last 2 weeks. Again, 14.6 cents per kwh = $10.42 per day I guess I'll just stop drinking about $4 in beer each day haha!!
I still can't believe mikesrc's bill for a 3500 s/f house that is kept so cool!! I mean he's living in Oaklahoma, and it is hot there too. Maybe my a/c units are undersized for the s/f of the house. 3 1/2 ton for the bottom floor (approx. 1700 s/f) and a 2 1/2 ton for the upstairs (1200 s/f?) I have a LOT of open space with one area about 18 feet tall.
I am considering trying to find someone who addresses a home's energy efficiency to get some ideas on how to lower the usage.
Maybe he or she will just suggest that I sell and move out:D I just moved into this 8 year old house last July 4th, 2006. |
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| jestmaty |
One last thing.... my a/c units were put on the west side facing area of my house when they built the house:3: :3: :3: Full, brutal sunlight for 75% of the day.
I have no shrubs to help shade them. My neighbor is very cool and hasn't *****ed about my 9 ft. diameter patio umbrella that I have temporarily put up to shade the units. Just testing to see if the temperature delta going into the return and out through the vents is ANY cooler if the units are shaded.
Should I pony up and plant some shade bushes around the outside compressor/condensor units? I know that you must keep air flowing freely and not interfere with the cooling fins. |
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| mikesrc |
I made a mistake on my bill it was 156.81 and I used 1751 KWH. Previous month was 108.48 The guy that built this house was in the heating and air business. You would not believe how well built and insulated this place is. 12-15 inches of insulation in the attic. I finished the upstairs room and double insulated the walls plus 15 inches blown over the ceiling. Both AC units are multistage 16 seer units so they blow on low most of the time. We do have gas hot water and a gas range along with the heating. Another neat thing the builder did was install 5 return airs where most houses have only 2 or 3 which means you can not hear the air blowing unless in happens to go to high which it does only a time or to in the hot afternoon.
One thing you might do is have the Electric Co do an energy audit. I had that done at my old house and ending up spending a few hundred on upgrades, but it lowered my electric bill by abut 25%. Paid for the upgrade in less than a year. |
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| jestmaty |
Yup, you paid an avg. of just under 9 cents per kwh. My 2400 kwhs last month would have gotten me a bill of $216.... much more reasonable yet still high. Pool, spa, tv's and kids home all day, clothes washing, etc....
Just so happened that a door to door electric provider rep came by Tuesday around 7pm trying to get me to switch. Their best rate, guaranteed for 1 year, was 14.5 cents per kwh. No reason for me to switch at all.
Reliant Energy also has a rate of 14 cents per kwh.
So, it seems that Texas just has extremely high kwh rates, at least in the Houston area:confused: |
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| Bill Balmer |
| If it makes you feel any better, our rates are high here, too. Maybe not $0.14/kwh, but still high. On top of that, my house is older and very poorly insulated. It's smaller than yours, with no pool, and I only run the air when I really need it (which is clearly not as much as I would if I lived in Houston), and last summer I still had some bills over $300. :3: |
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| mikesrc |
| Yikes thats high!!! My Son lives in Austin and I don't think he pays that. That 50% higher than we pay. |
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| brianthomas |
| I had our house built in '99. It is a 2,800 sq. ft. two story and there are four of us. The waterheater, furnace and dryer are gas. I leave the A/C set on 75 day and night and NEVER open windows. We are in a small town that had the great idea to buy a 2% share of a coal fired electricity generation plant nearly 30 years ago. My winter electric bill is around $38 per month and the last bill for July was $68. It was a hot month too with many days over 90 degrees. Everything is cheaper here in Iowa. My home with a three car garage and many extras is only worth $285k. The taxes are $3,050 per year. I spent $225k when I built it in '99 so we just don't see the large increases other parts of the country do. |
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| jestmaty |
My taxes are $4200 per year, house is 3000sf, and the last electricity bill for July 3 through August 2 was $310.
