electric bill too high

[jasonandjen]

uggh.. we just got a $500 electric bill for august. our house is too small to be paying that much. we turn the air conditiong off when were not home, and barely use it when we're here. weve had the ac serviced so its not that. its a 13 seer, oldie but goodie. just 2.5 tons plus a kitchen 12000 btu. whenever possible we just use the kitchen. now i know a summer bill can be high, but it has always perplexed me why our 1200 sq ft house (plus basement of equal size) will have a bill of 200-250 in the spring and fall when we dont use ac or heat at all. ive been kind of an energy freak for a few years, so im not overusing here. can anyone shed light on what their electric bill is for a similiar size house? is what im paying average, or a little too high. from what friends and neighbors tell me, its high

 

[RoseRed]

My highest bill has been $139.00, in the last three years.

 

[aps45819]

Vampires...

Any electronic device that can be turned on with a remote is constantly sucking up small amounts of power.

Using the stove/oven will cause the AC to work harder.

How's your insulation?

 

[baby]

uggh.. we just got a $500 electric bill for august. our house is too small to be paying that much. we turn the air conditiong off when were not home, and barely use it when we're here. weve had the ac serviced so its not that. its a 13 seer, oldie but goodie. just 2.5 tons plus a kitchen 12000 btu. whenever possible we just use the kitchen. now i know a summer bill can be high, but it has always perplexed me why our 1200 sq ft house (plus basement of equal size) will have a bill of 200-250 in the spring and fall when we dont use ac or heat at all. ive been kind of an energy freak for a few years, so im not overusing here. can anyone shed light on what their electric bill is for a similiar size house? is what im paying average, or a little too high. from what friends and neighbors tell me, its high

Check your electric water heater, an element could be bad, which will send you electric bill though the roof!!!...... just sayin'

 

[wineo]

Turning the AC off when not home, does not help, it takes twice as long to cool off again. Mine stays around 200.00 for 1800 sq ft home. Just 2 of us, I can't complain after hearing what others are paying.

 

[Baja28]

uggh.. we just got a $500 electric bill for august. our house is too small to be paying that much. we turn the air conditiong off when were not home, and barely use it when we're here. weve had the ac serviced so its not that. its a 13 seer, oldie but goodie. just 2.5 tons plus a kitchen 12000 btu. whenever possible we just use the kitchen. now i know a summer bill can be high, but it has always perplexed me why our 1200 sq ft house (plus basement of equal size) will have a bill of 200-250 in the spring and fall when we dont use ac or heat at all. ive been kind of an energy freak for a few years, so im not overusing here. can anyone shed light on what their electric bill is for a similiar size house? is what im paying average, or a little too high. from what friends and neighbors tell me, its high

You have something else pulling power. The vampires aps mentioned contribute but won't be that much. The water heater is a good place to start. Something is definately wrong.

 

[getbent]

Our apt is less than 1000 sq. ft. and our last bill was $227. We have two brand new ac window units.

 

[Kris10]

Oh wow...check your windows and doors, maybe your air's getting out :shrug:

 

[nomoney]

do you have well/septic or public water?

 

[Chasey_Lane]

Our apt is less than 1000 sq. ft. and our last bill was $227. We have two brand new ac window units.

My 900 sq ft apartment that I rented for 3 months was always higher than my house electric bill. Never could quite understand that.

 

[Pete]

My 900 sq ft apartment that I rented for 3 months was always higher than my house electric bill. Never could quite understand that.

Disco ball, indoor hot tub, 99 inch plasma with 100 surround sound speakers and a climate controlled Coach purse vault will do that.

 

[BeenSpur'd]

That does seem high considering I have a 5,200 sq. foot farmhouse and a barn with electric, use the AC and heat pump all the time ( doesn't run all the time, they're on Auto) and our bill was less than $425 in August. The farmhouse is heavily insulated and I have no trees by it because I've seen what trees do in storms. I would say something is wrong at your house!

 

[getbent]

do you have well/septic or public water?

Public water/sewer.

 

[getbent]

Oh wow...check your windows and doors, maybe your air's getting out :shrug:

I wouldn't doubt it. I have these foam strips I use in all the windows. The builder did a very crappy job and I wouldn't be surprised if there's less insulation in the walls as there should be.

 

[libertytyranny]

My bill has never been higher than 180 (usually sits around 110) ...and our heat pump is 10 years old..and the windows are 20 years old :shrug: in my 1,000sf apt our bill was never above 60 bucks... we are super vigilent about electric use. Sounds like you have something wrong..doesn't smeco do free energy audits? maybe having someone come out and look would be worth it.

 

[getbent]

My bill has never been higher than 180 (usually sits around 110) ...and our heat pump is 10 years old..and the windows are 20 years old :shrug: in my 1,000sf apt our bill was never above 60 bucks... we are super vigilent about electric use. Sounds like you have something wrong..doesn't smeco do free energy audits? maybe having someone come out and look would be worth it.

I thought about doing that. Of course we are in the process of buying a house so probably will end up not doing it.

 

[jasonandjen]

thanks so much for all the advice. the one that sticks out to me is the bad water heater element. does a bad element still pull power, but not put out heat? if so, i can see that driving it sky high. how do i check that?

i have an ezwatt power meter but thats for a 110 setup with a plug. how would i test the water heater. im thinking turn one element off, and watch the power drain for a week. switch elements, and watch it for another week and look for a drastic difference. i dont know how to set that up on a water heater tho.

our attic insulation is 11 inches of cellulose, so r40ish. it was pretty bad 3 years ago but we added 8-9 inches. it had been matted down. noticed huge difference in winter comfort(heat with wood burning fireplace in living room). i dont know about the walls, but the thing that has me worried is the bills in the spring and fall. my wife just double checked me and the bills in off season are closer to 300. thats why the water heater made sense. ive been thinking about using a heat pump water heater for a while. maybe its time.

 

[PJumper]

thanks so much for all the advice. the one that sticks out to me is the bad water heater element. does a bad element still pull power, but not put out heat? if so, i can see that driving it sky high. how do i check that?

i have an ezwatt power meter but thats for a 110 setup with a plug. how would i test the water heater. im thinking turn one element off, and watch the power drain for a week. switch elements, and watch it for another week and look for a drastic difference. i dont know how to set that up on a water heater tho.

our attic insulation is 11 inches of cellulose, so r40ish. it was pretty bad 3 years ago but we added 8-9 inches. it had been matted down. noticed huge difference in winter comfort(heat with wood burning fireplace in living room). i dont know about the walls, but the thing that has me worried is the bills in the spring and fall. my wife just double checked me and the bills in off season are closer to 300. thats why the water heater made sense. ive been thinking about using a heat pump water heater for a while. maybe its time.

That seem's pretty high. We've got close to 3000 sq/ft house with the thermostat set at 72 24/7 and our bill for August was $375. Big screen TV draws a lot of power. Also, if you have a sump pump that is constantly running for no reason, that would do that too. The 12,000 BTU stove if use regularly would contribute to the bill.

 

[dave1959]

CLOTHES DRYER.....!!!!! My wife thinks everything has to tumble on "broil" for 2 hours before it's dry. And, If you keep it running nothing will wrinkle before your soap opera is over.

 

[kwillia]

CLOTHES DRYER.....!!!!! My wife thinks everything has to tumble on "broil" for 2 hours before it's dry. And, If you keep it running nothing will wrinkle before your soap opera is over.

Couldn't you simply open the dryer door and remove, fold, hang, and put away the clothes...:shrug: