Help with Electric Providers!! Aaarrgh!

[pepper131]

I'm always shocked what my friends pay for elec. Although they use Green Mountain - their bill is usually at least double of mine and mine never got over $160 (I do turn it up to 80 during the day and only have 2025 sq ft).

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by pepper131

I'm always shocked what my friends pay for elec. Although they use Green Mountain - their bill is usually at least double of mine and mine never got over $160 (I do turn it up to 80 during the day and only have 2025 sq ft).

$160 @ $0.0855 per kwh = over 1800Kwh for the month. This is the number you should be comparing if wanting to see who has a more efficient use of energy - the price thing is simply a multiple of that number. It's great that you have 8.55 cent rate now, but in time when that expires and you can only lock into a 13 cent rate - your usage will still be 1800KwH, but your bill will jump to $250.

For what it's worth, we have been making improvements to our home to increase it's efficiency. We have a programmable thermostat that, when I am not working from home, we utilize when we're both at the office (about 2 days a week). We increased insulation and replaced the air conditioning with a more efficient unit. We have 2576 sq ft and our bill spiked this summer, for one month, to 2201KwH. Before next summers peak, we will have finished the attic insulation (20% of the space is not insulated yet) and we already have replaced the soffits that are properly ventilated and also replaced two windows in our master bedroom (they were single-pane, now dual-pane low-e). This summer was above normal temp-wise. I'm hopeful with the increased insulation, better attic ventilation and new windows and maybe a more normal summer, we will peak at 1800KwH next July. I'm hoping we can replace the three windows we have facing East, but that all depends on finances. I'm certain that'll make a difference - having low-e windows blocking a bulk of the sun's heat on that side of the house.

Brian

[Pete53FR]

Because we are deregulated we are paying up to 50% more than the rest of Texas.