I keep the house at 84 degrees during the day and turn it off at night when temps get down to high 70s'. We run efficient window units in the master br and my boys room to sleep comfortably.
Run the pool 2 hours in the am and 2 hours at night. Supposed to run it 8-10 hours per day, but it is clear and tests properly each week at the pool supply store. They are much more accurate than testing myself.
We pay 15 cents per kwh in Houston, and that is what sucks. I bought $120 worth of compact flourescent bulbs to replace 90% of the lights in my house. The package shows how much you SAVE over the lifetime of the bulb, based on the national average of 8-9 cents per kwh.
WHAT???? What???? Is that the national average? Why am I paying almost twice the national average? I can't do anything about the kwh price but I wonder why I still use 2400kwh each month ( 80 per day )?
What are you guys using?
Are my 9 yr old a/c units worn out? Is my pool pump inefficient?
My kids have been conditioned to turn off everything in their rooms that use electricity everytime they leave the room. Lights, fans, tv, game consoles....
My best guess is that if I kept my a/c at approximately 76-78 like normal people do, I would use probably 150 kwh each and every day,
30 days per month at a cost of $22 per day ( $660 per month electricity bill for 5 months of the year ) May -Oct is HOT in Houston
Did that compute in your brain?? If you are reading this??
That is outrageous!!!!!!!!
When I hear of $68 bills for July, that really makes me ill. I'm jealous, but ill.
I lived in a house 2 1/2 miles away from here for 10 years.... 1900 sf and single story and my HIGHEST utility bill was $250... The hottest month of the year and my bill was $250!!
Granted... this house is 1000sf larger and is 2 stories, but my God, why does it cost so much when I sweat my butt off most days in a hot house?
My only guess is that this house, built in 98', was done so very cheaply with little insulation and inefficient appliances. I was looking at the a/c's in my attic and noticed it was at the far end of the scale of efficiency.... unfortunately the wrong end.
The hot water heater is at the bad end of the efficiency scale.....
ENd of rant.... I need another beer. I hate my suckass house:3: :3: |
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| brianthomas |
Jestmaty,
I am quite familiar with the Houston area as we have a condo in Galveston. Also I have a relative in the Bay Oaks Country Club subdivision near NASA. This house is quite large at 7,000 sq. ft. and is on the golf course. It seems well built but only from a distance. The windows are tinted and likely low-e but are only single pane glass. This seems to be the norm in Houston. I have been in the atic and the insulation is all batt style fiberglass that is not placed very well.
Here in Iowa my house has Pella windows that are low-e and two panes of glass. Between the panes is argon gas that conducts less heat or cold. The patio doors actually have three panes of glass for extra dead air or argon gas space. The atic insulation is 12 inches of fiberglass wool that is blown in with another 8 inches of blown in cellulose insulation on top.
One thing we found is that if we keep the upstairs bedroom doors completely closed at ALL times the bedrooms stay much cooler and you don't have to pump as much AC up there. Cold air falls and it will fall right out of the rooms and down the steps. Give this a try for a couple days and see if it helps. I also set the furnace fan to the on position rather than automatic so it runs all the time to keep the temp more uniform and run ceiling fans in the rooms we are using.
Closing the bedroom doors allows me to push less cold air to the bedrooms so I hope it lowers my total bill. My basement has all of the duct work exposed so I can adjust any or all of it.
My father worked for the local utility company while I was growing up and we were fairly poor. We got the whole energy conservation thing imprinted well into our brains.
Winter is a whole different thing here in Iowa. I have had gas bills up to $300 on a very cold month and do not heat the second level of our house. Enough heat naturally rises to keep the bedrooms at about 60 but they are colder at night as the thermostat goes down to 60 and the bedrooms are likely 52 degrees from midnight to 6 am.
