Whats Your Power Bill this Winter??

burrellsjeep

burrellsjeep

Breaking Stuff...
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Location
Morganton NC
I got mine the other day and its record high for my house, I have lived here for five years and the house was new when we moved in. So roughly a five year old house. 2000 square feet give or take, Electric heat pump which was replaced with a high eff one in Nov when the old one died, Power bill has always been on the high side so I upgraded the HVAC seeing as how the other one worked its self to death.

So the bill for Dec/Jan was $393.00, I have verified proper insulation, I know the builder so I feel the house is built well, IE air leaks and such should not be the issue.

I am not able to get Gas which is the way I would prefer to heat. I added gas logs to try and help it out, off of a smaller propane tank. I have Rutherford Electric which I know charges a little more.

So whats the highest you have seen this winter?
 
My bill last month was the highest since we've been in the house (7.5 years). Was $184. Highest prior to that was $147. Usually runs $70-80, winter averages about $105 or so.

Two things ran it up for me...that extended cold snap (heatpump), and my wife had almost two weeks off for Christmas, and did a lot of catching up on laundry -- the washer and electric dryer ran almost constant for over a week, it seemed. Water bill was about 30% high, too.
 
i'm in an apartment with electric heat. got my highest one yet the other day. $88 bucks and change.
 
I know ours was way higher than normal. But we are both teachers and stay home quite a bit during the holidays. That extended cold snap didn't help much at all. We were keeping the heat about 72. But, when my wife saw that last bill we have thrown another blanket on the bed adn it's now set on 68.
 
If you don't already, get a digital thermostat. In addition to having it automatically drop the temp a little during the day/night on mine i can see the AUX usage for the last 2 days. AUX = heat coils. From that I can tell how much my elec. bill will be.

My bro has been trying to save some money this year and has been running the house 55-60 deg and using a electric blanket on his bed. He says its been working well and a noticiable difference in his heat (oil) bill, with only small extra on the elec. bill.
 
My wife stays home so that is a additive there. My Avg is $200 my low is $150. I have two boys (3 and 6) so the wife does alot of laundry, We have High Eff front loaders which I thought would help. Oh and we try to keep the heat set at 70

Edit:

Thanks Yager,

I believe if it is below 32 (not sure of the temp) the heat pump will go to Aux Heat by default, I am sure this is the cause of the increase in the power, I am just not sure how to remedy it. It would be hard to go lower than 70 with the boys.
 
I wish my power bill was $88...


Last month, $435. Just got the bill for this month, $550 :(


However, its been really cold here (relativley speaking) so the heater has been running like crazy. That, and I've been in the garage with the welder and electric baseboard heater for like 20 hours per day working on the buggy.


There is a solution for the unexpected high utility bills. The power company offers a program (can't remember what its called) that they will bill you the exact same $$$ each month. Basically, they take your last year's total amount spent for the year and divide it by 12 months. That gives them your average bill and for the following year, that is what you pay each month. After the year, if you owe more, they add that to the next year's bills and your montly bill goes up a little. If you paid too much, they reduce the following year's bill. Works well for times like this when we can get unexpectedly high utility bills.
 
About 2,000 square feet on the main level, but we keep one bedroom door shut with the vents closed since it isn't used. Just got the last bill a couple of days ago, and it was the highest ever at $239. The previous month was $229. Last winter I think the worst was $209.
 
1950 sq ft one level. Last month was $148 and this month is $179. I keep the thermostat on 73 year round 24 hours a day. Ceiling fans in every room on all the time. Those are the two highest electric bills I have had. I'm not complaining though. Some folks I know had $300 + electric bills this past month.

Someone should edit the title of this thread to state "Whats Your Power Bill (Light Bill) this Winter" so the real southerners will know what it is talking about.
 
'Light Bill' lol Growing up in the north AND in a state with super high utility costs. (aka NY) we just always did things like wear a sweatshirt, put socks on, all the couches had a blanket on them to use if you needed to. Damn I remember in some of my apartments havnig the heat set down and just wearing a toke (aka winter hat) inside or at least a ball cap to keep some heat in.

Some other things that help.

Make sure your blinds are tipped so it deflect heat into the house not into the window. My wife would like it to be 80 at all times, so I have a small spot heater that we run where ever she camps out for the day.

Also things like checking that all your windows are sealed tightly. Not sure how much effort you want to put into this but those little insulated things you put under the outlet covers do work. Close your crawlspace vents (thats a whole topic unto it self about weather to leave em open or closed and when)

You said you verified proper insulation. That just means it was installed to code at that time. If you can afford to insulate do it. One of these days I plan to shovel all the loose insulation over to one side and lay out a heavier stuff layer over the other areas.

Down here you get the benefit in the winter and summer with the heat.
 
I do the budget plan for both my electric and Gas, so my electric bill is $127 a month year round and my gas bill is $87 a month. I got tired of getting 200-300 gas bills in the winter and 200-300 electric bills in the summer. Now I know what my bills are going to be every month since they don't change.

