Electric Bill Comparison

[DADoES]

Tex,

82°F from 10:45 AM to 11:45 PM, Mon-Thu. 10:45 AM to 6 PM Fri.
77°F rest of the time. No change on Sat & Sun. 5°F difference, not that much of a setback (setup?), really. I should go another degree or two. Sometimes I nudge it down a degree or two for sleeping if I'm feeling stuffy, particularly when the weather is mild and there's less run-time for humidity control. I loved, loved, loved the two-speed Lennox at my old house. Excellent for humidity control.

Winter temps are 60°F and 70°F.

As I understand the general rule, larger temp changes for setback and longer time periods always make for more savings, even if there's a somewhat long run-time for recovery. As the indoor temp creeps more toward a balance with the ambient, there's less indoor/outdoor differential and less run-time. If the ambient is 100°F, it takes less run-time to hold an indoor of 86°F than 80°F. Turning the system completely off would garner the greatest savings ... but most people are reluctant to do that. Long run-times for recovery are actually more efficient than short-cycling, keeps the gasses and air flowing.

I can't imagine running 70°F inside when it's 102°F out! Do you actually get 70°F or does the indoor temp creep up a bit during the day and settle back down at night? I have no point of reference for how long a recovery from 82°F to 70°F would take. Only way to tell is try it. Even raising to 78°F would be of some benefit. If your system has to run continuously to hold 70°F, it'd likely cycle on/off at 78°F.

 

[westtexman]

This is sad...

but I honestly don't know. Sometimes I will come home for lunch, and the thermostat will say the air is between 70-74 degrees. Because it is a smaller duplex, and I leave the blinds closed during the day, the A/C unit seems to hold the air at the desired temperature.

To be honest, it's really apathy on my part as to why I don't adjust the thermostat when I leave the house. I guess once I moved into the smaller house, I was just relieved that my electric bill was no longer $300/month, and I wanted to keep my house cooler than I had been able to in the past. Now that I've actually looked at this post (and therefore actually REVIEWED my electric bill), I realize now that I should be much more energy conscious, and take measures to conserve.

That's awesome that you can keep your electric bill down in a house that large. This gives me hope that I can do the same (especially once I buy a larger house). Thanks guys for your input, and DADoES - thanks for this thread which has forced me to analyze my energy consumption. Toggle - I will now work on being AN ENERGY STAR! LOL.

Tex

P.S. DADoES - I think it's a lot easier to keep a house cooler here in Lubbock, as it is very DRY here. We don't have anywhere NEAR the humidity you guys have down there in South Texas! Even though we have several days over 100*F (most days in the summer months are in the high 90's), the lack of humidity makes the weather much more tolerable. There are still several older houses here in West Texas with evaporative air-conditioning, which works very well, except maybe in August when we seem to experience a little humidity. Tex

 

[DADoES]

See, that's the thing about a programmable 'stat -- you don't have to come home to an uncomfortable house and wait while it cools down. Get the programming adjusted and it'll take care of itself. Some non-heat pump thermostats also have the "Smart Recovery" feature that monitors and learns over time how the temps change and adjusts the recovery start-point to compensate, for both heating and cooling.

For further details -- as you all should know by now (LOL!), I have a tankless water heater that runs at 102°F for normal temperature. Thrifty F&P washer, although it's not at the level of an HE front-loader. Strategic use of CF bulbs. My house is 2,550 sq ft, with 9' and 10' ceilings. Water well and septic system. The master bath has three large glass-block windows that pick up a lot of solar energy, which is good in winter, bad in summer.

I could do better if I tried harder. My computer runs 24/7 (but I do turn off the monitor). Various electronic equipment in stand-by mode -- two VCRs, TVs, etc. Extra refrigerator in the garage. I don't do much cooking.

One thing of which I'm very conscious that many people aren't, is running hot water at the kitchen or bathroom faucet when it's not needed. Be careful of those single-lever faucets! They DO run some hot water unless set EXACTLY on the cold position. LOL, if I forget, I can hear the tankless relay click on around the corner.

