Electric Bill

[Chris Estes]

Hi All,

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if anyone else would be willing
to share their electrical consumption. I just got our December bill
and I'm floored -- we used 5,050 kwh during the 32 day period. That's
a sustained average consumption of 6.58 kw, 24/7!

Since we started heating, I've kept the thermostats pegged at 66. I'm
insane about turning out lights. I even (gasp!) shut down my big
servers and moved websites/email out to a hosting provider. It wasn't
that cold in December, was it? Where is it all going?!?!?!

Thank goodness we're on the average payment plan or the Estes family
would be eating rice and ramen noodles for the rest of January!

I'm getting ready to build one of these: http://tinyurl.com/a7796y

-Chris-

[cincob...@comcast.net]

Chris,

 

I have a spreadsheet on my other computer that shows our usage and costs since we moved here in July 2006.  I will gladly share it with everyone.  We have averaged just above $290/month, however, our usage increases during Dec., Jan., and Feb.  Unfortunately we've had a real anomoly this month in which our usage spiked pretty substantially.

 

I have also been looking at alternative sources, but you're way ahead of me!

 

Thanks,

Bruce

[cincob...@comcast.net]

[Brooke Kaine]

Good morning everyone and Chris, I echo your sentiments! I got killed in
December! I'm talking a 50% increase. My highest month ever in usage.
And I lowered our themostat to 71. Yeah, I know that's probably still
high but I still can't explain why the bill jumped so much when nothing
else changed.

Anyone else getting similarly whacked??

Brooke & Ann

[BRADLEY RUPERT]

Chris,
wow.  that's really high.  I just checked ours and we used 3958 kwh this bill.  The previous one was 2617.  I think thermostat is at 67 at night and goes up during waking hours.  You must be leaving door open!!!

> Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:59:52 -0500
> From: ces...@estes.com

> To: cb...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Electric Bill
>
>

[michael glaubitz]

Ours was exceptionally high also for last month. 68 Degrees  24/7 on both thermostats and we are very conscious of our usage. I remember years ago they would include an average outside temperature for the month on the bill just to help you gauge if there was something out of alignment.

Mike

[Bill Baker]

Hi all,

The Bakers clocked in at 4909 kWh for dec. 08 (with no Christmas house lights this year)

Average house temp 69º, the average monthly usage for all of 2008 was 4454 kWh with a Jan. 08 all time high of 6883.

Surprised we didn't get a Christmas card from SMECO.

Bill

[Shannon Edelmann]

Good Day all,
 
I am a little better knowing we all will be looking for part time jobs to cover the Dec power bill.  We were thinkging that leaving the house at 64 during the day and 67 when we were home was too high!!!  We did have lights, but I didn't think we had to pay for the entire neighbor hoods as well.
 
Shannon Edelmann

> Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:59:52 -0500
> From: ces...@estes.com
> To: cb...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Electric Bill
>
>

[Kristin Viken]

Those fireplace drafts don't help us any, do they?!

[Chris Estes]

On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 10:10 AM, Kristin Viken <viken....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Those fireplace drafts don't help us any, do they?!
>

No... I couple of years back, I got some of that metallic tape for
ductwork and got ours pretty well sealed up. I regret not having a
pellet stove put in!

[Bill Baker]

Just curious... assuming we all have similar heat units, have you changed your AprilAire filter media lately? 

We have two units and they get pretty clogged with dust every 6 months or so. I just ordered two more online (about $15 a pop) from ebay and saved about 50% off the cost than buying directly from AprilAire http://www.aprilaireparts.com/201-pleated-filter-media.html. 

Just a suggestion to help keep your air clean and moving freely. If anyone is unsure about what and where your filters are located, please fell free to call me anytime.

Bill

Also, anyone with the Scuttle whole house humidifier, if you don't have water softener (bad mistake on our part and soon to be corrected) it will need a yearly cleaning to remove thick layers of mineral buildup.... pretty easy to check these as well (excuse the pun)

--------

[4madisons]

We had a pellet stove when we lived in Brandywine--loved it. Wish we had
one here sometimes too. Now we pay out of the "you know what" for both oil
heat and SMECO.....never thought 10 years ago when we moved in we'd be
having a $399 per month "budget payment" for oil heating alonge (SMO) in
addition to paying an electric bill.....
Monica

[terris...@comcast.net]

I checked the bill from last year at this time....also very high.  The difference is an increase of 2 cents per kWh.  When you're multiplying that by thousands of kWh, that adds up pretty quickly!   I want to know how Bruce Berkley is averaging $290/month!  Please share your secrets!!

 

Terri Sanders

 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Estes" <ces...@estes.com>
To: cb...@googlegroups.com

[cincob...@comcast.net]

I put the kids on a treadmill and attached it to the grid!  Just kidding of course.  Keep in mind that we turn our heat and air on later than most people.  So we freeze and roast accordingly.  Other than that it's just trying to turn off lights when not in use.  I've spoken too soon however, our bill is more than double that for December. 

 

Thanks,

Bruce

 

 

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[Vic Scalia]

Chris,

Evelyn and I got a shocking bill for 5,743 kWh covering the period of 12/01/08 to 01/02/09. We keep our thermostats at 68 throughout the winter months. We blamed the huge jump from last period, an additional 1,436 kWh, on Christmas lights and a lot of people coming and going all month long but we were still stunned by the bill. Thanks for letting all of us share this information.

 

I am now planning a trip to Costco for ramen noodles...........shall I pick up a case for you? 
 

