Why the higher rate for using less electricity?

[Glucorious]

Electricity in the U.S. is very cheap. Even in Vietnam you pay more for electricity than in the U.S.

The AC eats most of your electricity. Turn it off as often as you can, and don't set it to 60 F in August. Perhaps set it even to 80. Take a cold shower once or twice a day. That helps too.

They just want a minimum profit if you will. Someone using 500 kwh probably pays less than the threshold they set. So they slap you with a fee. But then again... rates in the U.S. are low.

Originally Posted by Tech443

Energy savings:

LED lighting systems.
replace old refrigerators / freezers. Do not put freezer in hot garage. / Keep appliance full.
insulate the attic.
upgrade HVAC system(s) to high efficiency 16 SEER or greater.
replace windows / doors to high efficiency type.


last resort: (do the math first, often times the cost is not worth it by this point for solar options.)
Install solar panels.

He probably lives in an apartment.

[Tech443]

Originally Posted by Glucorious

He probably lives in an apartment.

No, I live in a house built in 1978 and my light bill was $51 last month. AC set to 76 all day in zone I am in and 74 at night. I still need to replace windows and reinsulate the attic so maybe I can knock off another $10 a month... who knows?

Sure I pay the $5 and some cases $10 low use charge. My electric bills are fully documented on my website since 2010.

[timtemtym]

I had Reliant for years and if I fell below the certain level, I got charged way more for the month. My bills were usually between 80 and 140. I got punished for being energy cheap. Now in LA I pay an average of 15-25 per month for electricity. For two months I paid nothing because I got a $40 credit reward for using less than the average for my area. So that was awesome.

I used that power 2 choose website to shop around in Houston and Reliant was always my cheapest option once you look at some of the weird schemes and fees of other providers. Just make sure you call reliant every 6 months to tell them you're paying way too much and you need their current best promotion.

[pnc66]

Originally Posted by Tech443

No, I live in a house built in 1978 and my light bill was $51 last month. AC set to 76 all day in zone I am in and 74 at night. I still need to replace windows and reinsulate the attic so maybe I can knock off another $10 a month... who knows?

Sure I pay the $5 and some cases $10 low use charge. My electric bills are fully documented on my website since 2010.

Wow! I'm envious. So, how do you get your bills that low? I'm seriously asking. I must have overlooked something. House was built in 1981 and is about 1600 sq ft. The house is 100% electric. I do have double-paned windows, compact fluorescent lights, set the AC to 80-82 during the day and 77 at night. No freezer in the garage. I do turn off the lights and computers (we have two) when not in use. We wash clothes in cold water (except in the winter when the cold water is too cold to dissolve the detergent powder). In February, we re-insulated the attic and added a radiant barrier. We had always heard that it would help tremendously on the bill. Looks like we used about 100 kWh less per week since about mid-May when we started using the AC more, but before then there was no difference in the usage. I was hoping for more of a drop in usage. In 8 years of living here, I can count the number of times my electric bill has been below $100 on one hand.

[RedScare]

Originally Posted by Tech443

No, I live in a house built in 1978 and my light bill was $51 last month. AC set to 76 all day in zone I am in and 74 at night. I still need to replace windows and reinsulate the attic so maybe I can knock off another $10 a month... who knows?

Sure I pay the $5 and some cases $10 low use charge. My electric bills are fully documented on my website since 2010.

Don't replace the windows. You'll never recoup your money. DO add insulation to your attic. I added 11 inches of batt insulation to my attic last year and knocked 20-30% off my power consumption. As for the windows, double pane windows only increase your R value from R-1 to R-2. Not worth it. A better trick is to install white blinds and keep them closed during the day. Installing awnings or sunscreens to keep sun off the windows is also good. Direct sunlight entering the home is the problem. Shade is the solution.

[Tech443]

Originally Posted by pnc66

Wow! I'm envious. So, how do you get your bills that low? I'm seriously asking. I must have overlooked something. House was built in 1981 and is about 1600 sq ft. The house is 100% electric.

I am a licensed HVAC contractor. The biggest challenge was to increase energy efficiency by putting in high efficiency HVAC equipment and upgrading duct work along with cutting waste... this was just over 7 years ago.

Cutting waste was done by installing what is called an HVAC zoned system. This allows me to only cool or heat areas of the home I am in. The zones in areas I am not in are either off or set higher or lower to reduce HVAC system run time.

