THE Home Gas/Electric Bill Thread (merged)

snax · Tar Sands Joined: Jan 20, 2007 Posts: 75

I think it's fair to say that conservation of fuel for transportation or other fossil fueled implements is an entire subject all it's own.
There's much that people can do to conserve without doing anything more than paying attention to their useage and changing their habits. I suppose that applies no matter what you are using your energies on though.

pea-jay

snax · Tar Sands Joined: Jan 20, 2007 Posts: 75

While so far for the rolling year, our household energy use is about even vs. the previous year, we have at least reduced our gasoline consumption. We sold our second vehicle, an Escape Hybrid, in November and I have been riding the bus or bicycling to work ever since. Combining that with other more efficient trip planning is going to cut well over 5000 miles off of our use this year, with only a slight increase of about 2000 extra miles placed on our pickup.

The bottom line is that although we are putting more miles on our gas guzzling pickup, we are still saving about 25% on fuel consumption vs. our typical dual vehicle useage. That's still not good enough though, so we are likely going to end up purchasing another used vehicle revered for it's high fuel economy, and park the truck most of the year.

So far I would say that the greatest technique for saving energy is useage habits. Most people could save a great deal simply by taking a realistic look at what they really use energy for vs. what they really need. Hybrids and CFLs etc., are more the icing on the cake after that.

HamRadioRocks · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 19, 2006 Posts: 108

On last year's June bill (mid-May to early-June), I used 177 kWh (31 days), an average of 5.71 kWh per day. On last year's July bill (mid-June to early-July), I used 309 kWh (32 days), an average of 9.66 kWh per day.

On this year's June bill, I used just 99 kWh (34 days), an average of 2.91 kWh per day. That's 49% less than last year. On this year's July bill, I used 173 kWh (31 days), an average of only 5.58 kWH per day. That's a savings of 42%, quite remarkable given that the average temperature was 2 degrees higher in this year's billing period.

The things I'm doing this year to conserve energy that I wasn't doing last year:
1. Using a tarp to shade the window air conditioner
2. Using aluminum foil on the windows that get the most sun exposure to keep the sun out of the house
3. Cooling the house to 81 degrees instead of 79 degrees: Yes, 81 degrees is 22 degrees warmer than the thermostat setting I used back in February, and it's 14 degrees warmer than the 67 degree thermostat setting I use at the very beginning and end of the heating season.
4. The BIGGEST thing: Using a plug-in-timer (like a lamp timer but designed for a large electrical load and a 240V outlet) to keep the air conditioning OFF until at least 5PM has the same effect as using a programmable thermostat in a central air conditioning system. I set the timer to turn on the air conditioning at 5PM (or later if I know I'll be out for much of the evening). Even if I'm home during the day on the weekend, I leave the air conditioning off and put up with the heat and humidity. (Of course, we haven't had those blistering 95+ degree days yet, so the warmest it's been in the house is 85 degrees.) Excess heat and humidity makes it difficult to sleep well, but I can handle some during the day.

If everybody could do what I've done, we'd seriously smooth out those spikes in summer electricity demand. If I could save 40%-50% on electricity this summer, a real energy guzzler could save even more. The plug-in-timer helps me save energy in two ways: I don't waste electricity cooling the house when at work, but I can still come home to a cool house. Waiting until 5PM to turn on the air conditioning on weekends also helps me to adapt to higher levels of heat and humidity. 81 degrees might seem sultry to most people, but it's refreshing compared to 85 degrees.

Also, each extra degree of either improved heat tolerance or passive cooling during the air conditioning season makes a MUCH bigger impact than an extra degree of improved cold tolerance or passive warming during the heating season. I can only imagine how much more electricity I'd be using if I insisted on keeping the house cooler. Under my current consumption habits, I generally need the air conditioning for only an hour or two per day on a typical summer day. If I insisted on cooling the house to 76 degrees, I would have needed the air conditioning on many days in May (instead of just a few days and only briefly on those days) and would have even needed it on some warm, sunny April days as well. If I insisted on cooling the house to 72 degrees, I would have needed to use the air conditioning on some of the sunny days in March, which seems ridiculous for Iowa. I've heard that there are energy guzzlers out there who often use BOTH the heating and air conditioning in the house on THE SAME DAY. To me, that's a sign of a consumer who's gone over the edge. Even when the weather changes sharply, it should take some time to cool a house warm enough to need air conditioning or to warm a house cool enough to need heating.

purdum · Tar Sands Joined: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 32 Location: MI, USA

So I can put your savings into context, how big is your house, how many people live there, and what part of the country are you in?

skeptik

trotsky · Coal Joined: Aug 04, 2007 Posts: 3

hamjradiorocks:

Is your radio made out of ham?

