Am I an electricity hog???

[QVCshopper]

Yes, I think you are high for two people. Are you keeping your computers on sleep mode? Do you use CFL bulbs? Have electric hot water heater? All of these things--and many more--add up. I encourage you to do research on how to save electric, perhaps on your supplier's website. You can make many changes, and from the looks of it, your fees are less than mine. You should know anything over 500KWH is charged at a higher rate (kind of like taxes).

My house is 1800sf, plus a finished basement. We are four people; my son and I are here a lot and I work from home. But, we try to conserve; we're in PA and keep the thermostat at 62F. Up until the past few months, I hung my clothes to dry, but I'm working now and it's too much.

Here's my info (matched up to yours as best as I can).

9/21-10/20 - 29 days

Power Supply Charges:

Power Supply Energy
353 KWH @ 0.08890 $31.38
Delivery Charges:

Customer Charge $7.20
Distribution 353 KWH @ 0.05960 $21.04
Tax: I'm not sure, because we basically got the $21.04 taken off our bill as we signed up for a $100 air conditioner package in which PECO will turn off our AC if the demand is high).

Gas was another $21.50 (we have a gas oven, heat, hot water heater).

 

[Jeff_G]

Energy Optimization 895 KWH @ 0.002538 $2.27

What the heck is that for.. I just loath these made up charges utilities gets away with...

 

[hopemax]

Since our last bill was right next to me.

2 people. I don't work so I am home all day with lights on, computer on, etc. 928 sq ft + finished basement. However, we have a gas for the furnace and the water heater.

343 kWh, 22 Therms (gas). Total bill $69.01 29-day biling cycle. The per kWH rate is .046040

 

[dfchelbay]

What the heck is that for.. I just loath these made up charges utilities gets away with...

I really couldn't tell you. I tried to ask questions, line by line and was met with a person who could apparently only read from a screen, could not answer any of my questions.

 

[dfchelbay]

Do you have an electric water heater? That, together with a leak somewhere in the hot water pipes, can eat up a lot of electricity.

Are you being billed for the wrong meter? Check the meter readings on your bill and be sure that matches with your meter.

Nope, the water heater is gas as is the furnace. Unfortunately, the bill is just for things we have plugged in to the outlets. The air/heat was not run at all during this time frame. We do a couple loads of laundry a week, so its not the washer and dryer. I'm realizing that we are probably using twice as much electricity as some others here for 2 people. I'll have to go around and check out the electronics again. All tv/dvd, etc. are on a surge protector, which we shut down when not in use. There are other things that need to remain charging that cannot be unplugged. I guess I'll have to see what I can do without on a daily basis electronics wise...we shall see.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

There are a lot of variables in prices paid for utility service but we pay for our home 90-115 in the summer and 150-175 in the winter. We are also a family of 5. We keep our house at 75 in the summer and in the winter between 68 and 70. I am working on making my family get the wear more clothes mentality for staying warm in the winter. I hate paying NIPSCO...gRRRRR

I agree with the PP who said that hate these made up charges that utilites get away with posting. We have a camper that is on a seasonal site. It is completely unplugged in the winter and even if we suspend utility service there is a 22.00 facility/storage charge! (what exactly are they storing electricity for!)

 

[atp]

Nope, the water heater is gas as is the furnace. Unfortunately, the bill is just for things we have plugged in to the outlets. The air/heat was not run at all during this time frame. We do a couple loads of laundry a week, so its not the washer and dryer. I'm realizing that we are probably using twice as much electricity as some others here for 2 people. I'll have to go around and check out the electronics again. All tv/dvd, etc. are on a surge protector, which we shut down when not in use. There are other things that need to remain charging that cannot be unplugged. I guess I'll have to see what I can do without on a daily basis electronics wise...we shall see.

One thing that I do, that has helped with my bill some (not a lot, but every little bit helps and in your case it might help more, since you have more electronics), is to unplug everything that I can when I go to work. You can also try doing that when you go to bed, if possible.

