Quote:
Originally Posted by DAEpperson
We just hit a "level pay" average for the next 12 months of $660. I am in shock to say the least. I seems like just yesterday it hit $550.
Details - A little more than 3000 sq ft 2 story house built in 1987, reasonably well insulated
- Two 27 Cu Ft refrigeratirs
- Large swimming pool
- 2 pcs
- Two adults, 3 teens
- 14 seer new hvac
- new high e windows throughout
What the heck? I know the kids leave the lights on, and the pool is a drain, but is this normal? What is everyone else paying? /rant off
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My OC house is fairly similar to yours, with some differences:
Built in 1989, poor insulation
2 story
Single pane, original windows throughout
Medium size swimming pool & spa
Several PCs - I work out of the house & the wife stays home, so PCs are always running
Two adults, 1 teen
New furnace, original AC unit
1 large, 8 year old fridge
Malibu lighting fetish... they're everywhere - probably 50 of them
New high efficiency front load washer & dryer
I'm only 3 miles from the beach, so AC use is fairly limited, and the area stays fairly warm in the winter. I keep the heat set at 67 or so, and we try to wear sweaters as much as possible. I relocated my office to an upstairs bedroom to take advantage of rising heat, since that's where I am most of the day. No heat when we sleep at night.
I run the pool pump (new 1.5 HP high efficiency motor) 3 hours per day winter and summer. No way in hell I'm going to run it 6-7 hours a day like my pool maint company wants. We use the spa about twice a week. I figured it cost about $10 each time we use it.
My monthly electric is usually in the $230-$280 range, and gas is right around $70-$100. I've talked to my neighbors and we're all about the same.
If you're paying $660 for electric, you can probably blame most of it on the 3 kids using power unjudiciously. You should probably look at reducing your heater temp down a few degrees, running the pool pump for just 3 hours a day & unplugging as much stuff in the house as you can. Maybe install motion-detecting light switches on 10 second shut off timers.
Do you have a plasma TV or LCD? I've heard plasmas suck energy like crazy. You'd pay for a new LCD in short time if you converted. We don't watch any TV here.... just Netflix a couple times a week, so the TVs don't run very often.