midjd
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Post by midjd on Jul 25, 2012 10:53:16 GMT -5
Several of us posted our rates on page 1...
Mine is $0.11/kWh.
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MarleyKeezy78
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Post by MarleyKeezy78 on Jul 25, 2012 10:54:48 GMT -5
.06 cents and .08 cents depending on where we were in the tier system? ETA: changed to reflect my inability to read decimals
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Jul 25, 2012 10:55:31 GMT -5
Edited because I don't know how to read decimal points
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Jul 25, 2012 10:56:23 GMT -5
So what are you going to do about the electric bill, Captain?
We live in an area where it daytime temperatures are routinely between 90 and 105 during much of the summer. On top of the temperature, our home has lots of large windows on the west side to take in the view, so the solar heat gain during the afternoon is phenomenal.
The biggest thing we did to combat the heat were to install honeycomb blinds and to keep them closed during the day, when the sun is most direct. Unbelievable how much difference just keeping the blinds closed makes. When we first moved in and there were no window treatments, both A/C units would run wide open all afternoon just to keep the temperature down to 85 or 90. Covered the west facing windows with butcher paper and the A/C could easily keep the house at a comfortable temperature while cycling like normal. When it's hot, shut the blinds, drapes, or shades to reduce the heat gain.
The next thing we did we to install a patio cover on the west side of the house, to shade the west facing windows during most of the afternoon. That helped make the house even more comfortable and helped to reduce the A/C cost.
Then when we landscaped the yard, we planted trees so that they would shade the sunny side of the house during the day. Since those trees drop their leaves in the fall, we can take advantage of the solar heat gain in the winter time.
One of the thing I would think about in your situation is whether or not your attic vents are clear and working the way they are supposed to. When it gets hot outside, your attic gets very hot. Above 140 degrees wouldn't be too unusual. If your venting system isn't working right, a tremendous amount of heat gets trapped in your attic. This heat then transfers to the living space through your ceilings. The vents are supposed to allow hot air to get out of your attic and be replaced by cooler air drawn in through the vents in the eaves. If the eave vents are plugged with cottonwood lint or covered over with years of paint, or if an insulation contractor plugged the transition from the eaves to the attic with insulation, or a roofer removed a bunch of the exhaust vents, the venting system won't work the way it is supposed to. Might be worth a check.
Oh, and set back thermostats work great if you're out of the house during the day, if you don't already have one. And they're not too expensive. Think I paid about $35 each when I replaced the thermostats in the last house.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jul 25, 2012 11:01:51 GMT -5
Ours was around $225 or something like that. DH was complaining as it's definitely higher than last year, but I'm home during the day this summer on maternity leave, and wasn't last summer, so we have to keep it cooler (usually, we have it set to warm up during the day, and cool off when we get back home). Unfortunately for DH, I'm off until September, so we're stuck with a higher than normal bill all summer long, but oh well. And we keep the downstairs set at 78F during the day (and the upstairs higher since baby and I hang out downstairs 99% of the time - if we go upstairs, then I'll just override that system to cool down).
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jul 25, 2012 11:04:45 GMT -5
Attic fan helps, too.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jul 25, 2012 11:35:16 GMT -5
So NO ONE knows how much they're paying per KWH? I think it is $0.08, but I don't remember off the top of my head. We will get our bill for July in about a month. We do have $20 provider fee (or something like that) and $9 for our security light - (live in the boonies). OUr house is actually most efficient in the summer (vs winter). This is also essentially our water bill because we are on a well. We have a duel fuel furnace - electric heat pump and propane back up. Our electric bill runs about $80 in months we don't have to heat or cool for 1600 sq ft single story house built in 2006. Summer electric bills run between $130 to $140. I would not be surprised if this one was around $150 since we were trying to water some and it has been at least approaching 100 every single day this month. Winter electric bill tends to max out around $160. We also go through about 350 to 400 gallons of propane over the course of the year - which has run anywhere from $1.19 a gallon to $2.24 a gallon over the last 5 years. It is pretty volatile. We try to fill up in the fall, but we don't use enough to use the prebuy option. For the prices listed, you need at least 200 gallons. Last fall, they were unable to fill us up (truck ran out). So we had to fill it up in March. Due to that, this year we won't be able to accept 200 gallons until December at the earliest. We are hoping we can make it through winter, but with a new baby we will probably keep the house warmer so it will be intersting to see what happens. ETA: we keep the house at 76 during the day with ceiling fans going and 74 at night during the summer. During the winter, we keep the house at 70 or so during the day and 68 at night. Any colder than 70 and my DH's arthritis really starts to bother him and he gets grumpy. In the spring and fall, we'll let the house get as warm as 80 before turning on the AC and as cool as 66 before turning on the heat (depending on the day, it really depends on DS's room).