All I have is what I mentioned on a previous post, and it is plugged in the same outlet on a power strip. I just turn it off when I won't be using it for more than 5 hours. I don't know if you are able to do that, but if you are, it could make a difference.

Is your stove electric? My bill is low but mine is gas. I think it would be much higher if it wasn't. Also, all my light bulbs are the energy efficient kind.


Other things that use up a lot of electricity are blow dryers, clothes iron (that one was shocking to me, it uses up way, way more than my dryer, and it takes forever to iron clothes).

I think it's strange that you use up so many kwh for only two people, but maybe there are some electricity hog appliances in the US that are not common here, so that could be why. By the way, I pay a little over 20 cents per kwh, and that's only because I don't use up a lot of energy, if I did, it would be even more expensive. And the salaries here are much lower. I'm really shocked that it's so much more expensive here, people always say the cost of living is much higher in the US but that really doesn't seem to be the case from what I read.

 

[momto2inKC]

Here's our last bill...this is without the AC units running. We are a family of 4. 1 tv is on from 6 am to about 11 pm daily. 2 computers on at all times, multiple video game systems, and the kids can't seem to turn the lights off when they leave a room
Customer charge- $10.43
Energy Charge 600kwh @ $.1088 $65.28
Energy Charge 25kwh @ $.0745 $1.86
FAC 625kwh @ $.0047 $2.94
City license fee $7.48
City sales tax $1.21
County sales tax $1.01
Total charges $90.21

 

[Soon2B4]

I don't have the details about my last bill, but it was $132.04.

Family of 4
Tons of laundry
Computer in sleep mode
Plasma TV
SAHM so something is always on
Gas water heater and stove top (electric oven)

per kWH is $.0674 We used 1,106

Our current bill for 10/4-10/31 is $65.43 529 kWH used

 

[moonpie85]

Okay this has been an eye opener for me as my bill last month was $352 and we only pay 0.10 kWh

Time to cut back it looks like!

 

[Minnesota!]

We are on budgeted billing and pay $144 a month year round.

However, I just looked at our actual bills, and we used 435 kWh last month (10-13 thru 11-13) and 475 kWh the month prior (9-14 thru 10-13).

This is for 4 people in a 1200 sq foot house. There is someone there 24:7, too. Kids and nanny are there during the day, and all 4 of us all night.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

Kind of the same topic here....I personally hate cfl lights. Too many negatives.
If your babies room has cfl lights I would toss them ASAP. If that bulb were to break, I would not feel comfortable putting a baby in that room again until all the linens have been discarded, and the room completely cleaned from top to bottom. .
Also if you are using them in areas were they are turned on and off a lot, they will not last as long as advertised. Cfl lights are designed to be turned on and left on.
If you live in a cold climate, incandescent is the best bet because having a little extra heat output is not a bad thng.
They can also give off uv radiation which can harm the skin especially if you have a condition such as eczema.

 

[lucigo]

Ours appears to be higher than all of yours. We are all electric, 2 adults and 3 kids, pool pump, homeschool/work at home, lots of computers and tvs. Our budget billing is $275.

Customer Charge $ 10.89
Energy Charge 1528 kWh x 0.06178 94.40
Fuel Charge 1528 kWh x 0.05131 78.40
Subtotal of electric service $ 183.69
Florida Gross Receipts Tax 4.71
Franchise Fee for Santa Rosa Cnty 9.67
Total current electric service $ 198.07

 

[ccgirl]

Utility Charges:

Delivery Services Customer Charge




3.73


Distribution
.06096
X
671
KWH
40.90

Transition *
.01795
X
671
KWH
12.04

Transmission
.01601
X
671
KWH
10.74

Renewable Energy
.00050
X
671
KWH
0.34

Energy Conservation
.00250
X
671
KWH
1.68

Delivery Services Total 69.43

Supplier Charges
Rate Energy Charge $48.61
$0.072440 per kWh x 671 kWh
Adjustment -$3.56
CONEDISON Charges $45.05

TOTAL: $114.48 for 671 kWh

This is with nobody home during the day. No A/C, no heat, no pool.

