What Are Your Summer Energy Costs? Anyone Making Any Changes or Trying To Conserve?

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launderess

launderess

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Joined
Jul 22, 2004
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Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage
Electric bill arrived for June, and nearly fell into a dead faint.

Grand total of over $180 broken down as follows:

Supply 640 KwH @16.4266c/kWh - $105.13
Merchant Function Charge - $2.87
GRT and Other Tax Surcharges - $2.60
(Gross Receipts Tax
Total Supply Charges - $110.60

Delivery Charges

(Total electricity supply cost is 17.3c per KWh.

Basic Service Charge - $14.19
Delivery 640 kWh @6.9125c/kWh - $44.24
SBC/RPS Charges @0.2406c/kWh - $1.54
(System Benefits Charge/Renewable Portfolio Standard Charges

GRT (yes they charge this twice) - $2.99
Total Delivery Charges - $62.96

Sales Tax @4.0000% - $6.94

Grand Total - $180.50

Con Edison of NY announced last week, rates will INCREASE within the next few weeks due to high petrol prices.

Oh, there are some changes a commin around here!

*LOL*
 
Except for the summer months, when it spikes due to the liberal use of central air-conditioning, my monthly bill ranges from $75-85. During peak A/C season, it can go as high as $160.

The next bill I receive should have the full A/C impact, and I'll let you know what it is. I've kept the house at a cool 72-degrees this summer, so it could be quite high. Rates are to increase here, too.

I hang clothes on the line in the summer to save on electricity. All drapes, blinds, shades are closed/pulled during the day to keep sunlight out of house when temp is expected to get to 85+ degrees.

Launderess, I see you're conserving by posting in the middle of the night, thus saving on peak rates, LOL!
 
Have your AC units refrigerant level checked-proper refrigerant level will allow your AC to work more efficiently.
I also act as a "load mangement" device and cut the unit back to 80 Degrees when not home.I set it to 75 while sleeping.My bill for last month was $195this month about the same.We have had some really hot days.With the strong humidity out here AC is a must.don't know how folks lived without it.I also try to keep shades and curtains closed during the hot times.And yes Roll shades seem to block the heat better than blinds.Use the blackout ones.Lets me sleep better from my midnight work shifts.
 
Oh my, I think we have some of the highest electric rates around the country. My bill for June was $331.00. We did have record 100 degrees days and many days in the 90's. Humidity was oppressive. We have started turning units on only in the area we are working or sitting in. Of course the day after they came and read the meter for this month the dishwasher ran all night in the dry cycle for a good 7 hours, I think the cabinets were getting close to flash point but the a/c in the dining room blowing into the kitchen kept things cooler. So the 1st day of my new billing period will jack this months up. So much for my conservation efforts.
 
Our last electric bill was $477 for one month!!!!! We do have a pool with a filter that runs daily and had the AC running quite a bit during a heat wave, but holy cow!! Looking back over previous years we are using less power, but the rates have increased quite a bit.

We have shortened the pool filter cycle and are trying to use the AC as little as possible. Living close to the coast it is normally fairly temperate, but there are days you need the AC. With the water shortage in So Cal, next the water rates are going to skyrocket. It costs to live in paradise.

With gas and food prices up, I don't know how some folks make ends meet.
 
No A/C needed here in coastal Southern California.

Gas bill: $11-12. I have a gas range and water heater. Also a natural gas bbq. Gas bill can reach $40-45 in winter due to heating. Until natural gas commodity prices doubled, I used to have $7-8 gas bills in summer, and half of that bill was the fixed distribution charge and only a $3-4 gas usage charge.

Electric bill: $34-40. I run ceiling fans on hot days. Electricity runs the fridge (energy star), dishwasher (energy star), washer and dryer (washer is Fridgidaire 2140 and energy star rates), electronics, and lights. All lights inside and out are flourescent. All TVs and computer monitors are LCD, no more CRT tubes left in the house.

In 2001, we had a major electricity crisis in CA. Partly manipulation of energy prices by Texas based power firms, and partly due to several major plants being offline at the same time. At that time, I switched out nearly all the light bulbs in the house but had not yet changed to energy star fridge, dishwasher, or washer and dryer. My electric usage dropped 40% in one month just by changing to flourescent bulbs.