Do you have a winter? Are you in the US? And it does not pay us to minimize consumption. The Energy companies charge a flat rate... Shock

ACrisisAwaits · Coal Joined: Mar 28, 2007 Posts: 12

Well, most of the summer we stayed in the Bay Area, which is not that hot at all. After coming back[to San Diego] in August, our average daily use of electricity was 11.6 kWh/day and natural gas was 0.6 Therms/Day. These figures are not that bad, we did not use air conditioning at all. Even on the few 95+ degree days with 70+ degree lows. It got up to 89 degrees in the house upstairs. However, our electric figure was still 14% above baseline and our natural gas figure was 28% above baseline. We have the water heater set to 120 degrees and it has 2 insulating blankets. Perhaps the baseline quanities are unattainable goals for a family of 5...

Troyboy1208

I have been on these forums for a couple of years now but I have not seen anything specifically related to a survey of how much we spend per KWH on Electricity. Here in the sunshine state we have two major suppliers. Florida Power and Light and the other (which is my supplier) is Progress Energy.
I have kept track of my power bills over the last 10 years as a homeowner but I have not seen a dramatic increase in my bills. The way Progress Energy has their bill set up is that you get charged a lower amount for using less than 1000 KWH per month. I always manage to break that especially in the summer time.
What boggles my mind is the huge increase in price of fossil fuels and yet I have not seen an increase in the rate I am paying. I currently pay 5.46 cents per KWH under 1000 kwh, and 6.46 per kwh above 1000 kwh. There is another charge called "fuel charge" in which they charge 4.278 KWH (under 1000kwh) and 5.27 when you exceed that. Here is a pdf file that explains how they bill you:
Residential Rates for Progress Energy.
I have posted all this to encourage the community to do the same. I am curious what the rates are around the world. My $ amount that I spend is about $150 in the summer and around $100 in the winter. This is for two people in a three bedroom house.
Has the community here felt an increase in electrical generation expenses? I must say that it feels "cheap" compared to what oil is going for now and all the inflation that causes. I do know that these power companies here cannot raise rates without govt approval first. Thanks Smile

Ferretlover

Just paid the bill today. Rate schedule 31. Charge Rate: 0.0725000 per kWh.
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"RRrrruuuunnnn!!!" ~Apocalypto

lawnchair · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 20, 2004 Posts: 772

$7.50 flat connection, 6.7c/kWh (7.9c/kWh after taxes). Mind-bogglingly cheap for what you get. Last rolling year this two-bedroom two-person 1000-sq-foot house used 4928 kWh. Less than half the national average, or 1/45th what Al Gore's house used. Highest bill last August (one room air-conditioned most of the month) was $60.32.
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At 1% annual growth, human bodies will incorporate every gram in the observable universe in approximately 10,170 years.

jimmyz

louisiana cleco .127 per kwh this past month

SchroedingersCat · Intermediate Crude Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 527

I'd post PG&E's rate chart for Northern California but you'd all go insane trying to read it. Here in SF we pay somewhere between .12 and .36 per KWh depending on how much you use. The average is $0.16474

The best way to get people to save electricity would be to bill them in a way they can understand.
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Civilization is a personal choice.

Troyboy1208

BigTex

The ONLY way to do this calculation is to take the TOTAL amount of your electricity bill and divided it by the total number of kwh you used.

It doesn't really matter how the bill is itemized. The calculation above is the real kwh rate because that is what you are paying for it.

For me, it's about 12 cents per kwh. I am on a time of use metering program (which I recommend), so my average per kwh charge fluctuates between about 12 and 12.5 cents per kwh.

The base rate is about 7.5 cents per kwh.
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Smile