 

[thomas998]

Our heating is gas and only the cooling system runs on electricity... but when we aren't using the air conditioners we are close to 700 kwh in a month... in the peak of the summer hit just over 4200 kwh for one month (outside temps hit 100 every day during that month).... that is for a family of 4 in a 3,700 sq ft house... thermostat is usually set to 71 in the summer and 67 in the winter (but since it is gas that doesn't really use much electricity for the winter time).... The one thing you might consider if you aren't happy with the electric usage is get different light bulbs. If you look around you can find some LED bulbs that put out a very nice white light and use even less energy than the florescent bulbs.... but they will cost a bit more up front.

 

[QVCshopper]

Interesting to read everyone's usage. I see utilities like electric, gas, water, and sewer just as big an opportunity to save as cutting back your food and spending. I spent a lot of time ready "green" books because they interest me, and I have seen the changes in my bills. I've also watched shows on Planet Green, such as Wasted, and learned a lot. I couldn't imagine using 1,000kwh in a month, unless in a very hot climate, have a home office, or have a pool--those are all energy suckers. Everyone can make changes if they want to.

 

[bearzabout]

There is a great device called Kill-A-watt. You can plug in each device then plug it into the wall and see how much energy is being used, even when a device is turned off. It only costs about $20 and can help point out some big energy wasters.

You'll be able to determine just how much power that Plasma tv uses (2 to 3 times what an LCD uses). A 32 inch LCD uses half as much as a 52 inch.

If you want to save some dough on electricity, invest in a good power strip surge protector and turn it off when not watching TV. Even the cable box uses power when not in use.

Be glad you don't live in Hawaii. They just had another rate increase approved so now they pay around 55 cents PKW on the Big Island and Maui. Running a window air conditioner can cost $1000 / month.

We live in Michigan and are grateful for our all-electric house. We pay less for our energy costs using geothermal than others on our street in smaller houses that use propane or natural gas for heat. Our system is old - it is only about 300% efficient. The new ones are more than 400%. Compare that to a gas furnace at between 80-90% efficient. Of course solar does not work well here so thank goodness there are different green options for different parts of the US.

We just lowered our electric cost even more by covering the interior of our our west facing wood garage door with a Reflectix-type radiant barrier/insulation. We also covered our attic joists with it. Now our whole house stays much cooler in the summer because the heat stays out of our attic. No more hot second story!

 

[canadianjovigirl]

Ours is ridiculous........we are a family of 5 with gas heat and hotwater. Our electric from Sept 13 - Oct 12 was $206.54.

We used 1161 kwh as our pool pump was still running as we did not winterize it until the end of Sept.

Our kwh price flucuates so from Oct 1 - 12 it was 12.179 / kwh and then from Sept 13-30 it was 8.15/kwh for a total of $120.97 and the rest are fees errrrrrrr 38.30 distribution charge, 19.59 transmission charge, 15.61 rate riders charge, 4.61 local access fee and then tax.........

According to my bill our average daily electricity cost is $6.88 so i guess we are electricity hogs as nobody is even home during the day........

 

[briarrose]

Our latest was from 9/26-10/26. 64.83
469 kwh for 60.59 and 4.24 in taxes
Gas water heater, old refrig, 3 computers, almost all CFL light bulbs, electric dryer and our big electric hog my water bed. Family of 4. Water bed is about $10/month. IMO, new refrigs with the extra electronics and ice and water dispenser may not save any energy.

 

[amandamims]

I'm not sure of how many watts I use, but my bill is on average $35. I work 12 hrs a day, so I'm not home to use power during the day. We have surge protectors on every outlet and click them off every time we aren't using them. The microwave, tvs, laptops, etc all switched off. The only thing that stays turned on/plugged in is the fridge, stove, and sometimes a fan. During this last summer, we left the ac set at 75 degrees because we have a cat. The bill for that month was about $50.

I live in eastern part of San Diego.