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

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Brazilian electricity costs...

Thomas, how much does a kWh cost in Brazil. From your stories I get the impression that you use very little electricity: doing laundry with cold water, no dryer, no dishwasher, taking cold showers, compact fluorescent lamps and rarely using the airco. And still you have to pay more than 1000 dollars per month?
 
That map is for "Industrial Users". In many cases commercial rates have little or no relevance to residential rates.
 
Malcolm,

Reading your post makes sense. My laundry room is off my garage and is not on the HVAC system. I guess I need to quit b***hing about it. That little room gets really hot when running the dryer in the summer. I keep a fan in there that blows into the garage.

Also, I installed a fan in one of the garage windows that exhaust the heated car air outside. We leave the doors up for a couple of hours after we get home. If we don't the rooms above the garage will raise 10 degrees.
 
I hate living in the little red spot in the mediterrean sorrunded by "green" countries! :)

My house has all fluorescent lamps and we have no dryer, but the dishwasher runs twice a day and the washing machine does the same (with inbuilt heater), since we have no air-con the bill stays quite low, around 100€ per month, but the rates for KWH are simply gross! With the last raise we are around 0,25€/KWH!!! That is, sadly, 0,40$/KWH!

My parents' have 3 split air-con units (9000 btu eanch) that run around 8 hours per day, there the bills can get up to 250-300 € per cycle! And they have no dryer, washer never runs (they own a wet&dry cleaning laundry so no point in doing the wash at home) and no dishwasher, also water heating is solar and all the other appliances are A class energy...

Anyway the map is quite inaccurate (regarding my country) ENEL provides 90% of all the supply in Italy and the prices are homogenus, also industrial users get prices in the same range as domestic users (except big users like smelters and the like). Plus for triphase supplies you pay a surcharge for reactive power if the load factor is less than 0,9! IIRC
 
Gabriele, that is a lot of money for a kWh of electricity! Here in central Florida, we pay approx .09/kwh, which really isn't bad, and a about $1.41/therm for natural gas.
 
I keep

my utilities as low as I can. My electric bill last month was about 23 dollars. The other utilities ran 48 bucks combined.

I live much like my grandparents did. And to some extent like my 4th great grandparents. My house is 211 years old, I have tall ceilings, plaster walls and good sighting.

No central heat or A/C.

The tall ceilings help a great deal. When it is 90 degrees or above the house stays about 73 degrees.

The problem here in middle Georgia is HUMIDITY.

The temperature can be comfortable but add the humid factor and you will sweat yourself to death.

I keep my utilities low by living the way my ancestors did. I employ many age tested methods and live quiet comfortably.

While I enjoy the Ranch houses I see and visit I think most are not energy efficient enough for me to consider ever living in one.

I really love the look and design but current technology just does not make them attractive enough for me.

I love the feel of the 18th century in my house. As a material culture historian the benefits of past technology serves me well. And the cost of modern utilities in my house make more sense as I employ older methods.

I wish I could be off the grid completely.

All of us here should be planning on alternative methods of energy.....
 
6/13-7/15(32 Days)

1192 kWh used
Supplier Services $140.40
Delivery Services $78.32

Total Bill $218.81

I have not been using the dryer this summer. After this bill have started to turn the electric water heater on only 2-3 hrs per day to see if that will lower my electric bill. I still seem to have plenty of hot water. If that lowers the bill, I will consider installing a water heater timer.
 
I believe that

many here should consider a tank-less hot water heater.

That was the jewel that lowered my hot water bills. It has paid for itself twice over!
 
Honestly I don't know my Kw/h price because I never read the bill (only the price and the date)
Next month I'll do it and let you know.

... My city is so hot that we need water chilers instead of water heaters, But anyway, last week I went to some stores to choose a model and quote a tankless water heater.

Finally I bought a Komeco (Japanese technology), but when I opened the box it was a different model and I returned it. Then I went to other store and I found a better option from a famous and traditional brazilian manufacturer.
It will arrive in a few days. And I still wondering why did I buy it if I'll never need it.

http://www.lorenzetti.com.br/site_in/produto.asp?id=AG0001
 
I also never read the specifications on the monthly energy bill, but I have looked it up and after the latest price on 1 July 2008 increase I must pay 0.1121 euro per kWh and 0.4690 euro per cubic metre of gas. Way below the Italian prices :-)
 

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