Your Electric Bill

[daepp]

this is all great - thank you. it occurs to me that we probably need to talk rate per kwh. I will find my bill and post. It could be that, like everything else about CA, we have screwed up the utilities!

[MotoSook]

You need a smart meter!

[nostatic]

[djmcmath]

$600? Good golly. This summer, in the worst heat, we paid $130. I'm more concerned about the cell phone bill than the electrical. Local rates range from about $0.12 to $0.15 per kwh. I understand that just across the border in VA they're almost 50% more than that.

But then, our house is only 1600sqft, and I've been going crazy hunting down insulation leaks. We only have one small TV, but it's a CRT, so that's a bit of a sink. My computer runs all the time, and sometimes I'm running a second computer, the stereo, etc. Our fridge is brand new, and heat/hot-water are heating oil, but the stove is all electric.

Back when I was single, it seems like my bill was a LOT less. I mean, a LOT less, like it's more than doubled. (sigh) The price we pay...

Dan

[NineOhOne]

3000 s/f, two A/C units. Electric/propane heat. Large fridge. Washer/dryer (elec).

Level pay = $65/mo.

[john70t]

Two occupants.
1400sq two story w/basement.
-Insulated steel doors.
-Double pane windows.
-Steel siding/foam insulation over original siding.
-3 inches of foam around cinderblock foundation down to frost line.
-Basement vent windows are cinderblock w/small screen openings(insufficient cross ventilation in summer, getting a fan).
-All basement hot water pipes wrapped in foam w/metaltape corners.
-1.5W LEDs and 13WCFLs usually left on for zone lighting.
Two computers, two medium tube tv's. Somethings always on.
Heat stays at 64-68deg. Our highest combined gas/electric was last winter for $220. Usually around $170-200.

$600/month is worth spending money to permanently fix. Use a infrared thermometer on the walls to find heat loss, and consider getting a Killawatt monitoring gizmo.
There may also be something wrong with the meter if the bills are out of historic norm, worth checking into.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by NineOhOne

3000 s/f, two A/C units. Electric/propane heat. Large fridge. Washer/dryer (elec).

Level pay = $65/mo.

Can I ask how old is your house? Pool? # of occupants? Where in CA?

[daepp]

My neighbors are now telling my wife their #'s are comparable - this is bad!

[NineOhOne]

Originally Posted by DAEpperson

Can I ask how old is your house? Pool? # of occupants? Where in CA?

2007. No pool. 3 occupants. NM.

[fintstone]

I have houses in LV and Albuquerque (both worse climate)...One about 2500 sq ft and the other about 3800 sq ft. Both houses combined average about half your costs.

[KarlCarrera]

Whooh....sure seems as though your getting ripped. $660/mo?? For ele alone? I'm paying $230/mo for ele, water, gas and waste water. No pool, but 2500sq. ft. Built in 1981 and I still have the original furnace,... and winters.
Have the utility (SG&E?) come by and verify/check/replace the meter. If it's spinning that fast it's going to need lubed before it launches itself.

Karl
88 Targa

[vwbobd]

5500sq ft here in the beautiful north Ga mountains and we have 4 3 ton heat pumps detached 1200sq ft heated and cooled garage with its own 2.5 ton unit 2 adults one child, solar heated pool, computers, plasmas, blah blah blah . My bill is not on level pay but our average is 325 month

[Rufblackbird]

santa clara, ca. 1300 sq foot house, 3-4 adults (depending on existence of 4th roommate). Gas water heater and stove. Plasma tv hardly on, but 4 pumps for filters on fish tanks are on 24/7. Two laptops on most of the day. Our last energy bill was $114.23.

300kWH @ $0.07753/kWh
954kWH @ $0.08913/kWH

then again, city of santa clara owns silicon valley power, and we supposedly pay half of what people in the surrounding cities pay.

[vash]

david..that sucks.

friend of mine in SF sees a bill like that. no pool, electrical stuff like TV, lights on all the time. two young kids that dont give a crap. i would faint..

[NineOhOne]

Originally Posted by vwbobd

5500sq ft here in the beautiful north GA mountains and we have 4 3 ton heat pumps detached 1200sq ft heated and cooled garage with its own 2.5 ton unit 2 adults one child, solar heated pool, computers, plasmas, blah blah blah . My bill is not on level pay but our average is 325 month

I assume the still is wood-fired?

[Joeaksa]

Now you guys are realizing why I have a load of solar panels in the back yard!

Still around $200 a month in summer and $100 in winter.

[legion]

Holy crap!

I only break $100 when I run the air conditioning for a whole month.

I have a 1600 sq. ft. house, electric stove, gas dryer, gas furnace.

[Radioactive]

Dave, we are the in same city and I used about 1300kWh last month

1850 sqft 2 story
Built 1987 I think
no pool
original air
1 frig
gas dryer
gas stove and oven
(2) server's (5) workstations
(2) Adults (2) under 13

Tell me how in the hell do I get out of the Tier 5
Show me somebody who can live within Tier 1 (347kWh)
347kWh / 30 days 11.568 kWh per day or 11,568 W
11,568 W / 24 hrs = 482 w per hour

If I remember Ohm's law that is 4 amps


WHO THE HELL CAN LIVE ON 4 AMPS PER HOUR

[Rick Lee]

Just got my latest elec. bill for $54. I haven't had the heat or a/c on in quite a while. Most expensive ever was $274 this past summer. House is 2500 s/f.

When I use the oven and it's cold out, when I'm done, I turn it off and leave the door open. That heat is already paid for, might as well use it some more. I turn things off religiously when not in use.

[rick-l]

Nostatic and Rufblackbird,

What are the different kilowatt hour rates for? What determines whether it is 3 6 or 7 cents?