That's for a 2700 sqf two story so I don't think it is to bad since I keep it 70 in the winter and 68 in the summer.
 
jds97Wrangler said:
...I keep it 70 in the winter and 68 in the summer.
Click to expand...


just the opposite here. 68 in the winter, 70 in the summer. If it is going to be really cold out, like it is now, i knock it down to 66.
 
yager said:
'Light Bill' lol Growing up in the north AND in a state with super high utility costs. (aka NY) we just always did things like wear a sweatshirt, put socks on, all the couches had a blanket on them to use if you needed to. Damn I remember in some of my apartments havnig the heat set down and just wearing a toke (aka winter hat) inside or at least a ball cap to keep some heat in.
Click to expand...


Thats too funny I was born in raised in upstate NY and I remember as a kid I house never being warmer then about 63-65 all winter and the gas bills were still 700-800 a month.

When I moved out on my own up there I swore I would keep my place warm at all times. The first bad month of winter I kept my thermastat on 72 and when I got my first gas bill it was over $1200 needless to say I started doubling up on blankets on the bed and set thermometer to 62.
 
I burn wood and have 2 small space heaters 120 bucks:flipoff2:
 
Our jumped from $254 last month to $372. We have to keep the house warm all day. It does not help that I have been off for the past several months and I stay up all night. there are six of us in the house. My wife, Myself, Daughter (11), Son (8), Twin girls (2), and a dog. We keep the thermostat set on 72. Use an electric heater to offset the living room. Our bill includes the water, electric, and sewer. Our washer and dryer run almost non-stop due to 6 of us in the house. $250 is our average monthly bill. We need to redo our insulation in the attic and would love to redo the walls but not sure the least avasive process for that. I plan on renting a blower and adding 6-10 inches of blown insulation in the attic.

Mine was a 33 day cycle also.
 
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention...

Billing cycle last month for me was 34 days. Thats about 10% of the difference right there.
 
yager said:
Make sure your blinds are tipped so it deflect heat into the house not into the window. My wife would like it to be 80 at all times, so I have a small spot heater that we run where ever she camps out for the day.

Also things like checking that all your windows are sealed tightly. Not sure how much effort you want to put into this but those little insulated things you put under the outlet covers do work. Close your crawlspace vents (thats a whole topic unto it self about weather to leave em open or closed and when)

You said you verified proper insulation. That just means it was installed to code at that time. If you can afford to insulate do it. One of these days I plan to shovel all the loose insulation over to one side and lay out a heavier stuff layer over the other areas.

Down here you get the benefit in the winter and summer with the heat.
Click to expand...

I checked that the insulation was installed per code,It was built Five years ago, My brother does Insulation and also said it was done correctly. I do electrical so I my go ahead and put the foam sealers on the outlets.

I think the main issue is the fact my house is a split foyer house, 1500~ sq feet on the main floor that is really a 2nd floor if looking from the street. 500~ sq feet in the lower lever that is a play room. The other 1000~ sq feet is a unheated 2 car garage (Finished but unheated). The garage is insulated (ceiling), walls are block. The HVAC is only on the main floor, the play room has a couple vents and a 12 inch return, But it is at least 20 degrees colder in there than up stairs. I think most of my issue is the positioning of the house and type. In the summer I get too much sun and the AC bill is high, But it doesn't seem to help that much in the winter, Seems the unit works hardest at night. Doesn't seem to run during the day.

Anyone else have Rutherford Electric and notice the bill being higher?

Oh BTW mine was a 31 day billing, Avg is 30 day.
 
Last month (including the crazy cold week).. billing cycle was 33 days...

2600SF = $270 .. I did run the wood stove during that crazy cold week and try to run it a little each evening so I guess that helps some....
 
jds97Wrangler said:
When I moved out on my own up there I swore I would keep my place warm at all times. The first bad month of winter I kept my thermastat on 72 and when I got my first gas bill it was over $1200 needless to say I started doubling up on blankets on the bed and set thermometer to 62.
Click to expand...

$1,200 for one month?!!!!!!!!!!!!


Our house seems to have what looks like 12-24" thick layer of loose insulation in the attic. It was built in 1999. We keep the house at 72. The wife would like it even warmer.
 
gmcjimmy88 said:
Our jumped from $254 last month to $372. We have to keep the house warm all day. It does not help that I have been off for the past several months and I stay up all night. there are six of us in the house. My wife, Myself, Daughter (11), Son (8), Twin girls (2), and a dog. We keep the thermostat set on 72. Use an electric heater to offset the living room. Our bill includes the water, electric, and sewer. Our washer and dryer run almost non-stop due to 6 of us in the house. $250 is our average monthly bill. We need to redo our insulation in the attic and would love to redo the walls but not sure the least avasive process for that. I plan on renting a blower and adding 6-10 inches of blown insulation in the attic.
Click to expand...

Mine is just electric, If I included water, I have a septic tank, it would be well over $400
 
My bills were higher than normal, but not by much. I set the thermostat to 66 degrees before going to bed and leave it there until 6-7 PM the following evening when I turn it up to 70. I typically get cool in the evenings and the 4 degrees makes a big difference.
 
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