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jul 25, 2012 11:36:34 GMT -5
33/more days above 90 so far. LOL - in PHX we call that a cold-snap. Yes, but you also think 60 degrees is cold. When you have to deal with 100 degree heat all summer and negative temps in the winter, then come talk to us. ;D
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jul 25, 2012 11:39:13 GMT -5
bbbuuuurrr - 60 degrees. I just nipped out thinking about it.
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schildi
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Post by schildi on Jul 25, 2012 11:53:02 GMT -5
So NO ONE knows how much they're paying per KWH? I quoted mine, post #29: "Our power bill (gas / electric combined) is around $70 - $90 in the summer, and $140 - $170 in the winter. We pay $0.085/kWh (total for all these little per kWh fees), plus a $7.49 monthly base fee. "
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❤ mollymouser ❤
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Post by ❤ mollymouser ❤ on Jul 25, 2012 12:08:48 GMT -5
We have a Tiered system of pricing for electricity KwHs, which is different depending on the time of the year. (Our per KwH prices go up during spring, fall and winter.) These are the current rates:
First 351 KwHs used each month: 13 cents per Next 105 KwHs used each month: 15 cents per Next 245 KwHs used each month: 30 cents per Next 139 KwHs used each month: 34 cents per (40 cents 8 months of the year) After that : 34 cents per summer (45 cents 8 months of the year)
Oh, and our rates are going up. Again.
Summertime power bills around here for people with 2,000+ sq ft homes/pools are usually well over $500 per month. Power bills of $700-$1,000 per month aren't unheard of if people want their homes cooled to 72-75 degrees.
For those of us with pools, it's a budget battle every summer: do we reduce the run time for the filtering system to save money? But will our pool turn green? We pretty much need to run our pool filter/pump 6-7 hours per day in the summer, and this alone tends to ensure that we're bumped into the highest tiers every single month.
Oh, and PG&E has a complete monopoly in our area; no shopping around.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Jul 25, 2012 12:52:46 GMT -5
So what are you going to do about the electric bill, Captain? Thanks for the suggestions Skeeter (BTW we pay .105/KwH). We have woven bamboo blinds which are lowered when it is hot/sunny. We have trees which provide shade in the afternoon, and a programmable thermometer which is set to 80 during the day. We had attic vents and an attic fan installed last summer and are thinking about getting a whole house fan installed to pull in cool air at night. We have an in ground pool and hot-tub (pool is getting lots of use right now, hot tub, not so much so ). I know those use a decent amount of electricity. Not YM approved, but they came with the house and I LOVE my hot tub in the winter! We're on the budget plan so the pain gets spread out. It doesn't mean that I don't watch consumption, though. I'd like to be able to retire early and am trying to figure out how to cut monthly expenses. If we have to sell and move then so be it, but that's at least a decade out. After hearing what some of you out there are paying I feel a little better , but not much... (Modified to add - that is 10.5 cents per KwH)
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Colleenz
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Post by Colleenz on Jul 25, 2012 13:08:15 GMT -5
5.6 cents per kwh flat rate. Over half of our bill is for distribution and cost recovery, and that is fixed and independent of actual electric use.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Jul 25, 2012 13:56:29 GMT -5
Captain, Considering you have a pool and a hot tub, your cost dosn't look bad compared to mine. Schild, yeah, obviously there are fixed costs on top of the kWh rates. So I was dividing out the electric cosst by the kWh used and I came up with .1430 , dosn't look too good. I am in Wisconsin. We have a new coal fired power plant, but they kicked out the clean coal option in the planning stages. I think they will be sorry. The Power Plant is in my city, so to compensate for the dirty air the city gets a kickback from WE Energies. Unfortunately, the city leaders treat it like fun money b/c it is not from the taxpayers.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jul 25, 2012 14:05:52 GMT -5
Several of us posted our rates on page 1... Mine is $0.11/kWh. I saw bills, but no KWH rates. Mine's on my bill, I could look it up if I cared.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Jul 25, 2012 14:10:25 GMT -5
I saw bills, but no KWH rates. Mine's on my bill, I could look it up if I cared. Mine is on there but it is 28 lines long with a KWH rate for every part of the service plus 14 different taxes/fees. If I just take my bill and divide by the number of KWH's I used it is $0.28 a KWH.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2012 14:28:12 GMT -5
Our SDG&E bill which includes gas and electric was $108. Pretty much what it is every month except the next few. With some air conditioning, we'll be up in the $150's for a couple months. We set it to 80 during the day and 78 when we get home from work.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jul 25, 2012 14:31:32 GMT -5
Mine comes out to an average of about 10c per KwH.