 

[jimmyb]

Electricity in Phoenix

Aug 10 - Sep 9

$115.17 1094 kWh On-Peak Hours (9 am - 9 pm M-F)
$ 29.32 1934 kWh Off-Peak Hours (9 pm - 9 am M-F,all Sat&Sun)

plus 14 other misc charges and taxes brings me to a total of $272.93. This is for an all electric house with AC set to 78, pool pump running 6-7 hrs/off peak time, outdoor bar fridge, freezer, hot water tank, dryer ... The average outdoor temp for the time period was 93.

 

[jimmyb]

Total kWh

In summary - total kWh was 3028 costing $272.93

 

[toggleswitch]

Looks like the off-peak keeps it affordable.

Although the three hours after work from 6pm to 9pm as PEAK probably don't help!

93*F avg temp....OMG!!!

Well, chances are the incoming water temp keeps the hot water heater working minimally!

Jim, do you have a swamp cooler?

 

[toggleswitch]

LOL

I pay $260 for electricity and my avg. temp was 74*F
(hot water is oil-fired)

Jim in Phoenix paid circa $273 and his avg. temp was 93*F

There is no justice with electric rates! LOL

 

[gansky1]

I can't find my electric bill! I should have it here, but frequently toss it out once I've seen it as the amount never changes. I'm on the level payment plan for all my utilities so the same amount comes out of my bank account every month. Typically in the summer with a/c, my bill averages around $100-125, winter is about half. Being a public utility, the rates are very low, October 1 the rates went to the winter scale starting at $0.0714 per kwh up to 100 kwh and then down to 0.619 per kwh and so on. We are very fortunate to have such low rates here, but we make it up in state & city taxes. Start a thread on auto licensing fees and you'll be astounded!

http://ww1.oppd.com/acctsvcs/rates/res/basic.cfm

 

[jetcone]

Boston Massachusetts:

Electric
July 11 to August 11 1866KWH used $222.50 = 87.91 delivery + 134.59 cost of elec.
Generation Charge .07 cents/KWH Distribution Chg .04 cents/kwh

Keyspan Gas APril 11 to May 11 47 Therms $69.33
Delvery Chg $25.30 Supply Chg $44.03
I used 45 CU FT of gas but they throw in this fudge factor called "Thermal Factor" of 1.0425 per CCF and that bounces it up to 47 therms.

Gas is used for cooking in two units, hot water for two units, laundry in two units.

 

[toggleswitch]

Toggle's uselss tidbits and ravings..

IIRC:

The above fudge factor is to reflect the heat content in the gas...concentration varies.

In theory you are paying for therms which is defined as 100,000 BTU's, not the volume of gas (cubic feet).

Another fudge factor is a "temperature commpensated" meter. These are usually located outdoors. Natural gas (as all "air") shrinks with cold and expands with heat, so again strictly measuring volume does not coincide with heat content.

Here's another one for all you guys who cook with gas. The main pressure regulator that is piped before the gas meter and is vented to the atmosphere varies the amount of gas that flows with ambient barometric pressure. This is to ensure that the "size" of your flames does not vary with the outdoor air pressure. Of course, it is not perfect so your gas cooker will be faster or slower depending on low pressure or high pressure day. (one is stormy one is clear, I forget which).

Gas pressure in a home is typically 3 PSI (pounds per square inch). The job of the gas pressure regulator is to "Add" 3 PSI to the ambient atmmospheric pressure. See?

 

[gizmo]

Hmmm not sure how to compare like with like, but:

Solar power, solar hot water: monthly bills = $0.

Petrol (gasoline) for backup generator: summer - $0; autumn, spring $10/month average; winter $20/month average.

LPG for fridge, heating, cooking: $45/month

Firewood for heating/cooking/hot water: $650/year.

New house is passive solar design so should need much less heating in future.

Chris.

 

[jimmyb]

Swamp Cooler

We do not have a swamp cooler. With the low level of humidity A/C is not as bad as other parts of the country.

 

[hooverac216]

£400.00

 

[toggleswitch]

$400 pounds sterling?

@ 1.75 per GBP, that's a lot of USD => off the top of my head that's $700 isn't it?

is that for a month or for a year?
Use of Air conditioning?
All-electric home or fossil fuels as well?

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[Designgeek]

August usage was:

electric: 401 KWH
gas (hot water): 15 therms.

total bill about $75.