I do burn my fair share of fosil fuels. We own a boat and just took a trip to Minneapolis and burned a thousand gallons of gas. I believe the world is running out of oil and I am going to get my share while I can!:2: |
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| Layspeed |
We live in the central valley of California, where we regularly see temps of 100+ during the summer months and it's hardly ever below 90 degrees outside. But somehow we manage to keep our energy bills down - because we're really cheap :D
House built in 3/07, approx 3000sq.ft. 2 story, dual zone/2 HVAC units. We set upstairs to 84 degrees, downstairs to 81. We open windows from about 10-11pm to about 9-10am and close them the rest of the time. Our house seems to be pretty well insulated because our A/C hardly ever turns on, neither one of them. We also have ceiling fans in every room but haven't had to use them in most rooms and usually stay downstairs in the family room with the fan going. Windows are dual-pane Low-E along with an 6x8' sliding door.
Current bill I just paid yesterday was $60.52. Our rates are $0.1200 per kWh for the first 500 kWh and $0.1316 per kWh over 500 kWh. Last months usage was 371 kWh! NICE! Sorry, but this was about the same as we were paying at our previous 1200 sq.ft. home during the summer with a brand new HVAC unit. |
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| jestmaty |
Guy across the street is on balanced billing, he pays $340 per month, 12 months a year. I'm not sure if he is overpaying nor whether or not he gets a refund at the end of the year. He has a two story and is a single dad with 1 eleven year old boy. Keeps the a/c on 74 day and night.
The guy next to him also has a two story and I had the opportunity to ask him yesterday what his last bill was. $460!!
He keeps his ac on 76 and has a pretty busy household. The family is middle eastern, maybe Paki?, and difficult to understand. But, his 2 story always has people coming and going, staying for a couple of days, then leaving. I guess that all those people, that includes 2 very young boys, use a fair amount of electricity.
He does have 2 a/c units, one for upstairs, and one for down to help balance the workload for cooling the house. But my thought is that even though we may have 6 tons of a/c between both units, when they are both running to cool the house, the meter outside just about spins like a cd in a cd player. |
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| jestmaty |
I think the meter reader is coming by Friday August 31 or Tuesday Sept 4 and we are again on track for a $360 month.
August was HOT all over the country and Houston was realtively rain free for the last 3 weeks.
I've noticed that when it is cloudy and raining all day the electic usages drops :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Used an average of 80 kwh per day for the last 28 days since the last meter read.
Just a reminder... we pay an ass-raping 14.5cents per kwh:3: |
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| BigDozer66 |
I had to go back and look at our bills to know for sure.:o
June-July was $180.00 Total incl. taxes etc) for 1298 kWh's.
July-Aug was $210.00 but with a $25.00 Customer Appreciation rebate it was $185.00 for 1543 kWh's.
1800 sq. ft. 1979 built brick home.
8 yo son and 11 yo daughter, wife and myself.
1 Beagle outside and a 10 gallon aquarium with 4 fish.:)
Gas water heater and gas furnace.
Everything else is electric.
7 year old 4 ton 12 SEER Luxaire air conditioner with a Honeywell TH8320U1008 programmable thermostat.:)
We keep the TStat programmed to go to 85 during the day (8:30 AM to 4 PM) and to 71 from 4PM to 10:30 PM. We have it set to go to 70 during the night (my wife suffers from hot feet syndrome) until 6 AM when it goes to 71.
On the weekends it stays on 71 during the day and 70 at night.:4:
BigDozer66 |
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| jestmaty |
20 windows on a 4 sided house. There is no shade (except a bit on the front from a couple of tall pines ), front of the house faces NW and the front/left side get brutal sun in the afternoon.
I put a giant umbrella up to shade my a/c compressors, hoping that shaded units perform better than fully sunlit.
My friend ponied up a couple of years ago to have all his windows replaced with double paned, gas filled efficient ones. He swore that his electric bill dropped about 40%.
Now I know it would take something like 15 years to recover the costs, but what do some of you know about considering this?