Our electric rates are the highest in the nation after NY and NE areas. About 12-14 cents per KWH (San Diego Gas & Electric), and that's on the lowest tier for those who stay within their baseline allowance, which I always do. If you go over baseline, you pay higher rates for the over-baseline allowance.
 
Better Watch Out!

For deregulated power companies! We got a "Gotcha" last month. Our summer bills usually average $160-180. in the summertime. We have a energy efficient home. We went with "Commerce Energy" as they were the cheapest when we switched to them two years ago on a two year contract. When it came to renew our contract Commerce said that we could go month to month for the same rate, but may possibly have to pay a "fuel surcharge" of .008 per Kwh per month. I thought it was worth the risk so we just went with that.
Everything was fine for two months.
Then we got a $525.00 electric bill last month. I sincerely thought it was a meter misread, it's happened before. But when I checked the meter, the reading was correct. This was strange as we haven't been using our dryer much at all and we recently changed all our lightbulbs to the low energy flourescent type.
So I looked at the Kwh charges, where it used to be $.13.3 per Kwh it was now 28.6 per kwh! That's well over a 10% increase!
So I tried to call Commerce Energy. The first time I was on hold over and hour and gave up, the next time I held for an hour and twenty minutes and finally got a CS agent. He explained that I failed to renew my annual contract and that Commerce Energy is raising the rate of people who do not have contracts with them to $.28.6 per Kwh. He said that's what I get for not renewing my contract.
SO,I looked around on the Internet and found Sparc energy, they have some of the lowest complaints in the industry and have a competitive rate. I decided to switch with them. I applied, and then they informed me that they want a $600.00 deposit and it would take four to six weeks to get me on their plan. I askd why the deposit and was told, all of our new customers start out with a deposit.
So back to Commerce Energy we went. they offered a rate of $0.16 per Kwh on a fixed rate contract. I asked how long would it take to take effect, and they told me immediately.
So what do you think I did?
You know when they were hyping the deregulated electric power industry the officials said you'd be paying some of the lowest rates around. Hmph! We are paying the highest rates in the state of Texas. Why, you ask? Because most power utilities in other cities are owned by the city and operate on a non-profit basis. These new power companies are nothing more than billing companies and are for-profit companies.
I think eventually they will cause the consumer more grief than the credit card companies do with their fees and tactics.
 
I called about the cost of KWH, and was told it's SEVEN CENTS. To be exact, it's .0699. I just found another reason to enjoy living in rural southwestern Minnesota.

A rate hike is imminent, but don't know how much that will be.
 
Ha Ha Ha

Do you think your energy bills are shocking expensive?
Ok, so let´s make a deal..
I pay all the energy bills from up to 12 members, for 1 year.

And you pay my energy bills for the same time. (1 month each member)

My home is energy efficient too, all my bulbs are fluorescent, I don´t use the dryer and almost never use hot water to do my laundry and because of our weather, I always take cold showers.
 
I 'm posting this in the correct thread now,

Here is our most current electric bill from 6/5/08 thru 7/7/08:

On Peak Use: 156KWH
Off Peak Use: 323KWH

156.0 KWH: $32.34
323.0 KWH: 17.73
Power Cost Adj. ($0.00267 per KWH): 1.38
Daily Customer Charge (32 days @ $0.2761): 8.84
WI Low Income Assistance Fee (3% of $60.29): 1.81
Sales Tax (5.5% of $60.29): 3.31
Total Electric Charges: $65.41

This bill reflects a surcharge of $0.00435 per KWH due to increased purchased power costs resulting from a later startup of our new coal-fired power plant and higher natural gas prices

We also have a reduction on our bill due to being in the "HELP" program. It breaks down like this:

Air Cond Cycle and Shed Credit
6/6/08 to 7/8/08 @ $8.00 per month: $8.00CR
State Tax: $0.40CR
County Tax Credit: $0.04CR
______________________________________________________
Total Credit: $8.44CR

We do keep the shades closed during the day, and it does make a big difference. It's something that I was taught as a child by Mom & Grandma. We do alot of our laundry on the weekends and after 7pm to take advantage of the lower rate, plus we line dry as much as possible.
 
