$440 electric bill and new AC question

[AZMermaid]

We just got our electric bill and it was $440. Last month was $380. This is our first summer in this house, so it has been an eye opener. Our electric company has this "compare to your area" thing on the bill and we had always been on the far cheap end- so I was convinced this was a scheme to make you feel better about your bill. This month we were still on the green cheap side, but not all the way- so maybe it is a real comparison. "Average" is $561.

We have a 3300 sq ft house with 2 AC units. We had to replace the smaller downstairs one when we moved in, as the house was a foreclosure when we bought it and it was not working. We did a pretty basic unit because it doesn't service that much space and that space is also sunken and tends to be cooler. The bigger unit (4 ton- I believe) services the main floor (kitchen/ dining) and the bedrooms upstairs. We were told this was also original (18 years old) and would need to be replaced soon. We planned to just let it die and then replace it- but then with the rebates that expire this year, we decided we would replace it in Sept.

We keep the lower level AC at 78 during the day and the main/upper level at 81 and swap it at night. I am 8 months pregnant and I just can not turn it up any higher. We live in AZ and it has been 110 for pretty much the whole last month or so. This month's bill broke out to $363 for cooling costs. We do have the flex time plan and are really good about cooking and running the dryer etc during "off peak" times.

My question is, when we get a new AC for the upstairs, is the energy efficient one going to save us a significant amount of money? My husband's theory is that the 18 year old one we have now is just sucking energy and even a basic new one would run better. So, we are hoping the EE one would be even better than that. Does anyone have an energy efficient AC and do you see a difference? Also, do AC companies discount the prices at all during the fall? It will still be 100+ degrees until Halloween here and I want to get it done before the baby comes- but I could wait until November (if it lasts that long) if there is a discount.

Thanks for any input!

 

[emdav]

I live in Arizona too. We have APS. I can tell you that I have a 3100 square foot house and two a/c units. We keep our house around 77. I usually keep the upstairs at 76 at night so we can sleep. Our units are newer and one of my neighbors keeps talking about how fantastic my units are. He's jealous of them. Our last bill was $363. I'm expecting this next bill to be in the $400 range. It's been hotter. We're new to AZ this year but from my understanding, your bills are within the realm of reasonable for this area. Frankly, I felt relief when I found the bill to only be $363. I had no idea what to expect and had decided to be happy with anything under $500.

I can't comment on whether you can get a better deal in the fall but I would guess that you could. We had to have a repair in July and the a/c guy was commenting that this year had been slow for them because the spring was so mild. It's actually been a mild summer too from what I understand.

 

[AZMermaid]

Hmmmm thanks! Our last house was 1200 sq ft so it is so hard to figure out if this just is what the bill will be, or if we are missing something that could save us $100 a month! We have APS too. It seemed to have started off milder- June was great- but I think it has been pretty typical since then, except for a lack of real consistent monsoon weather, which cools things down a little.

 

[rock_doctor]

Gee, i'm in Pa so we don't see 110 but for the last month it's been in the upper 90s (94-103). We set the AC for 78 and our bill was $156 last month and the house is about 2100sqft. Of course the cost spent is not really comparable as our generation is mostly coal which is cheaper then hydro or what ever you are using. So to answer your question, get the highest SEER you can afford. Keep the current duct work but replace the handler (as most new ones are variable speed), evaporator (inside coil) and the outside unit (condenser). Do shop around, when we replaced ours we had over 20 bids but did find a company that was just starting out and they charged us cost for the equipment plus labor. When you are getting bids keep an eye out for salesman. A lot of companies will used a retired salesman to bid jobs and they always come in high. You are looking for companies that are small and the workers themselves are the owners and do the biding. In the end, (imho) the most you can do to help your cooling and heating bill is to pretend you are a vampire and keep the curtains closed tightly, windows locked and so on. It is amazing how much curtains can do to reduce heat flow though windows. Good luck and good hunting. We have a Trane unit now and it has been awesome.

 

[Sparkleshine]

I had a whole long reply and it didn't post. Grrr....

I would say you sound normal. I live in the East Valley and have SRP.

1700 sq ft house NO pool 1 level. 4 Adults 2 Kids someone home all day. Air set to 77 at all times. Our last bill was $316. It was also the start of summer rates. *sigh*

 

[Sparkleshine]

The unit that cools your upstairs will work the hardest since it is a lot of work to keep it cool up there (heat rises). If you have part of your upstairs above your garage you may want to look into insulating your garage door!

 

[pommfrites]

bill has been car tint. Yes, it sounds crazy, but if you put it on your front facing windows where the sun is facing at its highest, it cools it down. Buy the darkest you can stand and put it on the inside of the windows. You can buy a thick kind (like we do) that you can wash off and fold up in the winter to reuse the next year. It only cost us like $60! Go to several stores and price check. This really works! My parents, neighbors, and brother/sisterinlaw all use it and our house temp is at least 10 degrees cooler. Instant tint really helps out our energy costs, as do mini blinds! hth

 

[KathyTX]

I'll trade you electric bills!