Just for example, if I could save $100 per month in a/c and heating costs, it would take 100 months (basically 8 years) to recover my costs... assuming a $10,000 job to do all the windows. Tax credits not being factored in there.
I do plan on being here at least that long...
So far this month, 2250kwh used over 29 days. |
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| BigDozer66 |
I would check into the tax credit and possibly rebates from the electrical company? If you plan on staying there 10 years or so then the savings wold pay for themselves if the electric rates stay the same as now.:)
Does anyone here actually think the rates will be the same or will they continue to increase?:4:
You mentioned the other house and the highest bill at it but the electric rates have doubled if not tripled in the last 2 years.:mad:
TXU is our provider and they generate almost all of there electricity with coal or Nuke's but every time the price of natural gas goes up our rates go up.:3:
This is because the Public Utility Commision has it set up that way.:3:
I just got my bill and it was up to $236.00? for 1733 kWh's. I expected it to be higher because for 2-1/2 weeks my daughter was home during the day so the A/C had to run all day and not just the during the evening/night.:)
BigDozer66 |
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| jestmaty |
Dozer... I believe electricity rates WILL only get higher, so if my usage does actually go down substantially and rates go up, the break even point arrives even sooner.
I never even really paid too much attention to the old house useage, I have no idea what my rate was nor my kwh use....
I have much more to say on the subject, but it will have to wait until sometime Saturday afternoon.
For the first time in many, many, years, I stayed up all night Friday (until 5am as of right now) drinking,...... and am going to bed now. |
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| Alexandra242628 |
September is always the worst. Mine was $303. Highest this year.
I blame George Bush. |
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| N_Jay |
quote:
Originally posted by Alexandra242628
I blame George Bush.
We don't doubt that.
I'm fairly sure when you stub a toe, you blame George Bush. |
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| N_Jay |
quote:
Originally posted by BigDozer66
. . . ..
TXU is our provider and they generate almost all of there electricity with coal or Nuke's but every time the price of natural gas goes up our rates go up.:3:
This is because the Public Utility Commision has it set up that way.:3:
. . . .
It is also because utilities buy and sell power as a commodity. :rolleyes: |
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| nolan65 |
We have ourselves to blame for high electricity here in Texas. We allowed the state gov't to "De Regulate" power rates. We allowed the PUC to screw us. We allowed big business to run the state and change the laws. Look at TXU??
Of the people who can register to vote, less than half are, and if you get 50% of those, you had a huge turnout!!!
It's still we the people, RIGHT?? |
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| jestmaty |
Paid another 'raped in the *ss' electric bill today, it's due the 21st.
$364.24 for "service" from 8/02 through 09/4.... 2509 kwh's in 31 days..
That is officially the highest electricity bill I've ever paid in my life. And it is officially $6 more than my Pilot car payment.
I'm half tempted to pay off the Pilot so that I can pay my light bill without getting an ulcer. But 2.9% is hard to pay off prematurely, each payment of $359 is approximately $340 to principal and $20 to interest for the next 23 or so payments. Not sure why the payoff as of Sept 12 was $7600 'cause the math doesnt' add up based on my remaining payments, but that is all off topic...
Found an electricity bill from 1996 at my old house a couple of days ago and you wouldn't believe what I found. Same time frame... 8/02/1996 until 9/04/1996. Now granted... I only used 1430 kwhs, but my bill was $120.
8.3 cents per kwh.... Now we get 14 1/2 cents per kwh... Sucks major ass!!!!!
I have natural gas for the hot water heater, clothes dryer, furnace, and stove. So that is another bill on top of the electric. But.....gas is fortunately a very cheap commodity around here. Last months bill was 40 bucks.
End of rant!:3: |
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| jestmaty |
Keep in mind that I keep my 'pig sh*t energy sucking inefficient money pit of a house' at inhuman temperatures.
