LED light bulbs

[Foxrac]

Wow, Alabama utility company executives won't admit the truth behind it. I was surprise that executives don't mention "Demand factor" for business. Demand factor is very expensive and profitable for utility companies. I am STILL not sure why yours still hitting 500 dollars a month, I never go over 200 dollars a month for electricity. I got 3 computers running, too many TV, and I just kicked in Central Air cause it is getting too hot inside my house.

Can you at least look how many KWH you used each month? I don't care about the cost, just KWH please, can you? I average 650 KWH each month.

And I do have natural gas furnace and barely use it in the last two years and I enjoyed huge savings on Natural gas. I believe I have saved $1,000 already in the past two years, plus my house has been kept toasty warm better than NG furnace offers. This coming winter, it is going to be a real payback. I am restocking firewood, looks like this week may be last week for me to restock them. I had no problem finding free hardwood firewood.

Payback is when you invest something and it takes time for it to start paying for itself. Mine is 2 years, interesting. Whats even better, I am selling two wood burning stoves. I have two great stoves for sale right now. One is for 2,500-3,500 sq ft and other smaller one up to 1,100 sq ft which is not enough for my house. I found right wood stove for my house because the right stove didn't heat up wood stove room over 92 degrees, mostly around 90 and that is where I wanted it to be at. The big stove, I can't get my stove room below 100 degrees! and smaller one I was able to get it to reach 91 degrees but not enough to warm up whole house. The reason why I wanted 90 degrees is that I find it most efficient way to get my whole house warm. 20 degrees above the minimum comfortable temperature for whole house, meaning 70 degrees would consider minimum, adding 20 degrees on top of it will help the furnace push the heating into whole house. Yup, its automated I got two thermostats in my house, one is for Central air and back up natural gas heating, and second one is when the stove room hits 90 degrees, it just kick the furnace fan. I ended up saw lower electric bills, about 200KWH less and that's a lot of savings. Other advantage is that when stove room cools down to 89 degrees the furnace fan stops running and wait for it to increase back to 90 degrees start fan until the point that stove is cooling down. automated is awesome, cause I don't have to worry about when to turn off the furnace fan.

My relative and I decided to review the electricity bill online, so got mixed up because $500 per month was last summer, so our electricity bill is normally between $200 to $300 per month with up to $300-$350 in winter due to electric heater in attic and more than $500 in summer during heatwave season.

For KWH - last month was 1,800 and 1,900 on March 2013, but highest one was 3,900 on July 2012 (numerous heatwave).

Our electricity bill is based on budget - subsidy.

 

[diehardbiker]

Now this is making sense to me.

Mine, lowest is 550KWH a month, highest 1,800KWH thats when I had Central AC running 24/7

As for VP, it don't consume as much as many thought, about 25-35 watts for VP

But yup DVR player is energy hog, so is LCD and Plasma, LED TV is much energy efficient. I already compared. I was planned to get LCD due to cheaper but after checking LED, realize that LED consume about 1/3 of LCD!

And you said on budget, it does not mean subsidy! It is equilvent to escrow, or credit card. This is to spread your yearly average into 12 even payment. If you use more than normal, you will end up pay more next year on budget, but if you use less, then next year budget payment will drop. Subsidy means government help pay some of the expenses. If you got HEAP, then yeah it is subsidy.

My relative and I decided to review the electricity bill online, so got mixed up because $500 per month was last summer, so our electricity bill is normally between $200 to $300 per month with up to $300-$350 in winter due to electric heater in attic and more than $500 in summer during heatwave season.

For KWH - last month was 1,800 and 1,900 on March 2013, but highest one was 3,900 on July 2012 (numerous heatwave).

Our electricity bill is based on budget - subsidy.

 

[Foxrac]

Unusually high electric bill is one indication of a grow room.

jk Foxrac!

growing marijuana in basement and watching power bill goes up, up, up, up to $1,000 per month.

Electricity companies will usually give a tip to law enforcement to investigate on how high electricity bill caused...

 

[Foxrac]

Now this is making sense to me.