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The Fonz
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Post by The Fonz on Jul 25, 2012 14:40:03 GMT -5
I'm in a small (800 sq ft) older rental house in Kansas. Heat has been brutal. I have had the AC set at 73 and the AC rarely shuts off. Last bill was $122. I was worried it would be higher so I can't really complain.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jul 25, 2012 14:58:49 GMT -5
Several of us posted our rates on page 1... Mine is $0.11/kWh. I saw bills, but no KWH rates. Posts 24, 25 and 29.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Jul 25, 2012 15:01:39 GMT -5
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Jul 25, 2012 15:04:57 GMT -5
So NO ONE knows how much they're paying per KWH? Also in CA: $0.08877 for the first 300kWh $0.10205 for anything over 300kWh Very few really hot or cold days so I have no AC (or need for it)and my last bill was for $22.63
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MarleyKeezy78
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Post by MarleyKeezy78 on Jul 25, 2012 15:45:27 GMT -5
.69 cents and .89 cents depending on where we were in the tier system? You pay that much?! Holy crap, where do you live? Michigan. ETA: will be going back and changing that, It's apparent I cannot read decimals.. for shame! and Going back and rereading it it was 493 KWH@ 0.06912 and 1074 KWH @ 0.08257 Sorry all!
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Tired Tess
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Post by Tired Tess on Jul 25, 2012 20:57:05 GMT -5
I'm in central New Jersey.
$312 electric last month
Budget it $302 / month
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MarleyKeezy78
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Post by MarleyKeezy78 on Jul 25, 2012 21:24:18 GMT -5
Hahaha! Thanks! I just glanced at the bill and posted, when you made that comment I tried to figure the math out in my head and knew that was way off!
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sesfw
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Post by sesfw on Jul 25, 2012 22:36:35 GMT -5
Our last electric bill is $223. This is with solar water heater and no gas bill. Not bad for the Phoenix area. We are on 'time of day' billing so the A/C is off during peak time, and set for 79 during off-peak time.
Winter we keep it at 72, and if the humidity goes up and we get cold we put on more clothes.
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kimber45
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Post by kimber45 on Jul 26, 2012 8:27:49 GMT -5
My last bill was $153, my next one will probably be higher with all the hot weather we had this past month. I don't think I've had one under $100 in a long time. We run two dehumidifiers (basment and shop). We keep our thermostate at about 74 in the summer and 65-67 in the winter. Everything in our house is electric except for the heat which is fuel oil.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jul 26, 2012 9:28:50 GMT -5
Mine's on my bill, I could look it up if I cared. Don't trouble yourself. it costs what it costs..............
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svwashout
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Post by svwashout on Jul 26, 2012 11:20:39 GMT -5
This month mine was $13.42. I average about $11/mon over the year, but the fridge works harder in summertime I guess. PG&E includes gas in my bill. Some things are cheaper in the SF bay area. Gasoline isn't one of them, though.
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Peace77
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Post by Peace77 on Jul 26, 2012 12:46:46 GMT -5
$11 per month?!!
How do you manage that? Do you live in a studio apartment in the dark?
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