Average electricity consumption in kWh (West: co-op, how much, house)

[lybrand]

Hi,

Don't want to ask about electric bill since it's irrelevant, what is relevant what is your electricity consumption in last month. I have 2 story 2,800 sq.f., airconditioning is at 80, 3 HVAC units. Consumption for last month was 2500 kWh. My wife went to some neighbours and they have 4000 sq.f. house, keep their air at 79 and their consumption is half of what we have. I'm trying to figure out what might be causing it and if I need to do something which I did not do before to make house efficient. I already have solar shield (of whatever it's called in attic). House is built in 2000.
Can somebody post their sq.f, air conditioning temperature and electricity consumption for last month please.

Thanks,
G

[lh_newbie]

2576 sq ft, built in 1976, a/c is set to 76. June bill was 1404KwH.

We have trees to shade our southern facing windows (bulk of the windows are on North/South side of home - so shading makes a huge difference). We also have a single 16-SEER air conditioning unit (variable speed unit also). Last year, the highest usage month (August) peaked at 1677KwH.

Our oven, cooktop and clothes dryer are electric; we have a natural gas hot water heater.

[lybrand]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

2576 sq ft, built in 1976, a/c is set to 76. June bill was 1404KwH.

We have trees to shade our southern facing windows (bulk of the windows are on North/South side of home - so shading makes a huge difference). We also have a single 16-SEER air conditioning unit (variable speed unit also). Last year, the highest usage month (August) peaked at 1677KwH.

Our oven, cooktop and clothes dryer are electric; we have a natural gas hot water heater.

Thanks,
Your AC units are they run 24x7 or only during evening time?

[lh_newbie]

Depends on the day. I work from home 2-3 days a week. On those days, I leave it on 76 the whole day. On the days I go into the office, it sets back to 85 so it doesn't run between 9am and 5pm, when it goes back to 76. In June, I worked from home probably 75% of the time.

[Grainraiser]

My house is 2,200 sqft split level and the thermostat stays at 78. Up until my last bill my kilowatt usage during the summer would between 1,800 - 2,000 kwh. This month it was 4,097 kwh and I still trying to figure out why. I have a neighbor with the exact same floor plan and he keeps his thermostat at 78. His kwh use is always less 1,500 or less.

[FarNorthDallas]

2400 sq feet, 40 year old house, 75 degrees 24/7, used 3200 kwh. most recent bill.

[5stones]

3300+ sqft 2 story built in 2000. N/S facing only 2 windows on west side of house.
Have radiant barrier. just upped thermostats to 80(day)-77(night) from 78-76 (last bill too high)
2 AC units
last bill was just over 3000 kWh.

(not alt of big shade trees yet...)

3 units is alot for under 300sqft. I'd bet that's your big draw.

[lybrand]

Originally Posted by 5stones

3300+ sqft 2 story built in 2000. N/S facing only 2 windows on west side of house.
Have radiant barrier. just upped thermostats to 80(day)-77(night) from 78-76 (last bill too high)
2 AC units
last bill was just over 3000 kWh.

(not alt of big shade trees yet...)

3 units is alot for under 300sqft. I'd bet that's your big draw.

I thought the more units you have the better since you can selectively turn them on and off at your will and have different temperatures in different areas of the house.

[lh_newbie]

lybrand - you are correct - more zones = more control, but not always lower bills. That all depends on if the home owner utilizes that better control and actually takes advantage of it. 3 units for 3K sq ft sounds like overkill. The capital costs would totally outweigh energy savings (and then some). In a well insulated, somewhat shaded 3K sq ft home with high quality windows - it is possible to install a single variable speed HVAC unit. The HVAC design depends on many factors that affect how much heat gain/loss a home has. Put a ton of windows on the south side that don't have good SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient - how efficient they block the sun's heat) and a 3K sq ft home could use 3 large AC units and still not get cool.

Implementing a few passive solar techniques will make a cooling your home in our climate much easier. Shade - either from trees, a pergola or vines on both windows AND walls on your South, West and East sides (in order of importance) will drastically lower your heat gains. Proper ceiling and wall insulation is critical. Only after those factors have been weighed in can one properly design a cooling system.

Also, FYI, having a "vented" attic design with a radiant barrier is a pretty darned good way to keep the attic cool (assuming your air handler for the air conditioning is in the attic), but it is actually more efficient to have your home built with a sealed attic space where the insulation is in the roof rafters instead of in the ceiling joists. This has the additional side benefit of having a more conditioned space for storage if you store stuff in the attic.

[turnerfamily]

2550 sq.ft 2 story 2hvac 10 seer units 2 thermostats 26 windows 1sm inground pool 75 degrees at night 78 day(we're home).Home built in 2002,faces west,lots of trees.Just bought this home 4 months ago.May useage 4400 kwh-almost died.Started conserving more and got next month down to 3200kwh and that was June(avg daily temp 86 degrees!)We are co-op electric and rate jumped 58% in one month.I can't win this battle.