Utility Bills Question-please help (Roy, Clinton: home, refrigerators, live in)

[NYtoVT]

$600+/month for fuel and over $200/m for electricity here in VT. Can't wait to get the heck out of here

[scirocco22]

Hi everyone.

Here's an interesting paragraph from one of the utility companies in my home state of Washington:

Also, did you know that a vacant house with a thermostat set at 55 degrees may use more energy than an occupied house set at 65 degrees? Lights, cooking, baths, clothes drying and other "people" activity help to raise the temperature in a home. An empty house's heating system must work harder to maintain the 55 degree temperature.

http://www.klickpud.com/conserve/stayson.asp

So I guess it could be a misconception that an empty house uses less energy than an occupied house. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me but I've read this in more than one place.

If it were me, I'd probably turn the thermostat down just a hair ...possibly even to 50 degrees. I think that will still keep the pipes from freezing but will surprise you how much less energy will be used for just that drop in 5 degrees. But you say that your water has been turned off, as Scott previously stated, if you're sure all the water is drained from the pipes that may be exposed, then it could be a no-brainer.

I had the opposite problem. My house in Nevada was vacant and almost empty for a year and a half. People told me to keep the thermostat at 90 degrees in the summer so that the A/C would kick on every now and then. This was to keep the wood from warping is what I was told. However, my electric bills to run the a/c were still more than what I expected so I kicked the thermostat up to 95 degrees and took the chance on warped cabinets. It made a significant difference in the electric bill. And I never did experience any wood warping ...not that I could notice, anyway.

--'rocco

[scirocco22]

Hi again, Sugarbunny--

I just ran across another article I had bookmarked from one of the local utility companies in Washington state.

About an empty house, it says:

An empty house will use more energy for heating than a house full of people. The heat given off from five people is about the amount of heat given off by a 500 watt electric portable space heater. In the wintertime your house uses more energy for heating than anything else. But in most heating systems it is the thermostat that decides when energy is used - not occupancy. You can't control the weather. But by turning down your thermostat and improving your homes insulation is a sure way to reduce your power bill.


http://www.franklinpud.com/html/faq_energy.html


--'rocco

[Elder_Shawn]

Originally Posted by NYtoVT

$600+/month for fuel and over $200/m for electricity here in VT. Can't wait to get the heck out of here

I spent the Winter of 1999 in Bennington and I remember it being so cold that our heater couldn't keep up. We used to get in the car just to thaw lol!

[Lisaxx]

My father’s house was vacant for 2 months. His electric bills and water use were high too. When I went over to his home to investigate it turned out that the people next door had been using his electricity (plugged into an outside socket) to do remodeling of their home as well as heat the area they were working on with space heaters.
From the electric panel I turned off all unnecessary electric circuits and that stopped the problem.

[scirocco22]

Very good point, Lisa! That's something that should always be checked out in this kind of situation. It's not that uncommon for neighbors to do that when they know the house is empty. I know several people that have been in similar circumstances.

--'rocco

[snomom2000]

We justed moved to Herriman (SW sub of Salt Lake) and our first full month of electricity was $170 and gas $180. That's for a 3000 sq ft home, 4 people, 4 computers, space heaters in unfinished basement and lights on pretty much round the clock due to a night shift worker in our home. We have our nighttime heat set at 68 and daytime at 70. This is the first week the temps have been above freezing (during the day with the sun out!) in over a month. We've had several below zero and near zero nights. All this said, I still think your bills sound high. Are you sure no one's living in your house?

[mountainfaith]

Just checking out the latest posts in this thread. I went thru our bills for the past 12 mths. to get our average for our local realtor to sell our current house. I posted before that our propane budget payments were 10 mths. long, but they're for 9 mths. instead, so thankfully that means our bills are a little lower than I thought. Yeah!

So, over the 9 mth. budget spread, we pay $185 per mth. = $1665 a year. Or if averaged over the whole year that would come to about $135 pr. mth.

Can't wait to have natural gas instead of propane. That sure will help a lot!

[mountainfaith]

Hey there. Just wondering if you ever got your Utah utility figured out. Sure hope so.

[smithmi]

Utility companies make mistakes. My electric bill this month was $275. We don't keep lights on most of the time. I think (I know this is not true..LOL) but they seem to bill a high rate to see if you pay it without complaint. If you do, it stays the same. If you complain, they bring it down. I called on mine as well and got a lot of reasons for the high bill. The idea it is cold makes some sense because the heater motor keeps running, but $275???????
I live in Salem where yesterday Provo got about 1" of snow and we got one foot. Spanish Fork got about 4" and they are about 2 miles from us. The place you live can not be based as a utility indicator because the weather is so bizarre. Watch your bills close and make sure you question every one. Keeps them honest.