Electricity Bill....
Is it just me, or is electricity really expensive here (CT) compared to UK?? Last month $186, this month $198. Only 2 of us, fairly large-ish 4 bed house, but we rarely use the AC, so we are simply paying for lights and hot water..... much larger house in the UK was about £200 per quarter. We are dreading winter....
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Re: Electricity Bill....
The AC is major draw even if you only use it "rarely", especially if it is a fairly old, unit. Also the fridge is a big user, again especially if it is a fairly old one. Do you use a clothes dryer, because that's another heavy user of power?
If your water heater doesn't have additional insulation you should buy a fibre glass insulation wrap for it. I suspect that the electric water heater is the biggest "unexpected" contributor to your power bill. What about the lights? If they're incandescent bulbs they can add a surprising amount to your bill, so they should all be fluorescent, compact fluorescent, or LED bulbs. Many power companies will send you a free box of a variety of sizes of compact fluorescent bulbs. |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 11419000)
The AC is major draw even if you only use it "rarely", especially if it is a fairly old, unit. Also the fridge is a big user, again especially if it is a fairly old one. Do you use a clothes dryer, because that's another heavy user of power.
Do you know how much your paying per kWh OP vs what was being charged in the UK? |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Cooker, dryer, dishwasher? Did you have gas in UK?.
What is the unit cost? Here its about 11.5cents/kwh. |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 11419000)
The AC is major draw even if you only use it "rarely", especially if it is a fairly old, unit. Also the fridge is a big user, again especially if it is a fairly old one. Do you use a clothes dryer, because that's another heavy user of power?
If your water heater doesn't have additional insulation you should buy a fibre glass insulation wrap for it. I suspect that the electric water heater is the biggest "unexpected" contributor to your power bill. What about the lights? If they're incandescent bulbs they can add a surprising amount to your bill, so they should all be fluorescent, compact fluorescent, or LED bulbs. Many power companies will send you a free box of a variety of sizes of compact fluorescent bulbs. |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 11419000)
What about the lights? If they're incandescent bulbs they can add a surprising amount to your bill, so they should all be fluorescent, compact fluorescent, or LED bulbs. Many power companies will send you a free box of a variety of sizes of compact fluorescent bulbs.
They also put out much less heat, so you save on cooling costs during the summer. A lot of states in the New England area also have a state based energy audit, where you can get a bunch of stuff done to reduce consumption from free bulbs to cheap insulation/window work. For us, it's part of one of those taxes that go to NStar. Mass Save | Energy Audit | Home Energy Audit | Energy Assessment You might have something similar in CT? |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Originally Posted by mrsmaccmoo
(Post 11418995)
Is it just me, or is electricity really expensive here (CT) compared to UK?? Last month $186, this month $198. Only 2 of us, fairly large-ish 4 bed house, but we rarely use the AC, so we are simply paying for lights and hot water..... much larger house in the UK was about £200 per quarter. We are dreading winter....
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Re: Electricity Bill....
Seems to vary from town to town. Bought a house in July and the last few bills have been $75 and $78 per month. This is after running a bedroom air conditioner unit and all the appliances - fridge, drier etc..
Last town I was in had Unitil as the supplier which means you get shafted. Place was a similar size and we were running the same appliances but my bills there were nearly double. This town is National Grid who seem to be a lot better. |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Originally Posted by mrsmaccmoo
(Post 11418995)
much larger house in the UK
Your home in CT maybe poorly insulated compared to your UK one. I remember in MA on my street of cape cod style homes mine was the only one with double glazing |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Regarding those LED bulbs.
I see Costco has good deals in the 40w replacement range but won't they be quite dull? I usually use 100W in the kitchen... |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Originally Posted by Hotscot
(Post 11419890)
Regarding those LED bulbs.
I see Costco has good deals in the 40w replacement range but won't they be quite dull? I usually use 100W in the kitchen... |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Originally Posted by Hotscot
(Post 11419890)
Regarding those LED bulbs.
I see Costco has good deals in the 40w replacement range but won't they be quite dull? I usually use 100W in the kitchen... |
Re: Electricity Bill....
Screw that....
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Re: Electricity Bill....
Originally Posted by Uncle_Bob
(Post 11419930)
Yeah dull, no good for kitchen. LED for the Kitchen will be expensive. A PAR30 flood led equivalent to 50w will run over $20 a pop. A PAR38 (120w) takes you to over 30.
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Re: Electricity Bill....
Yeah I think I'll wait a bit...
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