Very happy!

Just got the electric bill and was very stisfied. When I built this house I had it insulated to an R value of 100. The attic temperature will never be any more than plus or minus one degree from what the room temp is. I don't know what the actual square footage of the house is, but with the 8 car garages, it's in the 28,000 sq. ft. range. Remember the fridges, freezers, ice machines, etc have not been turned on yet so there is really no load in the house as of yet....excepting the construction guys leaving the doors open in 85 to 95 degree weather! The three water heaters, GE EnergySmart 80 gallon, are on. I am using 5 zones of Trane 19 1/2 SEER heat pumps with humidifiers, and CleanEffects Air cleaners. I'm sure that once I move in, the bill will go up some, but I don't expect it to go up very much. My AEP electric bill form 6/11/08 to 7/11/08 is $96.24 Here's the itemized bill:
Elect Supply Serv. $41.09
Fuel factor @ 0.0141800 Per KWH $19.28
OATT Trans Services $5.56
Retail Trans serv. $3.58 CR (I have no idea what this vresit is about)
Dist Serv. 24.26
Environmental & Reliability Cost Recovery Surcharge $5.36
VA Electric Consumption Tax $2.02
Local Consumers Tax $2.25
The bill also notes that my average daily cost is $3.21
 
The killer here in the Santa Cruz mountains is propane, not electricity. Last winter/spring we paid $400-450/month just for propane! The rest of the year this cost drops substantially: a single tank refill lasts all summer and through most of fall.

Fortunately we're close enough to the ocean where heat is rarely a problem. Monthly electricity bills (even with occasional A/C) run ~$50 in winter, ~$80 in summer.

Because of the insane propane prices people here are lobbying PG&E to extend their natural gas grids to outlying areas, but they've been slower than molasses in doing so.
 
Natural gas prices have skyrocketed up here. I am on the 'even pay' monthly installment plan; When I first moved in to the house in 2002, I paid $55 a month. Now, I pay $132---and we've been warned to expect 20-30% increases next heating season.

I don't mind it cool, so I keep the house at 64-degrees in the winter---except when I have company. I can't imagine what I'd be paying if I kept the house at 72-degrees.
 
I try to conserve electricity year-round. In this climate A/C is generally not needed, as the nights are usually cool even if the days are hot. A couple of weeks each summer there is a heat wave and then I might turn on my two 5500 BTU window units. Other times I just use fans to cool off the house at night.

Virtually all the illumination in this house (and shop/garage/yard) is either fluorescent or LED. The only incandescent lighting is in such things as the washer/dryer drum lights, the light on the fridge ice/water dispenser, etc. Even the motion activated outdoor lights are fluorescent (some motion detectors work just fine with fluorscent lights, as long as you don't set them to dim).

Consequently my electricity usage is pretty constant summer/winter. It dips slightly in the spring for a month or so when the fan-forced furnace isn't running and the electric well pump isn't being used to water the lawn/garden. I try to unplug off any "parasitic" loads such as electronics power transformers, but have slacked off a bit on that diligence.

Right now the big conservation kick around this region is water conservation. On my latest bill I cut my usage to 74 gal/day. This is well under the 160 gal/day that most residences use. The well for irrigation no doubt helps a lot there. In any case, as long as I use less than 100 gal/day I will avoid any surcharges or excesss usage fines.

Average electric bill year round is between $75-$90/mo.
 
Rich-- I also switched the entire house over to compact fluorescents a couple of years ago. It saves a few dollars each month. I also like that it doesn't add heat to the room in the summer.

I can get away with keeping the A/C off during June, because it cools down at night and the humidity hasn't gone through the roof at that point. But by the end of June, the oppressive humidity sets in and it doesn't cool off as much at night. I can live with it being chilly in the house during the heating season---which is very long, here in Minnesota---but I can't abide high humidity combined with heat.

I have two new refrigerators and a chest (rather than upright) freezer, as well as a dishwasher that uses only 5 gallons of water per cycle; those appliances alone save $$ each month.