Mine, lowest is 550KWH a month, highest 1,800KWH thats when I had Central AC running 24/7

As for VP, it don't consume as much as many thought, about 25-35 watts for VP

But yup DVR player is energy hog, so is LCD and Plasma, LED TV is much energy efficient. I already compared. I was planned to get LCD due to cheaper but after checking LED, realize that LED consume about 1/3 of LCD!

And you said on budget, it does not mean subsidy! It is equilvent to escrow, or credit card. This is to spread your yearly average into 12 even payment. If you use more than normal, you will end up pay more next year on budget, but if you use less, then next year budget payment will drop. Subsidy means government help pay some of the expenses. If you got HEAP, then yeah it is subsidy.

We have 4 Directv DVR running all day (it is technically idle when you turn off at night or left to school/work). I have Vizio LED HDTV that I got for my christmas 2011 and love my TV.

I'm not ready for harsh summer season and our house isn't insulated very well - same with neighborhood on Phase I, II and III but Phase IIII is more efficient and well insulated. I didn't know until HOA president (he was developer) told me about situation with house and he said that many of neighbors received high electricity bills due to excessive AC during heatwave season. He expressed angrily at builder company that poorly insulated at houses and they went bankrupted about 4 years ago, so different builder decided to takeover and finish the projects (they resumed in 2011 after halted in 2008), so I found their house built is much better quality and impressive indoor design, so they have to finish before our city can re-pave the road. I thanked to our HOA president for tough fought with Windstream to upgrade the DSLAM bandwidth and expand the internet speed, so many of our neighbors have internet access, so Windstream said they will going expand to 24 mbps with fiber optic in our neighborhood.

 

[Foxrac]

For fix with insulation problem, they have to gut the wall down and replace the insulation so a lot of work for us. That means I have to remove my 70 oz carpet (extremely plush and thicker) before gut the wall down and have to hire a carpet installer to install again. That's too much hassle.

Also, new wall and paint - not again.

 

[The Highlander]

Did you know that many of the DVR player wattage (I'm not talking about regular digital box) is about equal to the refrigerator? So, I use the digital timer to turn off at midnight and turned back on 3:30 Pm next day. It does save your bill over the year.

Your Set-Top Box Is Murdering Your Electric Bill. Here's What You Can Do | Popular Science

After I purchase all of super energy efficient appliances and heat pump in 2009, back in 2007, one year electric bill was little more than $3,400 and now last year was $2007.

So, there's lot more you can do, like adding digital timer to our desktop computers and monitors. I just added to that back in 2/14/2013 and see how much that changed.

I have been using Excel to keep tracking all the monthly electric bills dated back in 2007 and so far it still dropping. So, I'm planning on replacing all of CFL lights to LED type (yes I got too many lights more than Reba!!).

Now for one thing that you all have to remember, unlike what Reba have, I'm using all the high tech security and alarm system, deaf signaler/alarm equipment which are not energy efficient. Those take up some power for deaf people living at home, it run 24/7. You know like Ameriphone equipment is a power consumption.

so....

Update: Oh..I forgot one more thing...don't forget about VP power usage as well... I mean many hearing people don't have special deaf equipment like signaler/alarm clock or VP... base on study with BGE (Baltimore Gas and Electric) comparison that BGE show that I produce more electric than energy efficient home in the area...well of course!! I have all the Ameriphone equipment for door alarm, phone alarm, VP alarm... do hearing people have those?? nooooooo..... LOL

I heard about DVR = refrigerator before.

If You Have DirecTV
Here we get to the satellite folks. DirecTV's offerings are only slightly less efficient than Comcast's or Verizon's, with the (currently only) standard-def box coming in at 12W active, 9W standby, the best HD box (the DirecTV H24) at 16W active, 15W standby, and the best HD/DVR (the DirecTV HR24) at 31W active, 31W standby. The DVR is pretty lousy, efficiency-wise, but that's nothing compared to the Dish Network's craziness.

Lucky, We picked DirecTV and our bill for electric ans gas are around $140 per month depend on weather which not bad. DirecTv is more networks and cheap than Dish Network.

