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Electricity Bill....

Electricity Bill....

Old Sep 27th 2014, 3:59 pm
  #31  
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Originally Posted by robin1234
I suspect the big difference is whether people have gas or not. Living out in the country, we do not have gas available. We could have chosen to install propane for water heating and possibly the kitchen stove, but there is an initial setup cost to take into account. With hindsight, having been in the house for 17 years, we would have saved long term from installing propane, but as it is we've paid a lot on a monthly basis for electric water heating.
Possibly. We are all electric, but we don't have to heat thousands of sq feet which helps, and we are 2nd floor, middle of the units, so heat from other units keeps us warmer, along with only 2 exterior walls, so not much space for cold air to seep in which helps. My GF mom is all electric, have to check with her to see if its costly for a large house. Her house was built in the 60's before natural gas was available in this area, she never paid to convert.

They just don't use natural gas in apartments here, suppose its safer or just cheaper to use all electric, not sure, could be a regulation on multi-family homes, but they never have gas even though its available.

Originally Posted by RICH
FWIW I was away for 2 weeks in July (half of August billing cycle) and turned off everything except the fridge and set the a/c low
July bill 1066 kwh $134.56
August 810 kwh $103.19
September 1072 kwh $135.42

Would cost you approx 82, 64, 85 here for the same use.
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Old Sep 27th 2014, 9:08 pm
  #32  
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Originally Posted by Nutmegger
Mine was $130 last month
The new bill arrived today -- $117. Looking at the usage graph, the next bill seems to traditionally be the lowest of the fall, then it starts to climb and reaches a peak in January before it goes down again, then rises for July and August.
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Old Sep 27th 2014, 11:38 pm
  #33  
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Ex-Tesla and NASA Engineers Make a Light Bulb That's Smarter Than You | WIRED

Seems somewhat fitting...smart light bulb that uses 60-80% less than a LED bulb...bit pricy though
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Old Sep 28th 2014, 3:50 am
  #34  
 
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Originally Posted by Bob
Ex-Tesla and NASA Engineers Make a Light Bulb That's Smarter Than You | WIRED

Seems somewhat fitting...smart light bulb that uses 60-80% less than a LED bulb...bit pricy though
The problem is that cutting "not very much" by 60%-80% isn't going to help a whole lot.

When the "cash for clunkers" program was in full swing, it was pointed out that getting people out of 16mpg cars into 18mpg cars would save more petrol than getting people out of 30mpg cars into 50mpg Priuses, counter-intuitive though it is. If someone wants to save "real" amounts of energy they need to work on ACs and fridges, and work out how to make induction stoves for the same price as regular "radiant" stoves, and quit f@rting around with light bulbs until everyone is already using LED bulbs.
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Old Sep 28th 2014, 1:39 pm
  #35  
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Originally Posted by Pulaski
The problem is that cutting "not very much" by 60%-80% isn't going to help a whole lot.

When the "cash for clunkers" program was in full swing, it was pointed out that getting people out of 16mpg cars into 18mpg cars would save more petrol than getting people out of 30mpg cars into 50mpg Priuses, counter-intuitive though it is. If someone wants to save "real" amounts of energy they need to work on ACs and fridges, and work out how to make induction stoves for the same price as regular "radiant" stoves, and quit f@rting around with light bulbs until everyone is already using LED bulbs.
The smart thing about this though is how it compares its own output to that of the ambiance so that it can adjust itself. Now that is something that could be applied to AC units, certainly window units and possibly fridges too.

Tech has to start somewhere and the tech behind this is pretty cool, even as you say, the product itself is a bit pointless. Nice in a office environment though.
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Old Sep 30th 2014, 12:30 am
  #36  
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Really interesting to hear others thoughts/ experiences/ bills.... i am going to methodically switch everything off and on and see how quickly the dials spin, to pinpoint exactly where i need to target my usage reduction(s), thanks all.
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Old Sep 30th 2014, 12:57 am
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Originally Posted by mrsmaccmoo
Really interesting to hear others thoughts/ experiences/ bills.... i am going to methodically switch everything off and on and see how quickly the dials spin, to pinpoint exactly where i need to target my usage reduction(s), thanks all.
I keep a spreadsheet so I can quickly compare year on year usage. So while last months bill was over $300 it was less than the same month the year before.
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Old Sep 30th 2014, 1:49 am
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Originally Posted by mrsmaccmoo
Really interesting to hear others thoughts/ experiences/ bills.... i am going to methodically switch everything off and on and see how quickly the dials spin, to pinpoint exactly where i need to target my usage reduction(s), thanks all.
If you're going to do that, turn temporarily to its coldest setting to be sure you get a measure of it actually running. Of course the problem with the fridge is that it is only drawing power intermittently, so you'll see how much it pulls when it's running, but not get much feel for how much it contributes to your bill. There should be the date of manufacture on the information sticker, which is probably somewhere inside the fridge door, and if it is older than about ten years I'd seriously consider replacing it. As Robin1234 pointed out, you could save $30/mth, or pay for a $1,000 fridge in three years!

Last edited by Pulaski; Sep 30th 2014 at 1:53 am.
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Old Oct 1st 2014, 8:55 pm
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Our NYC electricity bills were >$200 per month in the summer. I became obsessed with controlling the A/C more. In winter they were around $100 or so (heating and water was inclusive so they were the cheap months). In San Francisco, where no A/C is needed, we are paying around $50 to $60 a month. But I knew it was mostly the A/C. New fridges in both places, which helps.
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Old Oct 1st 2014, 9:30 pm
  #40  
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

For interest here's a summary of our bill.
Attached Thumbnails Electricity Bill....-ebill.jpg  
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Old Oct 1st 2014, 11:33 pm
  #41  
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

Originally Posted by Hotscot
For interest here's a summary of our bill.
Most current one for us, BC, Canada. All electric approx 600 sq feet apartment.

Electric Charges
Aug 07 to Sep 05 ( Residential Conservation Rate 1101 )
Basic Charge: 30 days @ $0.16640 /day 4.99*
Energy charge:¹
Step 1: 345 kW.h @ $0.07520 /kW.h 25.94*
Step 2: 0 kW.h @ $0.11270 /kW.h 0.00
Rate Rider at 5.0% 1.55*
* GST 1.62
$34.10
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Old Oct 2nd 2014, 12:12 am
  #42  
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Default Re: Electricity Bill....

I can't complain. 3000 sq feet.
Summer has been 110 or thereabouts.
Buncha computers, fridge freezers, AC at 75...
Mainly it's the AC.
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