This is for one person, about 1,000 square feet, Oakland California area. I think the electric is high, by way of an outdoor light that's jammed permanently on. I need to get property management to replace the motion sensor one of these days, and that will bring the electricity usage down considerably. The fridge needs to be replaced; it's too big for the space it's in, the door seals are starting to go, and generally it uses enough power that a new smaller one would pay for itself in a year.

Aside from that, I'm pretty hardcore about conservation. I use a twintub washer & cold water, and line-dry my laundry (have a nice electric dryer for rare occasions), unplug all my wall-warts & other stuff when not in use, use compact fluorescent bulbs everywhere except on dimmer outlets, etc. And aside from the fridge, my biggest power user is probably my IT stack, which consists of PBX & voicemail & network router; my computers are laptops: the Mac is on almost all the time, the PC is on a couple of hours a day; no stereo, no TV (actually I do have a TV: 5" diagonal B&W, 20 years old, watch a couple of times a year...) So where the heck am I using over 10 KWH per day...?.... (The fridge is about 4 KWH/day, that outdoor light is probably two 100-watt bulbs, or 2.4 KWH/day, the router is an old PC chassis which is probably a powerhog, will replace that soon....)

Winter heating plans: Install a couple of sets of indoor curtains, floor-to-ceiling, that will block off unused areas so they don't have to be heated. Use an electric heater for spot heating e.g. the bathroom for the morning shower. Add another comforter on the bed. And put on layers and layers of long underwear all the time.

California gets a lot of its electricity from natural gas, so electric rates are probably going to soar this winter. Anyone here who's lucky enough to get their power primarily from nuclear or renewables will probably be spared the pain & itch of rate increases.

 

[Designgeek]

Gizmo from Australia apparently gets the conservation & efficiency prize here!

Tex, you'll find a programmable thermostat gives you all the comfort you want and pays for itself quickly. I know people who have 'em and they all think they're one of the best things they ever bought. I may install one on my (gas) heating this year, though I'm going to try to not use the gas heat at all. We'll see...

Re. AC: when the compressor switches off but the fan is still on, the air that goes through the ducts apparently has an increased humidity level. I can feel it in air conditioned buildings, and even in my van when I cycle the AC on hot days. So I assume if your house has AC, you're likely to have the same result. When the humidity increases you feel hotter than the actual temperature, or a vague uncomfortable sticky feeling. I don't have or need AC in the house, but I do notice it in other buildings.

Another cool-down trick for hot weather: get a spray-bottle of the kind you'd fill with water for misting plants. Use it on yourself: spray yourself with a mist of water and turn on a fan, even on the low setting. You'll cool off so fast you'll want to put on another layer to warm back up. Seriously. Also, stick your bare feet in a bucket of cool water for a few minutes. Same result.

 

[retromom]

Utility overload!

I'll have to blame the outrageous electric bills on my "vintage" 1967 brick rancher with the lousy insulation and razor thin cheap a#@ windows! OY!

Thank heavens the cold (or at least cool) fronts are starting to make it all the way to Bellville! One more utility bill like the last one, and I'll have to postpone my facelift and enhancement with Dr. Matagringos!

Toggle: How big is my unit? You're getting a little personal, aren't you? ;-)

 

[toggleswitch]

ai mira que grande....

I have nothing but the most innocent intentions.....
(batting eyelashes furiously)

OMG, 1967 here is new. 1946 is vintage.

Venus: I thought you said you have two A/C units... so I assumed you had a colonial (two-level house) How is it zoned for A/C?

 

[toggleswitch]

BTW I am sure your run a tight, clean and efficient ship!
It is definitely the house causing those bills.

 

[kenmore1978]

Utility expense

water heating, clothes drying, cooking, forced air furnace are gas, bill averages $29 in summer, runs up to around $150 monthly in winter. Investor owned utility (Southern California Gas, owned by Sempra Energy, who also own San Diego Gas & Electric and I imagine some others.)

Central A/C, 1 bedroom heated with space heater when furnace is off at night and that person is up late, 1 bedroom heated with space heater because it's not in the main house, 1 bathroom heated with space heater. 2 refrigerators. Virtaully al lighting converted to flourescent. 6 people living in house. water and sewer charge included on power bill.
Average cost about $550 every 2 months. Municipal Utility, largest in US (Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power)