Mine usualy runs between $140 and a $160 in the summer and between $225 and $260 in the winter. 1600 sq. ft. with heatpump which is only 12 months old. Changed heatpump last year not much difference from the 10 year old one it replaced but lightening killed it.

 

I will give you some advice, and I hope you remember and look at these tips coming as they do at a time when I am cutting back everything in sight and pray a lot that I make it through till I find a real job after retirement.

You'd think $1200 bucks a month might get you somewhere, but my house note is for some reason higher than neighbors of mine that have a house three times the size of my own...

You know that little red light on your TV or Stereo stack that tells you its in standby? It also tells you that the main power supply is running - and it is burning electricity constantly even though it is doing exactly ZIP-ZERO-NADA for you. You leave home for the day, its still on. It accomplishes no purpose whatsoever. You come back home and turn it "ON" as far as you know, not realising that part of it has been on all of this time burning the juice you are paying for.

This is called a modern appliance...

TELEVISION sets with an instant ON function do this by keeping their circuits warm, thus the power supply is running, no picture is on the tube, and your bill is going up. Constantly, I might add....

I should know, I'm an electronics tech by trade over the last twenty years.

HBO and Satellite boxes - the guy who comes to your home will tell you that "Once its setup - THERES NO REASON TO TURN IT OFF..."

BULL!!!

There is the best reason in the world - it costs money while it is NOT being used/utilised! Shut that SOB down when it isn't being watched. In fact - if you have a plug strip (it may be called different things in different places -but something you plug in like an extension cord that has a lot of cord sockets and an OFF SWITCH on it) shut the power source off with that when you are not using those items.

VCR's do it, TV's do it, SAT boxes, Cable boxes, Recievers (stereo and other), AMPS, PC speaker systems, MICROWAVE OVENS do (Never had to put a battery in one for its clock, have you? That's why.), there are all sorts of modern appliances that use power in the background that most people never think twice about.

Do you leave your A/C on when you go out for some reason? Why??? Unless you have sensitive pets, there is no reason to cool the house when you are not there in the first place. DON'T JUST TURN THE SETTING DOWN! Turn the switch off. Otherwise the temperature sensing circuit is still running... (And all that supplies it)

When it gets too warm in my house, I run the A/C for about fifteen minutes tops. The house itself achieves an average temperature over time, if doors are not open all the time. Ever have a visitor that wanted to talk in the doorway? That's illegal in my house rules. COME IN, GIT OUT, or we can talk in the garage. (Unless its cool out, and I want the door open anyway).

At night, if the window screens are worth a dang I pop the attic access and set up box fans to draw air in through the windows. This cools off the lower house, and drives the MEGA hot air out of the attic... You can get a version of this plumbed into your home if you want, and it is advisable. Most attics trap VERY hot air, and there is nowhere for it to go even if you have roof or eve vents. Ain't no breeze up in there, it stays put. This puts the lower house kind of sorta on the lower rack in the oven. DANG! No wonder it gets kinda warm.... Attic forced air in the daytime can result in substantial cooling. Let 120+ air sit in the top of your house, and what do you think will happen? In cooking terms it's called a "Broiler". VENT that, you'll be glad you did. Better 90 than 120 to 140 or more no matter how much insulation you've got. All it takes is a fan.

When I came home after retirement, the average bill was over $140.oo, near as I can tell.

Its down to just a hair under sixty, and I'm still stupid - I let my PC run when I have no use for it. I also leave some of the lights on all night.

Yet its comfortable - and there is little or no wastage.

BY THE WAY: If you have a gas fired heater, and you have not turned off the pilot and feed supply yet - my gas and water bill just dropped twenty bucks because I shut that sucker down too. There's no use running it, I'm not going to use a HEATER in July...

There's a ton more, but once you start to hunt stuff down you will think of things I didn't I am sure.


~Greywolf

PS: Poppa (when I was growing up in California) always said open the windows at night, and close things up in the morning. The house will become naturally cool because the walls and contents maintain a stored temperature. He was an Aerospace Engineer....

 

WOW! Excellent (long) post Wolf. Might have to look into some of that! Thanks for the info!

