THE Home Gas/Electric Bill Thread (merged)

Specop_007 · Expert Joined: Aug 12, 2004 Posts: 6283

Bought 4 to 500 a month I figure for all utilities. We also have 6 in our house so that adds up to lots of showers, lots of cooking and lots of lights.
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cephalotus

Denny

perdition79

$40 a month for electricity (I don't like air conditioning) and $120 a month for gasoline.
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pictishbroch · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 22, 2008 Posts: 27

3 years ago I bought and installed a wood burning stove at a cost of €4000.It heats the bottom half of the house no problem in Winter.The last two winters here in North Germany have been extremely mild.As a result we got a rebate of €180 for our Gas.
I am seriously thinking of Solar Panels but will wait to see if the state will soon provide grants towards The costs of installing panels etc(I estimate between €15,000-€20,000)
An interesting case in Germany is that of Marburg where they are trying to make it Law that new builds must have solar panels installed.

http://www.focus.de/immobilien/bauen/bauen_aid_236028.html

If energy price continue to soar I am sure the German government will provide grants as an incentive for more people to install Solar Panels.

pictishbroch · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 22, 2008 Posts: 27

Here is the Marburg article in English.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3431273,00.html

Marburg, a German college town of about 80,000, has become the first in the country to make solar heating obligatory for newly built or renovated buildings. The green bill has some residents and politicians up in arms.

The law, passed on Friday, June 20 by a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, has sparked a storm of criticism in the town of Marburg in the state of Hesse in western Germany.

The law stipulates that, from October, a 1 sq metre panel must be built for every 20 sq metres of surface area. It applies to new homes or existing buildings undergoing renovations to heating systems or roofs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/23/solarpower.greenbuilding

Plantagenet

Central Alaska is one of the coldest places on earth (-40 to -60 lows) and has some of the highest energy costs on earth.

With heating oil already over $4.40 gallon, I project heating oil costs of about $1000 USD per month in the winter---and I use a woodstove in addition to the oil stove. Electricity, gasoline etc. will cost still more.

I can afford it, but a lot of people here in Alaska can't. There will be big trouble here this winter. Exclamation

mrobert

Romania / Europe
44 sqm apartment.

I pay about $200 / year for electricity, and $600 a year for heating gas.

Gas for the car is around $250 - $300 a month. But that's a different story Smile

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retiredguy

$145 a month for gas and electricity for about 3000 total square feet. 80% of heat comes from wood. The 3000 feet includes my woodworking shop.

Less than $50/month for gas. Prius for general driving, Tacoma for hauling (mostly wood).

Stealth · Coal Joined: Jun 18, 2007 Posts: 6

I live alone in a small apartment (35 square meters) in Germany and pay 76€ for natural gas and electricity per month currently. I expect this figure to rise with the next annual check of my meter, though. My current rates are still based on the gas prices of last winter.

I notice that heating costs do not really decrease much if you live in a smaller apartment. Previously I was living in a flat almost double the size of the current one and was paying only about 15% more for heating.

I do not own a car so 912€ are my annual expenditures for energy.

AZpeaker · Tar Sands Joined: Feb 02, 2006 Posts: 30 Location: Arizona

2,700 sq ft in Scottsdale, AZ (Phoenix) 2 high efficiency AC units installed when I remodeled this 1981 house with super insulation, solar tubes for daytime lighting, double pane windows and 30 solar panels on the roof. Our electric company just started a new rate plan for solar equipped homes like this where we get full retail credit for electricity sold back to the grid. We keep the AC at 75/76 degrees becuase both of us work out of the house. That means minimal driving too. Max Electric bill in summer is $150 per month The taxes delivery charges etc on each bill total about $70 per month which are fixed. I love Feburary, March and Nov, Dec becuase we don't use that much heat. I almost get electricity credit from the utility at the end of the month.

cephalotus

Minvaren

Got my new bill, wanted to post about my pain.

2000 sq/ft, Houston Texas. Not a lot of winter, but a lot of summer. All electric, no gas. Oh, and electricity is deregulated down here.

I've gradually been replacing appliances with more efficient units, sealing everything possible, and upgrading insulation and other things around the place. For the last 3 years, my balanced-billing amount has stayed at $180/month, even as the rate has climbed, so my efforts haven't gone unnoticed.

However, since January of this year, my rate for electricity has gone up nearly 40% to 18c/kwh. The utility company has helpfully bumped my balanced billing amount by $100 a month to help me out with this.

The new windows get put in next week. After that... time to start turning the thermostat higher. There's nothing else left to turn off.

dragonlady · Coal Joined: Aug 20, 2008 Posts: 3

[align=right]I save a lot on my gas by using cold water only to

every load of wash for my clothes washer. You do not need Hot

or warm to get your clothes clean. Mine come out just as clean

as they did when I used warm. I also use an earth friendly soap

and I never put in the recommended amount.

Not only am I saying on my gas bill but I am also saving on my

clothes soap.

criticalmass

Has anyone recently installed an on demand, electric water heater? It seems vastly more economical to me than a gas heater, especially because the water doesn't have to be hot all the while it sits in a tank. Just superheated when you turn the "hot" faucet on.

For as little as I use hot water, it seems like an awesome and money saving idea.
I'll have to calculate and see what it would save me over the course of a year.