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I live in a "one-bedroom" of gross area 334 sf.
One air conditioner, purchased new in 2000.
All lights are compact flourescent.
Got appliances and computers.
Just got the electric bill: $192!!!
UP by $40 from previous month.
Checked the bill against last month's. I used 40 more kWh, OK, so I'm using more. BUT: price per kWh went up nearly $0.05, from $0.159704
to $0.200203. Used 590 kWh, therefore 590 X $0.200203 = $118.12.
Plus other charges (total taxes were $2.90 + $7.40 = $10.30 - not much of the bill is direct tax to me).
Ouch! This hurts!
How are the rest of you folks doing?
Here's my budget for next year: a) get new, state of art AC, energy star (which mine is, but it's 8 years old). b) assume, worst case, $250/month to run it, from May through September or 5 months = $1250/year.
Ow!
Thoughts?
I LIKE air conditioning. Plus it takes the humidity out of the apartment.
Last edited by Otis_Nevins; 08-16-2008 at 10:43 AM..
Reason: re-measured apartment!
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
8,900 posts, read 15,939,050 times
Reputation: 1819
I had a high bill considering I was only here like 5 of the days of the billing period. My apartment is the same size as yours and 1 bedroom too. I just had my fridge running, which is only like half the size of an actual fridge. When I got home, I only used the fan like maybe 3 of the 5 days. I don't use AC. I don't use a lot of electricity at all. My bill ended up being $35. I had no idea why it would be that high. It said I used $15 worth of electricity. I called ConEd to have this explained, and they said that since my landlord never let anyone in to check the meters, they averaged it by what the bill was last year. I wasn't here in this apartment last year. I know the last tenant used AC. They were a teacher as well, so they were probably home the entire month using the AC. ConEd claims they were trying to get in touch with him but got no response. So, it's mostly my landlord's fault why my bill is higher than it should be. I'm told it will balance out next month, but who knows.
Nope. I turn it off when I leave, and I'm pretty sure my roomies do too. One of my roomies is having a friend stay though and she has the air on when she's home in the day. It's really bad. I'm trying not to put the air on at all for August. Some of these nights lately it's been fine just having the window open.
AC is off during the day, as are lights. The only things that are on are the "stand-by" lights on the appliances (stereo system = 3 items) and one little vacuum. Oh, yeah, we charge two laptops and two cell phones. We do run a cat watering fountain 24-7, though. It's a small, two-cat model. Maybe the cats are running the AC during the day? I wouldn't mind, as long as they'd clean up the place when they're done.
I live in a Basement Apartment and it has been so cool this summer that I only need to have a box fan to keep it comfortable on hot days. Also, my utilities are included in my rent.
But I HATE hearing things like this..b/c I know I am eventually going to buy a condo and it's ridiculous to think that for just a little bit of comfort it will cost me $300-400 a month. Absolutely insane. MY A/C bill wasn't even that high in San Diego when I ran it everyday.
Do you guys use more than one A/C? Are you super frugal about turning it off when you are not there etc? Some of you guys might want to try turning it on energy saver mode (around 73-78 degrees perhaps) and then running a oscillating fan (which will compensate for the extra 6-10 degrees lower to keep you sweat free at night). That will keep you cool enough..and comfortable. Plus, I'm sure it will bring down your A/C bill a LOT.
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