-Matt

 

Hey - I'm the kinda guy that cooks with a WOK.

What can I say?

But I know about those "STANDBY" power functions from many long years. If you have unlimited power and a budget to match they're kinda cool.

But there ain't nuthin' cool about wasting cash...

(AMEN)

I'm also a big fan of professional cookware. Have you ever noticed that the professional stoves and ranges are conspicuously clean of all those gadjets and widgets that everyone else seems to think are such a nifty idea?

STAINLESS STEEL! And an off switch. Thats all you need.

~Wolf

 

Similar house and similar bills. Summer are the cheap bills (Elect & Heat) $330 average. Winter can be $700-800. Man electricity at $0.19 a kilowatt hurts. Might have to try Greywolf suggestions on turning things off that have the standby mode. My biggest problem is Laundry for a family of 5. That eats up most of the bill I suspect. I am going to try burning more wood this winter to see if it makes that much of a difference.

 

You can also run a clothesline - it makes things smell fresher....
(If you don't have too many bugs in the yard)


GEEZ - I sound like a REDNECK!!!!

 

PS:Thank you Mad Medic, I understand your upset.

I once saw Gray Davis's Cowboy Hay turned upside down. Or I thought I did...

I was looking at the urinal in a porta-potty at the time.


FWIW


TURN DOWN THE LETTEREZZ!!!

Thank you, so nice to hear from one another...

PS: I realise I am guilty as well of using wild letters.
Shoot me in an appropriate spot....
And NOW for a word from our sponsers.....
(Or some BS like that)

 

I've been drying my clothes the old fashion way---line drying.

Because the dryer went out about a year ago.

Reallt don't miss it.

If it rains, I hang the clothes in the gargage.

If it gets cold, I layer on the clothes.

If it gets hot (in S.F.? right!),water spray bottle and a fan or the beach.

 

I used to hang them behind my bunk,and hope nobody looked too close for "Gear Adrift"....


FWIW

 

my electric bill may go up $50-$60 dollars a month in the summer months when running the A/C.
if you want to keep your electric bill low when using your A/C, set you t-stat at one temp. and leave it there. Maintaining one temp uses less energy than trying to recool the house down(just like pulling a trailer, have to give it more gas to climb a hill than to cruise.) Setting back the temp, only works for long periods of time, like 2 weeks or more. When you open the windows, even if it feels cooler, you are letting in humidity, which presents the most load to your A/C. Keep your shades drawn during the hotest parts of the day 1pm-4pm

 

The cloths line thing dosnt work up here too offten since it is usually raining most of the time. I could put one up but it would be very seldom that I would get to use them. It also usually dosent get above 60-65 in the summer here so it takes a while. In the winter I would have flash-freeze cloths. I do hang things up in the boiler room and they dry overnight. I try to limit that due to hummidity. Dont want to get the electrical componets to prematurely go bad on the boiler.

Bugs havent been that bad this year. Horrible up in the interior.

 

30-35 in the summer with AC on and up to 50 in the winter. Cheap power here and I have a 2100 sf house with 60's era AC and electric resistance heat. We have a front load washer, and use line drying when the weather permits. We use the dishwasher only when full. And turn off AC at night and leave windows open at night. There are lots of ways to save power most of it just by being conscious of what you are doing. I turn off lights when I leave a room, too bad I can't seem to get the wife to follow suit.

 

i heat wth electricity and run the A/c in summer. i pay about 1500$ a year now. we have very cheap power here

 

One hot item from my list of remodeling ideas is to put up book shelves and other furnishings against the exterior walls of the house strictly. This presents an extra barrier of insulation.

I've also plotted which walls pass the most heat through from the sun hitting them - and there is a variety of ornamental plant that resembles a pine, but is thinner and makes very little mess. Its similar to Italian Cypress. A line of them as both a landscaping comment and protection from weather along a wall goes quite a ways. They stay put, and don't need much attention. They need to be spaced away from the house a few feet though. (It also creates a place to store unsightly lawn and garden equipment, and can also make quite an attractive privacy barrier along a property line)

My "2 centses" are adding up here... Sorry 'bout that.


~Wolf