 

[Reba]

Did you know that many of the DVR player wattage (I'm not talking about regular digital box) is about equal to the refrigerator? So, I use the digital timer to turn off at midnight and turned back on 3:30 Pm next day. It does save your bill over the year....

Your Set-Top Box Is Murdering Your Electric Bill. Here's What You Can Do | Popular Science

Did you read the comments following the article?

 

[The Highlander]

Yes, our electricity bill is nearly $500 every month.

We got 2 refrigerators (1 new and 1 old), freezer, 2 central AC (1 for entire house and 1 in attic - my bedroom), electric heater (attic only), washer, dryer, dishwasher, my gaming tower (around 700 watts).

However in summer, it is more than $500 but less in spring and fall, so $500 is average.

Also, electricity rate is expensive in my state than in neighboring states.
Despite cheaper fuel costs, Alabama Power bills higher than Georgia Power (corrected) | al.com

Unplug old refrigerator when you don't need it, Add fan in the attic (kind help to low AC), Shut gaming tower down when you don't need it.

Our got a brand new dishwasher without heat. We are not in hurry to dry them. It took around 1-2 hours to full dry after wash without heat. It's cheap and save electric bill.

That's good thing you plan replace CFL lights to LED type because LEDs help to less heat than CFL during summer if you leave light on all days.

 

[sequoias]

Lucky, We picked DirecTV and our bill for electric ans gas are around $140 per month depend on weather which not bad. DirecTv is more networks and cheap than Dish Network.

Our DirecTV HD DVR didn't impact our electric bill either, it still cheap. Our last electric/gas bill was $155.

We have gas water heater and gas stove which gets a small impact on the gas part of the bill. We use the gas stove almost everyday for cooking dinners, thankfully it doesn't take long to cook food and it's much faster than on electric stove. Heating with gas furnance, yep ouch!

 

[diehardbiker]

My last gas and electric bill was $107 Next month will probably be the same but after that, will go up due to Central Air usage. I hope this summer isn't too bad with heat.

 

[Foxrac]

Unplug old refrigerator when you don't need it, Add fan in the attic (kind help to low AC), Shut gaming tower down when you don't need it.

Our got a brand new dishwasher without heat. We are not in hurry to dry them. It took around 1-2 hours to full dry after wash without heat. It's cheap and save electric bill.

That's good thing you plan replace CFL lights to LED type because LEDs help to less heat than CFL during summer if you leave light on all days.

We have refrigerator with full of food and beverages, so we usually buy food in bulk at cheaper and store in old refrigerator for very long time.

I have ceiling fans in my room in attic and do you see about issue with home insulation?

Sure, the sleep mode on Windows 8 is broke and it keep wake up every time I put my PC in sleep.

 

[Foxrac]

Our DirecTV HD DVR didn't impact our electric bill either, it still cheap. Our last electric/gas bill was $155.

We have gas water heater and gas stove which gets a small impact on the gas part of the bill. We use the gas stove almost everyday for cooking dinners, thankfully it doesn't take long to cook food and it's much faster than on electric stove. Heating with gas furnance, yep ouch!

My last gas and electric bill was $107 Next month will probably be the same but after that, will go up due to Central Air usage. I hope this summer isn't too bad with heat.

Oh wow, you have utility company that sell combination of electricity and gas?

In here, we have separate - Alabama Power and Alagasco.

For water, they are supplied by city owned (municipal) or county (if you live in rural).

My electricity bill (electric only) was $297 (recently) and gas bill was about $50.

 

[Jiro]

Oh wow, you have utility company that sell combination of electricity and gas?

In here, we have separate - Alabama Power and Alagasco.

For water, they are supplied by city owned (municipal) or county (if you live in rural).

My electricity bill (electric only) was $297 (recently) and gas bill was about $50.

so do I. PSE&G provides both electricity and gas in NJ and ConEdison does same for NYC plus steam.

 

[The Highlander]

Our DirecTV HD DVR didn't impact our electric bill either, it still cheap. Our last electric/gas bill was $155.