My roof was just re-shingled and there's a new venting system which should keep my attic much cooler. More savings in the A/C department. Will be interesting to see how much of a difference the new roof makes.

I've found that doing several 'small' things to conserve really adds up!
 
We've had several long stretches of hot and humid weather, starting very early this year (June), which explains the high bill for that month. Even when the weather has been "cool" (<85F), it has been humid or damp, which one cannot abide, so on goes the AC.

Also learned like others to keep the heavy dark drapes (black-out lined), closed during the day, and use fans where possible instead of cranking on the AC. Cooking is a trade off, though use the range for making items stove top, the oven has been cleaned and will not go on again until the Fall. This means using the microwave more, but at least it does not heat up the house.

Tend to line dry most laundry, however since it has been so damp and humid (not the best weather for drying laundry), was using the small Whirlpool dryer, that has now stopped. Will lug heavy items like bathroom linens and such over to the laundromat and use their dryers. Thankfully my Miele spins laundry pretty dry so it only takes about one dollar (20 minutes), on high for every thing to be dry.

Long ago switched most lights to compact or full sized flouresent blubs. Certian rooms such as the bathroom still have the old fashioned bulbs as one does not like the yellowish cast CFL give off. Makes putting on one's face quite tricky. Indeed even when ironing in the laundryroom, often cannot tell if laundry is scorched or turning "yellow" because of the yellow cast from the CFL.

In the end, as another poster stated, am using the same or in some cases even less electric power than last year for a given month, however rates simply keep going up as to negate any savings.

Our ACs are older model Freidrich "Wallmaster", about ten years old, with an SEER of about 9.0. Newer electronic models have about a ten SEER, which our AC dealer says isn't that much different in terms of operating costs. Wall units by their nature aren't as efficient as other type of air conditioners, but building forbids through the window AC units.

Newer air conditioners use electronics and gimmicks to get their SEER numbers up, such as turning off the fan when the compressor shuts off, which one is not exactly sure how well or much of a difference it makes. Besides see many more newer air conditioners (some less than five years old), being put out for rubbish, than older models. Yes, one does see older Friedrich units being chucked, but they are usually > ten years old, some >15. Spending upwards of $700 for a new unit, when one really only uses AC for about three months of the year, means it would take a long time for such a unit to repay in savings. Do keep the old gal cleaned and well maintained, including cleaning the evaporator and compressor coils, oiling the motor, and changing filters about once every two weeks.

In the end suppose one will simply have to pay up and deal with rising prices. Or then again, maybe Congress can come up with a bailout.

L.
 
I work for a municipal utility that is fortunate enough to own its own generating facilities, and I'm the grandson of a lineman for a public power company, so I'm undoubtedly biased. But I think that public power is the fairest way to go: It levels the playing field for everyone, and (generally) provides the lowest cost electricity. It also makes us much more open to things like solar power, and allows us to offer deep discounts to eligible seniors, since we have no investors to please.

Our current bill is for 61 days. We got the first 610 kwh for .0376 cents per hour, and the additional 2093 at .0793 per hour. Before they started the rate tiers, it would have been the average of the two rates, but they did this in order to encourage conservation (there's a third rate that is really awful - I think it's 25 cents per kwh or something like that)
 
Desert Survival

This summer, I've run several fans and rose the thermostat on my heat pump to 78 degrees. I also keep the unit shut off while I'm at work. Total Nevada Power July bill: 65 dollars (for a one-bedroom condo). My Southwest Gas bill has been about 16 to 18 dollars a month, thanks to water heating and several loads of clothes drying a week. (I do wash half my loads in cold water, and always use cold rinses--full loads, of course; can't bear to trade in my decade-old Roper washer-dryer since they've been so dependable. The dishwasher, however, is another matter.)
All in all, I guess I'm luckier than many single-family homeowners these days.
 
Here In Central Florida....

I average between $115 - $140 per month during the peak summer season (and $45 - $55 during winter). It really depends on the weather and the amount of rain we get, because less rain means the irrigation system runs every other day, and that thing is powered by a 2 HP pump. It runs for 4.5 hours at a clip. The central air is kept at 73 - 74 when I'm home, and 78 when I'm not. That unit is new. The dryer, range and water heater are all natural gas, which runs about $26/month in the summer. I have absolutely no complaints.
 
