What Does Your Electric Bill Average?...my latest one blew me away! (townhouse, refrigerator)

[NWS]

Just received my bill aiangel_writer. $130 for the month of August. That is actual use, not a billing plan.
I have a 3200sqft all electric powered home with central air and 2 water heaters. The heating cooling unit is 6 months old and and 16 seer.
The thermostat is set to 79-80 which is comfortable to me day to day. I may lower it if I have company.
I also have ceiling fans in every room as that allows me to set the thermostat higher and still feel comfortable.
Both water heaters are new also. If your units are over 10 years old the new ones will pay for themselves with the electric savings.
My bill went down $100 a month after replacing them. Also the water heaters are on timers set to come on twice a day and are off most of the day.
I also replaced the 10 year old fridge which is always an energy hog. I replaced the washer dryer with new Energy efficient side loaders.
Today's computers are not designed to run 24 hours a day IMHO. The fans in them wear out and can cost a lot in labor to replace them if you don't know how to do it yourself.
They also use a lot of electricity as poptones said. Unless I'm coming back to the computer in a hour or so I shut them down.
Everything that is plugged in running or not is using electricity to some degree. Go around your house and unplug things that are not being used.
Every little bit helps. Do you have a pool? If you do that pump is another energy hog. Good Luck with your savings.

[citydweller]

wrong thread.. delete please!

[aiangel_writer]

when dh came home, I had him to check the temp the hot water heater is set on and had him lower it. We want to see if that will help also as it was set really high!

Never heard of a timer for the hot water heater, but am going to look into that as it sounds like something we can do to save.

you guys are great with ideas, thank you

[jaxnbulldog]

Ya'll are scaring me. It's about time for my next bill to come in. My last bill was $125. The one prior was $103. I live in a VERY old house with no central air, just 3 window units. Frankly, I've been perplexed why it's been so low. I had one bill last summer that approached $400 one month and I about stroked out.

My only solution has been to run it in the evenings until about midnight, cooling the house down very well. This old house seems to hold what ever temperature is in it for about 10 hours, so I don't have to turn them on until late afternoon most days. Of course, when there are humidity and temps over about 95, it's a losing battle, but other than those times it's been a real surprise to me. KNOCK ON WOOD.

[NWS]

Originally Posted by aiangel_writer

when dh came home, I had him to check the temp the hot water heater is set on and had him lower it. We want to see if that will help also as it was set really high!

Never heard of a timer for the hot water heater, but am going to look into that as it sounds like something we can do to save.

you guys are great with ideas, thank you

Setting the temp at 120 degrees should be good 110 degrees is the lowest I would set it. You don't want anything growing in there.
As long as it's electric a timer will work. You may need an electrician to wire it in but they sell them designed especially for water heaters.
Mine comes on for 4 hours in the morning and 4 in the evening.
They cost about $60 for a good one but it will pay for itself.

[citydudeallover]

While scrolling down to the o , for Ohio city -data forum
YOUR post just popped out , My electric was 51.00 , and cool with window units ,I live an old house no insulation , old windows from the 70's thats 1870 . A friend of mine , Just complained about her electric bill, Her's was 175.00 up from about 95.00 , that said she has central air ,and keeps it around 70 degrees, her house is from the 1920's , is fully insulated , and her system is no older then 7 years, Have things changed like your provider of electric? Such as , My friend's city does a bargain pricing for
thier residents , however ! Get this , although the price is 6 percent lower then the current provider,the cost that the original provider charges to let the new provider of electric , to use thier lines , to " transport "the Electric , seems out of wack, and get this , The company , she had , supply her electric ,is a sister company of the new company , dang it all , who says they treat you right is crazy ! This is the same company that sued the city
of Cleveland and the mayor at the time , He fought and won,Thanks Cleveland Public Power , for the rates I have, One other thing , Most power companies have two rates per c. r. hours for the summer months , after a certain usage the cost goes up per C.R.Hours . Now for the Natural gas to heat in the winter , thats a diffrent story , P.S. my friend's house ,
I could walk to within 40 minutes , that's a slow crawl of 1 mile in 15 minutes walk , the utility companies , got it made , if they are within the "right "city borders. (P.S. Heck yes I keep my house at 70 Degress , with window units, ) May not be super hot out side , but everyone knows it's hot inside

[aiangel_writer]

Hmm, don't know about the different rates, will have to check into that. I do know we got hammered a few months back with a huge rate increase, then all heck broke lose and they refunded back money to people in April I believe.

I am on TVA ...the same TVA that had the major ash accident in Tennessee, and the Same TVA that just announced that there will probably be another rate hike in our near future because of the massive amount of money it has taken to clean up that mess!

How in blazes are we to blame, and why do we have to pay the piper so dang much???? I'm not sure of the final rate hike from a few months ago, ,but the initial % being kicked around was between 17 and 23! Add another hike and while I can pay additional rates and not like it, many of my neighbors simply cannot afford it..

Something has gone way of of whack with this....sigh...

[jacksonian]

I live in a 1520 s.f., 71 year old house with shade trees all around. Everything is electric except the stove. I put in some extra insulation in the attic, we have a front load washer and dryer, and all the lights in our home are fluorescent except for the can lights. I set the A/C at 80 during the day while we are gone and 76-78 when we are home, but we use fans for the most part to keep cool. Most of the windows are old single-pane, but they are sealed around the joints. We do have some double-pane windows and a the back door is as well. I'm not sure how well the walls are insulated, but 90% of them are plaster. We also have an aerator shower head that uses 1.5 times less water but feels no different than a normal shower head. This helps cut down on water heating costs. I try to unplug everything that is easy to unplug that does not interfere with electronic settings. This is not electricity use, but I also have two rain barrels that collect 25% of the roof runoff. I use it to water plants mostly, which cuts down on my water bill a little and the rain water is much better for the plants than my tap water.

We are in Jackson with Entergy and our August bill is $100.02. We use 1100-1300 kWh during the summer months, 800-1000 kWh during the winter months, and 500-700 kWh in the off months. Our year-round average monthly bill is about $75. According to Entergy, the average temp in August 2009 has been 1 degree cooler than August 2008, so your August bill from this year should be less than last year in August unless your usage has fluctuated significantly or if your rates have been adjusted.

[aiangel_writer]

Thank you jacksonian for that detailed post. I'm getting out my bill and checking the usage again. Our electric company does not go to the trouble of giving the average temp thing like yours does, what a nice service.

No, ours is more like this:

NEMS360.com - UPDATE TVA hikes rate 8 percent cuts fuel charge


This was reported in yesterdays paper. sigh.

[jacksonian]

Originally Posted by aiangel_writer

Thank you jacksonian for that detailed post. I'm getting out my bill and checking the usage again. Our electric company does not go to the trouble of giving the average temp thing like yours does, what a nice service.

No, ours is more like this:

NEMS360.com - UPDATE TVA hikes rate 8 percent cuts fuel charge


This was reported in yesterdays paper. sigh.

"The nation's largest public utility said the rate hike was necessary to fund ... paying for the cleanup of a massive coal ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant in East Tennessee..."

How do you feel about that?