For some reason, this 2 story house was built wrong in my opinion. If I keep it at a reasonable 78 degrees, the air conditioners run all day and night. Eating up something like $25 per day in electricity, or $750 per month. I refuse to pay that, so we use fans and keep the a/c at 84 all the time, unless company comes over.
Use window unit a/c's for the bedrooms to sleep comfortably.
I am seriously considering spending 15k for 22 ultra high energy efficient windows on the entire house. They spray 1000sf of extra insulation in the attic (good because 2 stories have less s/f of attic than a single story house with the same s/f total)
The company gaurantees a 50% reduction on your heating and a/c costs.
They take your heating and electric bills and add them up for each month. Figure that 66% of that bill is directly attributed to a/c and heating. They then gaurantee in writing that 1/2 of the 66% will be the reduction in energy usage in the household.
I believe the catch is that it caps out at $500 per year............
I have a LOT of homework to do b4 I even think about laying out that kind of cash. |
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| jestmaty |
I did a recap of the last 12 months of electicity here and I came up with an average of $220 per month.
If I ran my a/c like normal people do for 6 months of the year, it would probably be closer to $350 per month for the year.
$4200 per year on electricty alone
:16: :16: :16: |
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| BigDozer66 |
quote:
Originally posted by jestmaty
I did a recap of the last 12 months of electicity here and I came up with an average of $220 per month.
If I ran my a/c like normal people do for 6 months of the year, it would probably be closer to $350 per month for the year.
$4200 per year on electricty alone
:16: :16: :16:
Normal people here in Texas run their A/C 9-10 months out of the year.;)
I have a gas water heater and very efficient gas furnace but I haven't needed any heat lately so it has just been the H2O heater.:)
How old are your A/C's and do you know what SEER they are?
BigDozer66 |
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| CMasten |
Here in So Cal, it was another hot, miserable summer.. no rain now for most of the year. My home was built in 67 and had the original Heating and AC, and had been hacked for the past 10 years or so, by the other owner to keep it running. I finally just bit the bullet and put in all new dual pane windows and doors, and a brand new HVAC system out from a hall closet (which we turned into a walk in pantry) up to the attic with all new ducting etc 100% replacement. This summer I was seeing about a 150/month reduction over last year, which was comparable temp wise per month, so not a huge savings, but the big difference was that it only came on and off a few times througout the day and the house stayed cooler all summer. It also got cool in less than 20 min or so where the old system never shut off. Hard to tell the real savings as our friendly edison folks have changed the tiers so now the power is MUCH more expensive if you use over the baseline, so Im not sure what my real savings is, but I figured getting it all new was the right way to go, its more comfortable, totally silent inside the house and was a worthy upgrade, power will only get more expensive.
All in all I paid 11k for new windows and doors and 13k for a new 16 seer 5 ton Goodman system, I went for the standard 80% furnace as we dont use our heat here in So Cal much, so I put the extra money in a more effecient AC compressor and all new ducting etc... to maximize that part of it. A lot of money for sure, but Im glad i did the upgrade. |
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| jestmaty |
Just an update....
The last electric bill for Sept 4th through Oct 2nd was $276. Used 1872 kwh at an average rate of 14.78 cents per kwh.
I'm on track to use approximately 1400 kwh for Oct 3rd through Nov.2 and my bill should be +/- $200.
On a brighter note.... the cool weather is here now AND my neighbor tipped me off to a much better rate offer from a local electricity provider.
I signed up for a one year guaranteed rate of 11.1 cents per kwh. That should get me through Oct or Nov of next year :2: :2: At least through the hot summer months.
Did some rough calculations and will hopefully see some realized savings of around 20% of those mid to high $300's bills.
Take for instance a monthly useage of 2500 kwhs. Pay 14.6 cents per kwh and you'll pay $365. Pay only 11.1 cents per kwh and it will be $277. Herein lies the problem....
I may have to pay a $200 cancellation penalty to leave TXU. I say may because I already have a complaint with the Public Utility Commission on file for something TXU did to me last Sept. that was really stupid.
