Holy Electric Bill Batman!

Pete

Repete
jazz lady said:
Oh yeah. :cool:



My A/C, washer, dryer, and dishwasher. :banghead:

The others use batteries. :dance: :angel:
<img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/dpete2q/duchalab1.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
Pete said:
duchalab1.jpg
I can't see Photobucket pictures on my work computer anymore. :ohwell:
 

FromTexas

This Space for Rent
When the guy comes to read your meter, flash him. It works for me. He bribes me with lower usage figures, so I will never do it to him again.
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
FromTexas said:
When the guy comes to read your meter, flash him. It works for me. He bribes me with lower usage figures, so I will never do it to him again.
:yikes: I'm surprised you don't get your electricity for FREE. :lmao:
 

Wickedwrench

Stubborn and opinionated
Mine was $183 last month and I saw the lil twit out here reading my meter yesterday. I really could do without knowing what this month's bill is going to be.:yikes:
 

willie

Well-Known Member
Mine was only $72 but I think he only read the first couple of digits before the dog got him.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
I just went through a page on SMECO's site to determine where the electricity gets used. There were no surprises. But I can never convince hardly ANYONE that over-use of *light-bulbs* ISN'T the culprit. In fact, leaving lights on will only seriously incur increased costs of replacing bulbs.

SMECO's summer rate is 6.32 cents per kW-hour. This means if you left a 100W bulb on all month long and never turn it off, it'd cost about 4.50. That nothing to sneeze at, to be sure - but when you're talking 2-300 dollars, it obviously ain't the problem.

And it identifies the culprits - heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, dryers, hot water. If you have a drafty old house with poor insulation and have older, inefficient appliances, you're paying for that. Going around the house turnning off lights, but keeping the house an oven during the winter or an icebox in the summer is wasting your time. Even such things as leaving the computer on all the time isn't as big a problem as you might think, since most computers have a low-power standby mode anyway.

I'm not even going to mention what our bill was.

One thing I'm unclear on its overall usefulness: I've heard varying degrees of opinion on these: overhead fans. Supposedly, by the cooling effect of the fans, the home FEELS cooler, hence, less need to keep the thermostat down. In the winter, the hot air that rises to the ceiling gets forced downward (although why this isn't a factor in the summer, I can't guess). What I don't get is the need to keep them on 24/7. It seems to me that ceiling fans are useful in rooms that you are *IN*. They don't do any good in a room where you don't spend any time in, because the air isn't blowing directly ON you when you're not there.

I use flourescents where possible - we had one of those SMECO energy audits, and they gave us coupons for flourescent bulbs (among other things). But flourescents are STILL too big for most outlets, and they're ugly in places where the bulbs are visible.

I spoke to an ex-boss yesterday who told me that when she upgraded her heat pump to a very high efficiency model - not simply waiting for an IN-efficient one to outright DIE - she told me her costs were cut by a THIRD. Another friend said something similar with a programmable thermostat. The energy audit provides enough coupons to add insulation and a programmable thermostat ALMOST for *free* - the rebates are THAT high.

QUESTION: Where do you buy a new heat pump? And who do you consult in the event of a large system (currently, our house has TWO heat pumps)?
 

OldHillcrestGuy

Well-Known Member
My electric was about the same as June just under $200, thats with A/C and a pool. Check you electric bills they could've been higher, this is the bill, (my bill that came Saturday had the credit in it) if your entitled to it that SMECO gives you credit for the Capital Gains or something like that, my bill had a credit of about $32.00, taken off.
 

ylexot

Super Genius
I'm skeered :bawl:

My last bill was only ~$80, but my August bill isn't available yet. Of course, even if it doubles, it's still less than most of your bills. :biggrin:
 

jwwb2000

pretty black roses
Wickedwrench said:
Mine was $183 last month and I saw the lil twit out here reading my meter yesterday. I really could do without knowing what this month's bill is going to be.:yikes:

That is about the same amount we had too....$144 for the house and $30 something for the garage.......
 

Vince

......
Vince said:
$95 a month year round plan. 4 bedroom house with 2 central air units. Energy efficient. And Pellet stove for heat with the heat pump as a backup. I anticipate a hike just because fuel cost is going up.
I anticipated correctly. Just got my adjusted rate for the coming year. Jumped from $95 a month to $162.00 Holy sh!t, it almost doubled. And I almost fell over when I read it. :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:
 

meme

The Smart Hooker
Vince said:
I anticipated correctly. Just got my adjusted rate for the coming year. Jumped from $95 a month to $162.00 Holy sh!t, it almost doubled. And I almost fell over when I read it. :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

I use to go into shock when I lived in MD and my electric bill was $100. I moved to FL and I go in shock if I go over $200. :lmao: I can't wait till it cools off so I don't have to run the A/C 24-7.
 

Pegster710

The Pegster
I moved into my house in 1997 - everything is electric.

My electric bill ran between $80 to $120. Since the electric "unfreeze", I've had two bills - one for $190 and the most recent one for $168. Hopefully, the next one will be less...

My house is an Amish built four bedroom/two bath rambler - 1330 square feet. I ran the A/C (heat pump) 24/7 until September 30th. Three adults live here - we shower/bathe at least once daily - two usually twice. I have a two person soaker tub that gets filled at least once weekly. We all do our own laundry. Plus, my granddaughters are here a lot, so there's baths and laundry for them, too. Also, my oldest daughter usually brings a load or two of her laundry every week. And I run myself crazy on a daily basis turning off the lights they all like to leave on :gggrrrrrrrr:...

This is NUTS - but I feel blessed after reading some of the bills posted here. I can't imagine those who have electric and some type of fuel like propane, natural gas, fuel oil, etc.

After seeing what happened to phone bills after "deregulation", I hate to say it, but I think there will be no end in sight...

I'll keep praying, though... :ohwell:
 

Pegster710

The Pegster
appyday said:
Last year my out building that I use oil heat in kept at 50 degrees took $1200 in oil last year..I worry about his year. Natural gas for the house is over $200 mo budget and I don't have to see my electric bill..thank god I think I would die.

:yikes:
 

Vince

......
Guess I should consider myself lucky. I pay the same price every month and my house is all elect. Heat included. Dual Central air/heat pumps, but the pellet stove heats the whole house in the winter.
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
My last electric bill was $2 more than the last one. :rolleyes: I have oil heat, so I can't wait until they come fill my tank up for the winter. :bawl:

I guess my woodstove is going to finally get fired up this winter. :ohwell:
 

Sugarhill

New Member
Boy! I don't know what we are doing so wrong! Last month my electric bill was 469.00. I almost died! :whack:

I changed the ac, up to 78, and made sure lights were off and all. Well, my bill went down to 402.00!! It is usually around 170.00 to 200.00. I have electric oven, but propane stove top. We hand wash most all the dishes instead of running the dishwasher. It's doesn't clean them very well. If things doesn't start to improve we may have to learn to live without electricity at my house!
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
appyday said:
We can go to the thrift store together and both get some nice heavy jackets... :huggy: Mabie we should even get one for NOMO

I thought Nomo preferred your old horse blankets. Familiar smells and all. :confused:
 
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