 

[TxRabbit]

I totally feel for you. My parents live in AZ, I'm in TX...totally relate to the a/c electric bill issue. My house was built in 1988...and it sounds like you also have an older home if you have an 18-year old unit.

Here's the deal, the newer a/c is not going to save you a SIGNIFICANT amount of money if you have issues with your house. I'm talking about insullation issues, leakage, a break in the barrier that separates conditioned air from the outside air.

I debated updating our unit, but determined that the expense wouldn't be worth it until some other issues were dealt with. See if you have some of these issues...

Do you have attic access? Does it have a ladder that comes down or is it just a board door thing? Is that insulated/weatherstripped or is it just wood that separates your conditioned air from the attic?

Do you have vent fans (bathroom) in the ceiling of your second story? Can you feel air flow around the fan?

Ceiling fans? Light fixtures? All vents? How is the insulation rating of your attic? Has your insulation settled? Do you have the inches that you should? Does your attic have roof vents? Is the air flow in your attic good? There should be vents all along the bottom edge of your attic that allow air to come up and in and out somehow.

I got this book from our library:

Insulate and weatherize : expert advice from start to finish by Bruce Harley.

A whole lot of practical things in it that most homeowner's can do to help with energy costs. Whether or not you get the new unit, the things in this book will really make an impact.

 

[Belle5]

I totally feel for you. My parents live in AZ, I'm in TX...totally relate to the a/c electric bill issue. My house was built in 1988...and it sounds like you also have an older home if you have an 18-year old unit.

Here's the deal, the newer a/c is not going to save you a SIGNIFICANT amount of money if you have issues with your house. I'm talking about insullation issues, leakage, a break in the barrier that separates conditioned air from the outside air.

I debated updating our unit, but determined that the expense wouldn't be worth it until some other issues were dealt with. See if you have some of these issues...

Do you have attic access? Does it have a ladder that comes down or is it just a board door thing? Is that insulated/weatherstripped or is it just wood that separates your conditioned air from the attic?

Do you have vent fans (bathroom) in the ceiling of your second story? Can you feel air flow around the fan?

Ceiling fans? Light fixtures? All vents? How is the insulation rating of your attic? Has your insulation settled? Do you have the inches that you should? Does your attic have roof vents? Is the air flow in your attic good? There should be vents all along the bottom edge of your attic that allow air to come up and in and out somehow.

I got this book from our library:

Insulate and weatherize : expert advice from start to finish by Bruce Harley.

A whole lot of practical things in it that most homeowner's can do to help with energy costs. Whether or not you get the new unit, the things in this book will really make an impact.

Doing the types of things you mentioned took our near $1000 a month electric bills a couple of summers ago down to around $500. We are very happy! Hey, we're in Texas and used to live in AZ--so we're used to awful bills! Oh, we have 3,600 SF.

 

[Kathi OD]

I'll trade you electric bills!

I was thinking the same thing and I don't live in Arizona or Texas. Our house is 2000 sq. ft, all on one floor. Temps were in the 90's most of the month, but we had a few days where we didn't need the AC on. When it is on, we keep it set at 78, night and day. Last month our bill was $461! I'd hate to see what it would have been if we'd had temps like you have had in AZ and TX!

 

[sydneysmom]

We live in Mississippi, so I can appreciate your plight ! Our house is about 2500 sq ft and our electric in the summer usually runs about $178. we keep it about 78 when we're home and 80 when we're not at home. I think one thing that's helped tremendously is ceiling fans. We've got ceiling fans in every room ....they don't draw much electric, but they keep the air moving so that your air conditioner doesn't kick on nearly as often. We've got them all going at all times.

Also, check your windows and doors. Make sure that you don't have spaces where air can go in and out. Weather stripping and caulk can help alot with keeping your cool air in. (as well as heat in the winter). Alot of companies will come out and give you a energy appraisal for your home and tell you where you can fix problem areas.

Energy efficient drapes can help. Country curtains sells drapery panels w/ a lining that will help block sun and repel suns rays. If you have a room that has the sun beating in all day (and you're not home) you might want to close the drapes or blinds to keep the sun out. That will keep your room cool. We're lucky to have alot of nice big trees in our yard that help keep our house cooler. But we do have wood blinds in all our windows.

But I would consider calling your electric company to see if they can help you locate problem areas in your home....

 

[rbork]

4000sf and a 250$ electric bill. I have 2 zone and they are ~5 yrs old. We keep both thermostats set to 74 and NEVER adjust them during summer. I do keep the blinds closed during the heat of the day and use cfl bulbs in most lamps except for the recessed lights and vanity lighting. We have no trees and live on top of a hill therfore the house bakes, so insulation is key. I also think the newer units are way more efficient.
I feel very lucky when reading some of the other energy bill amounts.
Good Luck OP

 

[HM]

Close any shades or drapes that are on windows facing the sun. Get them for your windows that don't have any. It really helps to keep the heat out. Good luck.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I'll try to address your question about whether a new unit might save money with my experience. Last year lightning struck our heat pump. It was original to the house (2003?) and I was told it was dreadfully inefficient compared to today's units. We replaced it with another heat pump that is supposed to be wonderfully energy efficient, especially compared to our old unit. I was really psyched! To my dismay, our energy usage has not gone down at all compared to the previous year; since it was installed ~10 months ago, every month I have compared usage to a year ago. We did not change our thermostat settings or our habits. I don't think it's any hotter this year compared to last year, I mean it's really hot in GA every summer, or much colder over the winter compared to the previous one.