We have gas water heater and gas stove which gets a small impact on the gas part of the bill. We use the gas stove almost everyday for cooking dinners, thankfully it doesn't take long to cook food and it's much faster than on electric stove. Heating with gas furnance, yep ouch!

We have gas water heater too. We use electric stove for almost everyday. For steak or hamburger or chicken? Use grill propane.

Almost looks like that. It's EASY to clean and depend what type of fry pan you use. I made omelet in around 5 minutes. Not worry about gas leak.

The cast irons are better for fast cooking but it is expensive and no hand wash allow.

We have refrigerator with full of food and beverages, so we usually buy food in bulk at cheaper and store in old refrigerator for very long time.

I have ceiling fans in my room in attic and do you see about issue with home insulation?

Sure, the sleep mode on Windows 8 is broke and it keep wake up every time I put my PC in sleep.

I am sure that attic is awful for winter and summer, it was not design for bedroom. Oh poor you.

 

[Foxrac]

so do I. PSE&G provides both electricity and gas in NJ and ConEdison does same for NYC plus steam.

I only heard about utility company that sell combination of electricity, water and sewer - in LA, of course.

I forgot to mention about sewer is included in monthly water bill.

 

[Reba]

Oh wow, you have utility company that sell combination of electricity and gas?

In here, we have separate - Alabama Power and Alagasco.

For water, they are supplied by city owned (municipal) or county (if you live in rural).

My electricity bill (electric only) was $297 (recently) and gas bill was about $50.

Our company also sells both electricity and natural gas; its name is SCE&G (South Carolina Electric and Gas).

Another electric company in our area is Berkeley Electric Coop. They also provide both gas and electricity.

http://becsc.com/index.cfm?page=lp&id=259

I don't think it's rare.

 

[Foxrac]

We have gas water heater too. We use electric stove for almost everyday. For steak or hamburger or chicken? Use grill propane.

Almost looks like that. It's EASY to clean and depend what type of fry pan you use. I made omelet in around 5 minutes. Not worry about gas leak.

The cast irons are better for fast cooking but it is expensive and no hand wash allow.

I am sure that attic is awful for winter and summer, it was not design for bedroom. Oh poor you.

We use electric stove too.

Yes, same with matte stoneware - can't wash with soap.

Yes, bedroom in attic is getting common now, especially with modern house design but it is really energy hog. The winter is mild in our area - rarely below 32 F but really brutal in summer.

 

[diehardbiker]

True about gas leak not worry but most of stove related accident were electric stove, not gas! There is research long time ago proved that Electric poses fire risk greater than gas model.

I stick with gas stove all de way. Never again Electric Stove.

I have met several who converted from gas to electric range about half of them regretted and realize that gas is far better than Electric. Me surprised? Nah! Grew up with gas stove, and yes I was in gas explosion once trying to light oven with oven being full of right air and gas mixture. Kaboom! Wow! Did it scares me? Not really.

Almost looks like that. It's EASY to clean and depend what type of fry pan you use. I made omelet in around 5 minutes. Not worry about gas leak.

 

[Foxrac]

Our company also sells both electricity and natural gas; its name is SCE&G (South Carolina Electric and Gas).

Another electric company in our area is Berkeley Electric Coop. They also provide both gas and electricity.

Berkeley Electric Cooperative- Your Touchstone Energy Partner

I don't think it's rare.

Yes, I forgot about PG&E (Northern California, SF bay area) sell combination of electric and gas, so I only found out when they announced that they support same sex marriage in 2008.

If I move to Atlanta, it will be pretty same - separation of utilities - Georgia Power (same parent company as Alabama Power), Georgia Natural Gas, municipal water/sewer, etc but only difference is much larger metro (5.5 millions), terrible traffic, congested freeway, sprawl, more denser and more things to check out.

 

[sequoias]

Wirelessly posted (sent from a smartphone. )

Yup its common to have energy companies sell both gas and electric in one bill. Mines under Alliant Energy that covers much of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Other parts of Iowa is under MidAmerican Energy.