Doom + Gloomers: What are you doing to prepare?

[Khan]

1290 kw - but I am only 1100 sq ft house. North of Kansas City.

heh heh heh -

$120.46

Calendar year 2007:
2250 KWH
$276

1 Jan 2008 - 1 Jul 2008:
1067 KWH
$150 (level billing)

I do have natural gas for heat, hot water, cooking.

 

[NW-Bound]

Do I misread? You used 2250KWh for entire year? $276 a year?

If that's the case, here's my total. In 2007: Total of 27,222KWh for $2095. No gas.

I've never paid any attention to this; my wife has been paying and tracking the bills.

There's something wrong with living in the desert. But to be fair, people got to post their heating bills.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We used 330 KW last month ($47.25 bill) vs. 650 KW last July ($77.05 billed). Gas heat, water heater, dryer, stove use will cost $95/mo year-round this year (vs. $138 last year). Long cold winter in Chicago but our gas use went down; pretty temperate summer so have run the central AC only for a 4-hr. stretch. House is 2-story, 1750 square ft. w/ unfinished basement.

We went on a serious conservation kick last fall when the doom and gloom predictions for increase in natural gas came out, and it paid off without much discomfort--lights on only in the room DH and I are in, programmable thermostat set way down except for early morning wake-up.

 

[Khan]

Do I misread? You used 2250KWh for entire year? $276 a year?

If that's the case, here's my total. In 2007: Total of 27,222KWh for $2095. No gas.

I've never paid any attention to this; my wife has been paying and tracking the bills.

There's something wrong with living in the desert. But to be fair, people got to post their heating bills.

Calendar year 2007:
2250 KWH
$276

1 Jan 2008 - 1 Jul 2008:
1067 KWH
$150 (level billing)
--------------------------------------
Calendar year 2007:
798 CCF
$1000

1 Jan 2008 - 1 Jul 2008:
486 CCF
$720 (level billing)
--------------------------------------
Electricity + Natural Gas --------- 2007: $1276
Electricity + Natural Gas - first 1/2 2008: $870

 

[NW-Bound]

Ah hah !

Your total of $1276 vs. mine of $2095.

One person vs. 4.

Per capita, I won. I won. Desert and all !!!


PS. Thank you Khan for letting me feel GOOD. I have been asking myself if I shouldn't lower the thermostat another degree. I may not do it, but if I do, I won't have to feel bad.

 

[ladelfina]

For heating and cooling what should matter is the space, not the # of people. Unless you want to calculate how much DD/DS emits in heat that makes the A/C work harder (and then calculate your extra-warm-bodies savings on heat in the winter), plus how long everyone is in the house and all that.

I bet there are people here who would find that an interesting challenge.

 

[Khan]

For heating and cooling what should matter is the space, not the # of people. Unless you want to calculate how much DD/DS emits in heat that makes the A/C work harder (and then calculate your extra-warm-bodies savings on heat in the winter), plus how long everyone is in the house and all that.

I bet there are people here who would find that an interesting challenge.

Since retirement, I have the winter thermostat set at 60F ~13 hours per (every) day; as opposed to ~6 hours per work day and ~13 hours on days off.

Also didn't have A/C 'til I retired.

 

[NW-Bound]

For heating and cooling what should matter is the space, not the # of people.

From the technical point of view, yes.

From the cost of living standpoint, no. Of course it would not be fair if the people density, i.e. sq.ft./person ratios are too far apart.

OK, let's use square footage.

My house is almost 3x Khan's, IIRC from another thread. So, I still won.

When the children move out, with the two of us, I can close off the 4 extra bedrooms, and have even lower utility bills.

Now, if I were by myself, I would buy a smaller house, and beat Khan's utility bill more, being in the desert and all that, non?

The only advantage he has over me is the ability to have a vegetable garden in the summer.

Hmmm. Maybe I need to check out a lot more about the cost of living in the PNW before moving there.

 

[ladelfina]

I assume most of you guys get "degree-day" stats on your bills? At least, I used to when I was in NE. It was really useful to be able to compare whether y-o-y usage differed because of conservation measures or just a less-extreme season.

Here we only get the raw consumption.

 

[rs0460a]

I assume most of you guys get "degree-day" stats on your bills?

Yes, we do. Also able to see it on-line to compare heating/cooling DD's:

Allentown weather, Bethlehem weather, Easton weather, lehigh valley weather

- Ron

 

[calmloki]

....
Maybe I need to check out a lot more about the cost of living in the PNW before moving there.

2 people near Salem Oregon, rarely used single window AC, gas water heater & range, Av daily temp June & July 2007, 2008 = 60,56 & 69,68. KWH usage = 25,23 & 24,18. Electric bills for June & July 2008 = $56.93 & $57.60. Nice when conservation is cancelled out by a rate increase. Natural gas use was 21.1 units June and 11.3 units July - $20.85 bill for July.