I sold my old house and told TXU to cut off power on Friday Sept 23, 2006 at the old house. They admittedly screwed up and cut power to my new house that I'd been living in for 2 1/2 months. Happened Friday pm around 5 o'clock.
The problem was that I had a big birthday celebration event planned at my house on Saturday for my son's 10 yr old birthday. People were coming from 200 miles away, had reserved one of those big blow up jumpy things for the front yard, etc.... in other words, had an event planned for weeks at my house and now the electricity has been cut off and they admit the mistake.
I was on the phone for hours Friday pm and Saturday am and the power was finally turned on at 4pm on Saturday. Of course, everything was put on hold regarding the party, basically postponed.
But.... what I did stress to the 'customer service' people at TXU was that if/when I left them for their HUGE screwup, I would NOT be paying any early cancellation fees.... ever.
We'll see... it was over a year ago and I still have another 11 months on my contract with TXU. I guess I'll have to rattle the PUC's cage again if they slap that fee on me.
Even so, I will save about $210 total during the months of June, July, and August of next year, basically offsetting the fee if I can't get out of paying it.
The one year contract with the new energy provider is much more liberal in it's cancellation policy.... take the remaining # of months in your contract, multiply by $12 each month, and that is the fee to leave early. In other words, keep them for only 6 months, pay a $72 fine to leave early.
Wish me luck..... BTW last October's bill (2006) was $326 because it actually started on Sept 23rd (the day they turned the elec back on) and ran till Nov 1. About 5 weeks of electicity on that particular bill. |
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| mikesrc |
Got My Electric bill Today. Feel sorry for you folks. 3500 hundred Sq foot house. 1411 KW used bill 106.15. .075 per KW hour I love Oklahoma
Mike |
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| tim.s |
quote:
Originally posted by jestmaty
Keep in mind that I keep my 'pig sh*t energy sucking inefficient money pit of a house' at inhuman temperatures.
For some reason, this 2 story house was built wrong in my opinion. If I keep it at a reasonable 78 degrees, the air conditioners run all day and night...
What do you have for window covers? ...metal/wood blinds or fabric curtains?
My last house had a lot of windows on the back that faced southeast and caught the morning and midday sun. Even with faux wood (vinyl) blinds on some of the windows there was noticable heat coming in - especially the windows with curtains. I was cheap and didn't want to spring for solar screens so I put on the static cling tint that my wife got from QVC. I have to tell you, it made a noticeable difference on the amount of heat coming in these windows. It goes on the outside of the window and keeps the heat from hitting the glass.
The front of the house caught the afternoon and evening sun, so we put curtains and heavy drapes on these windows. These also made a noticeable difference in the room comfort.
My current house (a two story) has heavy wood blinds all around. The seem to work pretty well - keeping out the sun and reflecting some of the heat back out. The angle of this house is different too, so the strongest sun hits the wall with the fewest windows. |
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| jestmaty |
All windows have a solar screen on 'em. I guess what I'm seeing now that I was blind to when I bought the house is how BIG some of the windows are!! I'll post a pic later when the sun comes up.
Every window has 2" faux wood blinds.. so between the solar screen and the blinds, little sunlight passes through.
I have wondered about drapes' ability to cut down heat :confused: |
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| tim.s |
So maybe your house is poorly insulated like you originally thought or your AC units are undersized for your square footage.
Check around and see if you can get your AC units evaluated (performance and load) to make sure they are working properly and the correct size for your house. If they are low on freon or if the compressor is bad, they could run all day and cool very little. |
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| jestmaty |
tim.s, you're right about having a/c's checked. They're going on 10 years old and I work them hard.
When this next summer comes around, I'll give it a whole month of 76 degree cooling. I'll not be so pissy about $$ especially at 11.7 cents per kwh as opposed to 14.7. Sounds trivial, but the difference is close to 20% difference in cost.
I've also noticed another thing like when I heat the pool when it gets too cool to swim.
