Electric bills

[The patriot]

My bill this month was $268. 00!!! I live in a 1600 sq ft ranch with my wife. No kids!! How can this be?

Granted, we have an electric stove, dryer, and HW heater. We have gas heat. I do plug my truck in if in the morning it will be below 40. If I have no plans on going out early, it dont get plugged in. I have no timer on it, guess that will change tomorrow. When it gets plugged in, it's usually from around 8pm to 5am.



What kind of electric bills are you's guys getting?



Up until this one, I think the biggest I got was around $150. 00.

Eric

 

[Deezul1]

Ours was $44. 00 and its an all electric home but the weather has been mild so no AC or heat on and thats the lowest so far this year, summer its around $130/ $140. 00 with the stat set at 80deg and its hot and humid here.

 

[Bob Wagner]

a better comparision would be

kilowatts per hr. rate



the variance would be eye opening depending on region



I will pull out our last bill



edit our rate is basic . 613 per kwh to . 726 per kwh

 

[nixter]

Electric bill is here

$. 0263/kwh off-peak

$. 1444/kwh on-peak



add facilities charge, non-taxable customer charge and fuel cost adjustment for a total of $24. 84 for electricity. Add natural gas bill of $16. 97 for a total of $41. 81 this month.

 

[Bigsaint]

Electric hot water heater

Eric, you might want to check the water heater, one of the heater coils maybe d. o. a. causing the other to work O. T. This happended to us quite a bit as a kid growing up in a house w/o a water softner and hard water. The coils could also just have a build up on them as well, again causing them to work extra hard to provide heat. A good telltale sign of a d. o. a. coil would be lack of a reserve of hot water, when you would normally have enough, if that makes sense.



My typical electric bill is around $130. 00, year round. House is 2000 sq. feet with electric hot water and gas heat, though we use wood for heat for the colder months. I also have an electric range and dryer.



The timer is a good way to save some $$$ with the block heater, you really don't need more than a few hours before take off unless it's in the single digits or lower IMHO.



Another idea is to add a blanket of insulation around the water heater. This would definetly help if it's located in a un-heated area of your house.



Scott W.

 

[Briar Hopper]

My last electric bill was for $48, and I have a 2000sq. ft. ranch house, all electric, with heat pump. The worst I've seen in a really cold winter was $89. I think it's so cheap, 'cause of all the coal mines in Kentucky being such a short haul to the HydroElectric steam generating plants...

We got the lowest rates in the nation, but also some of the highest property taxes, so don't go getting jealous real quick.

 

[Riflesmith]

Eric,

I would call the Utility Company and insist that they read your meter again. I have caught our company more than once on a misread meter. If you can't explain the increase in usage you are being billed for, it is most likely a mistake. Good luck.

 

[JB @ C and L Machine]

Eric... living in the same state... I feel your pain... . We moved into our 1st house in Feb of this year and the 1st thing i did was convert the hot water heater and dryer to gas. The house was converted a few years back to gas heater and with the 6 inch exterior walls i'd felt my 1st bill would be low. My excitment of opening the 1st bill was to my horror. $650 smackers... My now wife thought I was joking when I told her. but there it was in black and white. We found out later that they never really read the meter and went off the other peoples bill who must of kept the house like a sauna. They also charged us a double bill for never having utilities before. After finally getting them to refund the extra money... . our bills average about $100 for gas and electric... I agree with Riflesmith. . ask them if they gave you an estimaded bill or an acual reading. Most of my neighbors still have electric hot water heaters and have them on timers also

 

[The patriot]

Thanks guys. Maybe my wife didnt pay it last month. All our mail goes through the anthrax infected Hamilton post office, it flips her out, but dont bother me.



Even if she didnt pay it last month, it would still be an abnormally high bill. With the A/C on 60 during a heatwave this summer, I think we got $130. 00-$140. 00 for Augusts bill.



Good idea Scott. I'll have to pull the elements this week. I put that heater in, but it's been about 7-8 years now. We used to have a timer on the H/W, but it fried and I didnt replace it. If we go out for the day, I just shut off the H/W breaker. I have a woodstove too. Wouldnt be without it. It's saved my bacon more than once during power outages.



I dont know what my Kw/hr charge is, I'm at work now. Have to check it later.



John Cohen, it's the norm for power companies(and I'm finding out gas co's too) to do an actual reading every other month. This WAS an actual!!! Also they tried to get me for the last peoples bills in the past. I had to prove that I wasnt the last people!I got this house from a bank, you could imagine the strange mail I was getting for a while. I've been here over 9 years now, and I STILL get mail in the last peoples names!! Taxes arent too bad here,(under 3K a year) but we dont get anything for them. I was talking to the local law one night, and he told me he was the only P. O. on!! This Twp. is almost 100 square miles!!!Sheesh. I believe more and more that my taxes just go to hire more tax people to in turn raise my taxes more... and so on, and so on. All I get for it is a bigger bill next time.



Riflesmith, I did put up a stockade fence recently. I'd bet the utility dude used his spy glasses from the neighbors yard and screwed it up. I keep the front fence unlocked. I have the puppy in the back yard (through yet another 6' stockade)so he may hear her, and not want to take the reading. ??

Got to check a few things out. Thanks for the ideas/suggestions again guys.



Eric

 

[Bud Fox]

if i am not mistaken in your HW heater if one goes bad the water will not get hot. Also if you drain the tank and have power on both will go bad almost immediately. Electric heat is expensive and also why not get a timer for your truck so it kicks on at about 3 hours before you use it. IMO i think it is a waste to use it below 40; maybe below 30 might be better for you

 

[illflem]

Red, you are correct about if one element goes out the other doesn't work, they are in series. What I've seen many times is if you have hard water the lower element gets buried in mineral deposits. Almost like being buried in concrete, does little to heat the water, but will jack your power bill up. I had one so encased that with the heater chained to a forklift and a 10' cheater bar it still wouldn't come out. Good practice is to follow the directions on your heater and open the lower flush valve at least once a year to flush the minerals out. If no water comes out the flush valve it's usually already too late.

 

[The patriot]

Well, I'm afraid it's a real bill. My wife informed me that she has been using the oven as a toaster for about a month now.

I think redheads are really blondes in disguise.



Eric

 

[illflem]

Eric, would have been cheaper to buy her a toaster ehh?

 

[The patriot]

The really sad part is, I got her a new toaster, and new toaster oven sitting in the kitchen, still in the box over 2 months now.

A mind is a terrable thing to waste.

We've both been working pretty hard latley, but if she was too tired to open the boxes, I would have done it... sheesh !!!!

Eric