In addition, electric rates went up, offsetting any savings we might have.

So everything else being equal or nearly so, our new heatpump has not brought in the savings I thought it would.

 

[TxRabbit]

Doing the types of things you mentioned took our near $1000 a month electric bills a couple of summers ago down to around $500. We are very happy! Hey, we're in Texas and used to live in AZ--so we're used to awful bills! Oh, we have 3,600 SF.

So everything else being equal or nearly so, our new heatpump has not brought in the savings I thought it would.

This is why my recommendation was to take a look at a bigger picture than just a more energy efficient unit.

If the overall structure of your home doesn't change, and is also old, then simply getting a more efficient unit will not give you the savings that you think it should or is capable of doing. Whenever you read the recommendations Energy Star appliances, there will always be words like "installed correctly" and there will always be a range of savings. In an older home, you'd think that you would expect the higher end of the savings range, but really, unless your home itself is also energy efficient, expect the low end of the range.

The unit itself will just produce the same amount of cool air using less electricity. In my case, my smallest electric bills (not having to run a/c) were just under $100 a month. Running the a/c causes the bill to continually jump and arc with the temperatures, getting as high as almost $300. The average a/c impact on the bill wasn't $200 a month for a year. For ease of math, I'll say it was $100 a month for the YEAR. So $1200 a year (this is easy math). If a newer model is claiming to save 20 to 40% on cooling costs, then being conservative, I could save $240 a year with a new unit. At a cost of several thousands of dollars, and not knowing the longevity of our residence at our home, the pay back at that savings is several years.

We opted to instead focus on doing the little things around the house to see what kind of impact that would make, knowing all the while that it would increase the savings when we would HAVE to replace the unit.

So seriously, what everyone is saying here is great advice. If you can keep the heat out in the first place, then you reduce the need to run the a/c. If you can shade your outside unit, you can make it more efficient. Make sure the fans are clean on that unit too, and that the unit itself (the fins) are clean. Clean your filters more often. Do all the weird little things, even to the downstairs (there's a thing called the stack effect that you can read about in the book I mentioned) to make your home more airtight for when you run your unit.

 

[Jaime4004]

Yikes, I just got the highest electric bill I've ever had today ($225, about $100 more than usual) so I guess it's not as bad as some others.. The posts put things into perspective.
Not as hot as AZ here in NH but still a much hotter summer than usual (high 80's to 90's) for the past month. My central AC's been working overtime...

 

[Anthony1971]

If you are talking a standard unit replace which will be expensive as you will need to replace your blower unit and lines as the newer units no longer use the same refrigerant as the older units --even ones that are 5 years old unless there was old stock which I am sure was around.
For energy star the cost wil be much higher...
I would get a quote if you would like but more likely your payoff on savings will not pay for the install cost over the expected life of the unit which is 10 years. (could be 5 could be 25 who knows)
an install cost of 5000 would take 10 years if you saved about 42 a month every month
so you are looking at reducing your TOTAL bill by over 10% in the hotest months which means a lot more on the AC unit itself..

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

It would KILL me to pay that much for gas and electricity! My hat's off to all of you who have to pay that much. I outfitted my house with energy-saving measures like addtional insulation, finishing off the garage, energy star appliances, compact fluorescent bulbs, high efficiency washer and dryer, gas instead of electric stove, dryer and barbeque, tankless water heater, dual pane windows, window film (which voided the dual pane warranty but adds to the savings), two ceiling fans upstairs, electric blankets in the winter and prudent use of both heating and AC. Thankfully, moderate temperatures eliminate the need for either 99% of the time. We are really good about not leaving the lights on when not using rooms, too. Our bill for gas and electricity combined runs under $50 average per month in Southern CA for a 2000 plus sq ft house. June's bill was $35 and change and July's bill was $41. We have had a really cold summer here but even in the usually-hot month of August, using the automated AC with a setting of 72 runs about $75 or $80 for the month.

 

[AZMermaid]

Thanks for all the advice! I will check out that book and see what we can do to insulate better if needed. Our attic access is just this board that slides over- no ladder. We do have ceiling fans in pretty much every room and they run all the time. The only ones that don't run are the ones in the guest rooms, which we have closed off.

That is a good idea about the drapes. We have plantation shutters in about half the rooms that keep them very dark. Does that have the same effect as the shades?

Yes- the house was built in 1993, so the unit we have is from then. We have noticed a bunch of the houses on our block replacing the ACs this past year, so they all must be dying at the same time!