Vic Scalia

---

From: Chris Estes <ces...@estes.com>
To: cb...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 6:59:52 AM
Subject: Electric Bill

[Matt & Heather]

Hello Everyone—

Our electric bill was ~$600 this past month for a total of 3949 kWh.
We keep our T-stat at 67F in the winter and 77F in the summer much to
the dismay of many.

For those who want a bit more utility history on an average size place
in Cabin Branch (and to prove I have no life) I have uploaded two PDFs
showing eight years of electrical consumption/graphs for our place.
This is in the 'files' section of the group and is titled
'ElectricBill'. The 3949 kWh billing is not on there since this I
‘count’ this as January ’09. Yes, I’ve been agonizing about my bill
for a while now.

You can ignore the few months where my bill was over $1k for as much
as 11,000 kWh a couple years back…Brooke owes me a steak dinner for
that as I recall, but that’s a different story.

Regards,
Matt

Matt & Heather Boley
515 Arundel Way

[Melissa Poole]

I echo what everyone else is saying.  We used 3638 in December, up from 1616 in November.  It was not THAT much colder.  We keep our thermostat no higher than 66.....many times as low as 64.  Bring on the ramen noodles....

 

 

Melissa Poole

 

 

[Kristi Bingham]

Our bill was $638... croak!!! So, those noodles sound good to us... just leave them at your house Vic, we will be over to eat them later :-)

 

--

Kristi Bingham
Heritage Makers
Independent Consultant
www.yourfairytaleyourway.com
(410)320-6163
"Preserving your fairy tale
for a lifetime."

 

-------------- Original message --------------
From: Vic Scalia <vics...@yahoo.com>

 

Chris,

Evelyn and I got a shocking bill for 5,743 kWh covering the period of 12/01/08 to 01/02/09. We keep our thermostats at 68 throughout the winter months. We blamed the huge jump from last period, an additional 1,436 kWh, on Christmas lights and a lot of people coming and going all month long but we were still stunned by the bill. Thanks for letting all of us share this information.

 

I am now planning a trip to Costco for ramen noodles...........shall I pick up a case for you? 
 

Vic Scalia

---

From: Chris Estes <ces...@estes.com>
To: cb...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 6:59:52 AM
Subject: Electric Bill

[Kristi Bingham]

[shot...@yahoo.com]

But Bruce you keep the house at like 50 below zero and bundle up in
layers of down filled sweaters and ski pants! So we can judge a normal
usage on you! :)

[Dot G.]

Ok just took a gander at ours.....a mere 5790 Kwh!!!!! OMG! That came
to $877.97, if we weren't on the payment plan we would be eating those
ramens right with you. Now we did have a "few" Christmas Lights
out.....but wow!

I think I'm going to go and turn a light off or 2....

:)
Dot Gingue
Cov. Ct.

On Jan 13, 6:59 am, "Chris Estes" <ces...@estes.com> wrote:

[Brooke Kaine]

Good afternoon everyone,

 

Thanks Terri for the update on the 2 cent increase per kWh but what about the unexplainable increased usage? OK a few guests over for dinner and some Christmas lights but why the huge jump in kWh used???

 

Thoughts?

 

Brooke & Ann

[Dot G.]

I checke last yrs and we only used 3800 kwh last dec. now we are 2k
above that!! the only difference is we added the lights on the posts
on porch....that seems a bit high for 6 strands of mini lights! The
rest of the decorations were the same....

I'm gonna go light some candles

:)
Dot

On Jan 13, 6:59 am, "Chris Estes" <ces...@estes.com> wrote:

[terris...@comcast.net]

Maybe SMECO management was looking for that big "Christmas Bonus"!!?

Our December usage over November was a whopping 79% increase!  I'm stumped!

Terri

[Shannon Edelmann]

Yankee Candle is having a sale that ends on Monday.  We better all stock-up!  Jay was going to get with Joe (house owner) to see what we were doing wrong.  We are having everyone sleep in the same bed and take showers together.   Now we know why the Bakers did not do a big light show this year.  Next year we will have to have just put a wreath on the door!
 
Shannon and Jay

> Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:50:00 -0800
> Subject: Re: Electric Bill
> From: shot...@yahoo.com
> To: cb...@googlegroups.com

[Chris Estes]

Interesting coincidence... my boss just walked by mumbling about the
electric bill here at the office. I grabbed it and figured that we
used 48% more power in December than we did in November. It's heat
pumps here at work, too. Still, at home it was a 107% increase from
November to December!

I'm guessing that December was a lot colder than I figured, but 5,050
kWh is a record for us. I can't wait to see what January looks like
given how cold this week is!!!

If this keeps up much longer, it will be cheaper and warmer to burn
big piles of dollar bills instead of giving it to SMECO!

[Brooke Kaine]

Has anyone contacted SMECO?

-----Original Message-----
From: cb...@googlegroups.com [mailto:cb...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf
Of Chris Estes
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 11:31 AM
To: cb...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Electric Bill

[Vic Scalia]

I called SMECO this morning and they said the mean temperature in November was 44 degrees while the mean temperture in December was 32 degrees. The SMECO rep I spoke to seemed to feel that the 12 degree difference, coupled with higher holiday lighting useage would justify the increased kWh we are all experiencing. I am not qualified to challenge SMECO but perhaps we have somone in the group who is? 
 

Vic Scalia

---

From: Brooke Kaine <Bro...@kainehomes.com>
To: cb...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 11:31:37 AM
Subject: RE: Electric Bill