Utility bills, Anyone know of a less $$ way? (Springfield, Rolla: power lines, coop)

[traker1001]

I live barely outside springfield city limits, about a mile behind the zoo on FR96, I recently purchased this house a little under a year ago and this is our first time living outside of the city limits. It seems to me that the bills are a bit higher out here, I went from an average of $200 a month to an average of $300 since we moved, and our bills right after the ice storm jumped to $400 for 2 months even though we lost power for 5 days, I personally think springfield CU is trying to make up for its losses even though my wife doesn't, But thats besides the point. And let me point out we conserve electric and gas as much as possible with 2 kids, and we have water and septic so we don't pay water and sewer, When we can afford it we plan to update everything we can energy wise to more effeicent use, better insulation, high effeincy appliances, etc...

The question I pose to fellow Springfield city people and greene county resident is, Is there a solution to lower our bills a touch, That won't cost us an initial fortune ($1500 or more.)? A friend of mine mentioned that maybe there could be a coop that we could switch to, But I don't even know what that is.

If anyone has any ideas, I would be greatly intrested in reading them..

[citybythebay]

Originally Posted by traker1001

there could be a coop that we could switch to, But I don't even know what that is.

If anyone has any ideas, I would be greatly intrested in reading them..

My electric was a Co-op and it was drastically less than I've paid anywhere else I've resided. There is a slight fee to be a member of the Co-op. (It was $5.00 a month where I lived in Rolla.)

The thing I couldn't get over was the water bill! $70-80 each month, for one person???
In Ohio we get a water/sewer bill every three months and at the most will be under $25-30.

[traker1001]

Is a co-op something you can sign up for or is it something you move into?

In the city we were paying $20-$30 a month on water and about the same on sewer, and there was 4 of us. But our gas and electric were significantly lower.

Outside of the city, We pay nothing for water and sewer, But that is made up for in the Electric for the water pump and maintance costs for the septic and well.

[citybythebay]

Originally Posted by traker1001

Is a co-op something you can sign up for or is it something you move into?

The link below is the Co-op I had in Phelps county. It wasn't something I signed up for. It was automatic if you were a resident.

http://www.intercoelec.com/ (broken link) -----> Remove the brackets, url, and slash to get the link.

The list on the left hand side is helpful with info.

[MoMark]

I have Southwest Electric Cooperative and my electric bills are practically nill. I pay an average of $48 or so a month through most of the year for electricity and then it zooms to about $94 during July/August when I run the air conditioning system constantly. I have an all-electric house, but, my water heater is propane heated and I use propane for heating.
Is your home heated by electricity? That may be the source of the higher costs...or...if you use natural gas for the kitchen or heating..that can be more expensive too.
I also pay no water or sewer as I'm on septic and have my own well and I'm in a 2301 sq. ft. house on 4.3 acres about seven miles north of Springfield.

[da jammer]

We are just outside the Nixa city limits and part of a co-op also (White River) and we have averaged around $90 the last three months. We have a 4k sq ft house and I have a couple of wonderful city gals that absolutely will not turn of a TV or light switch when they leave the room no matter how hard I try to get them to. In Cali we were on the flat rate plan and paid $225 a month but one month last summer the bill was 7 benjies! One very cool thing about this house is the builder installed a ventless propane fireplace. At first I thought....awww how cute, those little flames really are kinda nice to look at." Little did I know that these things are actually intended as a terrific heating source and in fact we have only used the furnace two days total out of the three months we have been here. It keeps the entire upstairs area very comfortable even when it is quite cold outside. We plan on installing a smaller one downstairs by next winter so we can enjoy the basement area.

[traker1001]

I called Southwest Electric Cooperative and they said the could probably help me and told me that I should come by there offices , My house is 2000sqft, The stove is nat gas, Central nat Gas heating, and nat gas water heater, everything elses is electric. The water heater and stove have to be replaced soon though, So if I wanted I could replace them with just about anything, Electric or gas. My central heating unit is relativly new and fairly effeicent, However 70% of our heat this winter was provide by Wood stove with electric fan and a little bit here and there with a couple electric space heaters. Our average winter gas bill was $75 a month, But our electric soared at as much as $225 during the winter of all times.

Immediatly after the ice storm we got a CU bill for $380 in electric and $40 in gas that was NOT estimated, I called them up to ask how is it possible that we could be out so many days and still have a higher bill for that month than any other month and mostly for electric of all things, They didn't really tell me anything other than pay your bill or else, So not wanting or else we paid... Our next bill was a bit lower at $378, I dont remeber the distribution.

I have been seriously looking at alternative energy sources for different things, Such possibly solar and battery for the well pump, maybe a windmill or two to help suppliment the electric costs.

All I know is I love living out on some acre's but being so close to the city, even despite the god awful utility costs.

[da jammer]

many years ago we kept getting ridiculous electric bills so we called the electric company and had them come out and check the meter. They replaced it and gave us a credit (can't remember the exact details it was quite some time ago) and after that things became much more reasonable. With all of those nat gas appliances and the size of your house your electric bill does sound quite high. I sure hope you get this figured out soon!

[MoMark]

I agree with da Jammer. There may be an issue in the wiring somewhere causing the higher electical use. You might start by asking the electric company you use for what to expect in a home your size, average bills, then have them come out and check out your meter. You may even have a short somewhere draining power.
For the record, my bill didn't go down after the ice storm either. What did please me though after a week without power was that they came out and restretched my power lines and replaced whole sections out here in the country. They were very nice and moved as quickly as they could even though the ground was covered in thick ice and was dangerous.

[Ozarks21]

We did a home energy audit and found some very significant air leaks in places you would not expect. Cieling light fixtures, door frames inside the strike plate, along the bottoms of walls (INTERIOR WALLS!) and around the vents. All of these things can be addressed with caulk or inexpensive wrap. We also used weather strips on exterior doors.

You should also check your level of attic insulation. I had a friend who learned that 1/2 of his attic was uninsulated. This was in a new home. His energy bills were literally through the roof.

You can also hang insulation between your floor joists in the crawl space.