 

[NW-Bound]

Nice low bills. But how about winter?

 

[calmloki]

Ask and recieve:
2007, 2008 Jan av daily temps = 38, 37. KWH used = 30,34/day $96.29 bill for Jan 2008

Gas bills last Dec, Jan = $114.27 & $137.45. Used 107.3 units in Jan. Oh yeah - gas FA heat. Also burn some wood. Our garage has a separate gas meter, but electric is tied to the house.

 

[HFWR]

TXU lists the average daily high temperature (taken somewhere...) for the month, and for the same month a year ago. In this case, 99 degrees for this July, and 88 degrees for last July.

 

[Nords]

Per capita, I won. I won. Desert and all !!!

.

 

[NW-Bound]

But, but, but how much money have you invested in your panels?

 

[Nords]

But, but, but how much money have you invested in your panels?

This includes the cost of our solar water heating system as well as our photovoltaic system. We did most of the labor ourselves, we bought much of it used or worked with scrap, and we spread it out over four separate calendar years to maximize the tax credits. Retail systems don't pay back so quickly-- although prices are better now than they were a couple years ago.

But since late 2004 we've spent $16,579.42 and taken $9376.58 in credits. We'll earn the rest of the original investment back in another couple years, and the opportunity cost will pay itself back about 10 years later.

Our monthly electric bills run between $25-$35. We had one month bottom out at $13.

Note: These graphs assume a future power cost of 20.5 cents/KWHr, not 25 cents/KWHr. They also assume that this cost will remain constant... the fuel-surcharge reality has been annual inflation of at least 4%.

 

[NW-Bound]

Thanks for info. I need to study it a bit more. I wonder who else has done this? Time for a new thread, if one does not exist already.

 

[Calgary_Girl]

Last month's (June) bill was 249 kWh. Cost was $57. 1800 sq ft home (single) in CT.

I can beat that - 3100 sq. ft. home; electric bill was $108 (but, that includes water and sewer). The electricity cost by itself was only $51 (360 kWh)

Now, gas may be a different story since I'm a Canuck...

 

[NW-Bound]

You've got to include heating. No cheating! As stated before, my electric bill was $2095 last year. No gas.

For Ladelfina, when I stated that my 23-y.o. DD and 19-y.o. DS still live with us, I forgot to point out that they are big electric bill consumers too. It was not just the cost of heating/cooling. My daughter tends to run the electric water heater cold with her shower. Both of them like to leave their PCs on to have instant access! I have to check up to turn them off, but am tired of yelling at them. They may figure that out when they are on their own.

 

[thaidyed]

I live in a tropical country where you have the urge to run the A/C all year, all day and night. And I do. And all the lights I can find. And a electric stove and oven, and all the hot water I can stand... Of course, no electricity bills. When I first moved here I kept running around turning things off and screaming at people for being environmentally irresponsible... It took months for me to become an electricity hogging eco-terrorist but it gets easier every month.

Got it yet? I live at a hydropower dam site. We make the electricity.

[just couldn't resist...]

 

[calmloki]

I live in a tropical country where you have the urge to run the A/C all year, all day and night. And I do. And all the lights I can find. And a electric stove and oven, and all the hot water I can stand... Of course, no electricity bills. When I first moved here I kept running around turning things off and screaming at people for being environmentally irresponsible... It took months for me to become an electricity hogging eco-terrorist but it gets easier every month.

Got it yet? I live at a hydropower dam site. We make the electricity.

[just couldn't resist...]

Is this you? Probably not - a tad small for full-time AC. YouTube - Micro hydro, Ban Mae Klang Luang, Thailand Microhydro is very attractive to Mr. Thrifty here.

 

[Leonidas]

Is this you? Probably not - a tad small for full-time AC. YouTube - Micro hydro, Ban Mae Klang Luang, Thailand Microhydro is very attractive to Mr. Thrifty here.

Thanks for finding that calmoki, that is a neat project.

 

[calmloki]

Thanks for finding that calmoki, that is a neat project.

We had looked at a property that had a small year round stream with a bunch of fall - here in the soggy NW hydro power makes a lot of sense - works 24/7 and it's at its best when it's the cold dark wetter season and heat and lights are most wanted.

 

[thaidyed]

Micro hydro is a very cool system-around in this area quite a few villagers use a set up that's made in Vietnam-a run a live wire from the turbine in the middle of the river to their house on the banks. Very effective, very scary when you see the kids splashing in the river over near where the turbines are!

But no, i'm BIG hydro. We generate in Laos to sell to the Thai grid.