Today is Nov. 1 and the pool is 64degrees. WAaayyyy to cool to swim in in my opinion. So, when I fire up the pool heater, I notice that I get a 3 degree rise in temp per hour.
As the pool gets warmer, it starts to heat closer to 4-5 degrees per hour. In other words, put warmer water through the heater and is gets more efficient.
I'm sure that the a/c likes to take in 76 degree air and cool it 15-20 degrees to send back through the house to keep everyone happy. It is more difficult to heat 87 degree air and expect it to keep that same difference coming out of the vents. Being stingy with the electricity consumption of the a/c's is counter productive.
I wish I knew the happy medium of 'how cool can I keep it to equalize comfort, a/c abuse, and electricity bill'. |
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| mattbrat |
Brevard County FL (Central East Coast of FL aka "Space Coast")
1700 sqft, 3bd 2ba, poured concrete walls, R-30 ceiling insulation, Cheap n' Cheesy windows, programmable 7 day thermostat.
Bill for Oct: $87.89
kWh used: 745 |
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| larryziegler |
| My electric bill for the last half of Sept/1st half of Oct was $93.95. 732 kwh was used. This is for a 1358 sq ft 1 1/2 story home built around 1989 and no pool/spa. The prior month electric portion of the bill was $336.63 for 1632 kwh used. |
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| jestmaty |
quote:
Originally posted by larryziegler
My electric bill for the last half of Sept/1st half of Oct was $93.95. 732 kwh was used. This is for a 1358 sq ft 1 1/2 story home built around 1989 and no pool/spa. The prior month electric portion of the bill was $336.63 for 1632 kwh used.
1632 kwhs X 20.6 cents per kwh = $336?? The kwh rate seems out of whack with the first half of your post? OUCH if you are paying almost 21 cents per kwh.
Where do you live to only use 732 kwh for hot Sept days?? |
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| larryziegler |
quote:
Originally posted by jestmaty
1632 kwhs X 20.6 cents per kwh = $336?? The kwh rate seems out of whack with the first half of your post? OUCH if you are paying almost 21 cents per kwh.
Where do you live to only use 732 kwh for hot Sept days??
Welcome to the world of Pacific Gas & Electric in Calif. Our electricity charges are in multiple pricing tiers. The first 563.2 kwh is charged at 11.43 cents, the next 168.96 kwh is charged at 12.989 cents, the next 394.24 kwh is 22.722 cents and the last tier for me is at 31.719 cents/kwh.
Here in the Central Valley it does gets into the upper 80's and low 90's in mid Sept., and with fans to create air movement, A/C isn't necessary. We only have 15% humidity give or take. We have about 4 month of the year that reflect this kind of billing, where no A/C or heat is ever used, that suppresses the electricity or gas usage. That $336 bill was the highest I have ever seen, so something was abnormal, as was the $95 on the opposite end. Normal high billing in summer is $275-$300 and shoulder months around $115. |
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| tim.s |
quote:
Originally posted by jestmaty
...I'm sure that the a/c likes to take in 76 degree air and cool it 15-20 degrees to send back through the house to keep everyone happy. It is more difficult to heat 87 degree air and expect it to keep that same difference coming out of the vents. Being stingy with the electricity consumption of the a/c's is counter productive...
If you don't have them, you might want to get programmable thermostats. As you know, you can program the temp say 5° higher during the day and have it start cooling off before you get home. However, you don't want to completely turn off the AC during the day. If you do, the house absorbs to much heat and then it takes a long time to cool back off.
You come home and the house temp is 86° so you manually turn down the thermostat to 76°. Even if the air temp drops to 76° pretty fast, your walls and furniture are still radiating 86° heat. As the interior surfaces of the house dump heat into the house, the air temp climbs back up and your AC kicks back on (if you have two ACs, it may seem non-stop). Eventually, the ambient temp gets back down to where you want it, but it's many hours later. |
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