Received our bill the other day...

$420.00 for electric, water and trash removal.
Also, the pool filter runs daily and I do wash everyday to make sure I don't fall behind. I am certain that contributes considerably to the power usage.
 
Our First half of the Winter Quarter Bill has arrived here

And with the start of a new finanical year, the rate has gone up after July 1.

For the First 77 Days, from April 14 to June 30 we used 1546kWh at $0.1405 for a total of $217.20 AUD
Service charge was $13.71AUD
Ambulance Levy was $20.61

For the Last 14 days we used 281.1kWh at $0.1481 for a total of $41.63 AUD.
Servuce Charge was $2.63
Ambulance Levy Was $3.94

Total Bill including GST was $327.23
Daily Usage was 20.1kWh

The total bill is up from $280 per quarter as it has been a cooler than usual autumn and winter. We use a heat pump for most of the house, but have an electric column heater for supplimental heat in a bedroom and study.
 
When I bought this place the attic was uninsulatated (nada) and poorly ventilated. It's a wood roof so that added some protection against solar heat, but not enough. After I sealed off all the air leaks and added about R35 (about 10 inches) of insulation up there, it really stays a lot cooler during the summer days, esp if I draw the blinds (light limiting) etc. However the climate here is so mild that most of the summer I can just leave the windows open day and night and it's comfortable as is. In fact the window A/C units are kind of a pain because I can't open the windows where they are installed.
 
I have two central units, one 10 years old, the other new for 2300 sqft. The house is all electric. It has been HOT here, high in the mid 90's, heat indexes in the 105-115 range. Next week, it is supposed to get worse, highs in the 100's, we are in a heat advisory for the near future.

I keep the blinds closed, and the systems have programmable thermostats that turn them up when we are not here. I have noticed that the upstairs system is having trouble keeping up, so I am going to have to just set it to keep everything consistent during the day. I have considered supplimenting with window units.

My power bill was $189 last month. It rarely goes over $200 in the summer. My winter bills are higher because the downstairs unit is an electric furnace that is original to the house (1975), the upstairs is a new heat pump.
 
Comparative costs of electricty by states

Bear in mind that prices can vary greatly within a state. Some large cities in California such as Los Angeles and Anaheim have municipal utilities. I believe LA has its own generating capacity. Anaheim I believe has some plants and buys some from SCE (Southern California Edison) at discounted commercial rates. These utilities charge 6-10% less per KWH than for-profit utilities like SCE.

Customers of SDGE (San Diego Gas & Electric) pay the highest rate within California. This is partly due to past mismanagement by prior management. Failed proposals for nuclear power plants and geothermal plants in the desert were written down and the courts held that the utility could add the writeoffs to its rates (rather than sticking the costs to the investors), thereby making its captive customers pay the loss....this might be fair if the consumers were shareholders, but they aren't. In addition, hydro resources are maxed out, no more rivers to dam. They can expand wind and solar power, but most additional capacity is added by nonrenewable resources, the commodity cost of which continues to rise.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html
7-27-2008-12-18-1--PassatDoc.jpg
 
Laundry Room

My laundry room is inside my house. That means that the dryer takes air conditioned air, heats it, then blows it outside sucking hot air from the outside into the air conditioned space in the process. So, I don't dry any laundry after 11 o'clock in the morning and before 8 pm at night.

This helps to not provide any additional load on my air conditioner which seems to run all day long when temps outside reaching into the mid 90's.

As for water, I have a water pressure regulator that limits the amount of pressure on the indoor plumbing. They are typically set at 55 to 60 psi at the factory. I reduced my indoor water pressure to 30 psi. This has had an amazing effect on my water bill. Showers feel like rain instead of a prison delousing. When the toilet is flushed, the tank refill is silent. Filling the dishwasher, the noisiest part of its cycle has been reduced to silence.

I am also more aware of leaving lights on or anything that may take power and generate heat. So far, that is all I have accomplished at home.

MRB
 

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