I'll be blunt... it costs money to do it and only worth it if you plan to stay in the home. ( It can increase the value of the home, but only when you inform people of what you got... save your energy bills to demonstrate it fully) The advantage is if you go in knowing how it works you know what the pros and cons are up front. The challenge is to get it done right... 99% of this is system design. If the design is poor don't expect much more than more challenging problems to deal with. Most of what I see in zone systems in the field aren't done right. Just because I make it look easy doesn't mean it is.

Not every house or situation will work with what I have done on my own home. There are requirements that must be met and require visual inspection to be certain. I can give reasons at that time why in my opinion it won't work.

It's not uncommon for me to go into another area of my house that I'm not using and that part be upwards of 85 degrees or slightly more depending on outdoor ambient conditions. The idea is if that part of the house isn't being used there's no reason to cool it or heat it.

Oh but I could just go around and close the vents in the room... sure you could, but it won't work... because like I said 99% is system design... it has to be done right or it can damage the HVAC system, blow out duct work and cause system lock outs. (I've got videos on my website that explain it much better.)

It's not always about energy efficiency... it will also give you better control and more even temperatures through out the home at the least possible operating costs. The reasoning: if you only have one thermostat controlling an area on the opposite side of the house you could have temperature swing of up to 10 degrees or more in some cases, to be comfortable on that side of the house. A zone system corrects this problem.

Originally Posted by pnc66

I do have double-paned windows, compact fluorescent lights, set the AC to 80-82 during the day and 77 at night. No freezer in the garage. I do turn off the lights and computers (we have two) when not in use. We wash clothes in cold water (except in the winter when the cold water is too cold to dissolve the detergent powder). In February, we re-insulated the attic and added a radiant barrier. We had always heard that it would help tremendously on the bill. Looks like we used about 100 kWh less per week since about mid-May when we started using the AC more, but before then there was no difference in the usage. I was hoping for more of a drop in usage. In 8 years of living here, I can count the number of times my electric bill has been below $100 on one hand.

This is a good start... Starting this year I switched utility companies for a better rate and switched to LED lighting in about 80% of the house. Soon I will be 100% LED. I expect to break all energy use cost records of previous years posted to my website even though my AC usage is slightly higher this year. (It's all about comfort at this point for me.)

Insulation, radiant barrier can help when done properly... but ultimately your cost is mostly tied to the efficiency of your HVAC system.

The LED lighting took about a month to get used to it, it is different from fluorescent and incandescent. But I have actually increased the amount of light (lumens) to 120 watt equivalency and because the light is cheaper operating costs have dropped even with increased lighting out put. In order to do that I had to switch to dual socketed fixtures because 60 watt equivalency per LED bulb is all that was available when I made the switch.

[Tech443]

Originally Posted by RedScare

Don't replace the windows. You'll never recoup your money. DO add insulation to your attic. I added 11 inches of batt insulation to my attic last year and knocked 20-30% off my power consumption. As for the windows, double pane windows only increase your R value from R-1 to R-2. Not worth it. A better trick is to install white blinds and keep them closed during the day. Installing awnings or sunscreens to keep sun off the windows is also good. Direct sunlight entering the home is the problem. Shade is the solution.

Well I know it's probably a crap shoot on the windows, but I am doing it for more than just energy efficiency and I don't really have that many to replace so the cost shouldn't be too bad. These windows are 1978 technology after all. I could break the pane just by tapping on it... if you know what I mean. So I am looking at options to reduce out door sounds, plus added efficiency... like I said before it's mostly about comfort now. Also there is measureable hot spots around the window areas. So it's definitely something I plan to address eventually.

Batt insulation isn't as good as blown in... it's easier to install but that's about it. The reason why it's not as good is that it doesn't fill gaps and radiant heat will which will give you hot spots. Additionally you have to be careful about getting a cheap insulation quote because there are cheap solutions that don't stand up, they are blown in with air that puffs the material up, the minute someone has to go thru your attic the insulation gets knocked down, thus reducing the R-value rating. Use a better quality insulation blown in and you'll likely never have to do it again. (Don't fall for the free insulation gimmick.)

The absolute best thing about what I have done for my home isn't completely about energy efficiency... it's about how it feels.

In the middle of summer to roll over on the bed and feel a crisp cool feeling on everything I touch. I can't explain it other than to say it's like late November early December pretty much all year long for me. Obviously in November and December not much of anything is running at that time. Plus I can do away with ceiling fans to avoid feeling I am in a wind tunnel. Honestly if I run the ceiling fan I would be too cold.