My electric bill is way high..... why? - Page 2

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Here in Wisconsin we get our gas and electric rolled in to one bill.. thanks to We Energies.... lovingly refered to as "Wienergies"

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

I just payed my electric bill for January. $82 and some change. The bill actually breaks down how much Entergy pays for the electricity so if I did the math correctly, they made $63 profit off my bill.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

I am on an average billing plan and there is no way for you to "lose" money. Unless you do your accounting in the short term and start in the winter... The monthly amount is adjusted every 12 months based upon your actual usage and whether you "overpaid" or "underpaid" in the previous 12 months. both have happened to me, but only by a few dollars each time. The advantage is for budgeting purposes and knowing what you bill will be month to month.

For example, my electricity and gas bill combined is about $200/month. My house is approximately 2,600 sqft and I live in one of the worst combined areas for electricity and gas use - Kansas City. Hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

I got my newest bill 10 days ago. For 29 days I used 1531 Kwh, which comes out to 52.79 Kwh/day.

The previous period I used 1495 kwh in 21 days, which comes out to 71.19 Kwh/day.

Both periods were pretty cold, so I'm not sure heating costs were the only reason. I put in a whole lot of compact flourescent bulbs and I made sure to turn off the halogen bulbs that I couldn't replace whenever they weren't being used.

I started using the Kill-A-Watt meter and this is what I have monitored so far:

Cordless Phone w/built-in Digital Answering Machine [133 hours =.61 kwh]
.004586 Kwh/hour
.110075 Kwh/day
40.1774 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $6.02 to run for an entire year

36" CRT Television [10 Hours with sound off = 1.06 kwh]
0.106 Kwh/hour
0.53 Kwh/day [assuming the TV is on for 5 hours a day]
193.45 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $29.01 to run for an entire year

I also monitored the TV overnight when the power was turned off and I got no Kwh used - I'm glad to see that it isn't an "electricity vampire".

Refrigerator [Purchased in 1999 400 hours = 35.22 Kwh]
.08805 Kwh/hour
2.1132 Kwh/day
771.318 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $115.69 to run for an entire year

I'm curious if the refrigerator uses more electricity when the place is warmer in the summertime.

Bedroom Lamp using a 100w equivalent compact flourescent bulb [12 hours = 0.27 Kwh]
0.0225 Kwh/hour
0.045 Kwh/day [assuming the lamp is on for 2 hours a day]
16.425 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $2.46 to run for an entire year

It's good to see the compact flourescent work as advertised. I will plug in a 100w incandescent bulb just to see what that checks out as.

I am going to monitor other items and see what they as using. Unfortunately, I can only check items that plug into the wall and use 110v. I can't check the HVAC, Water Heater, Washing Machine/Dryer, Stove, Dishwasher [I assume this doesn't just plug in the wall and use 110v like the refrigerator - I haven't checked] or anything that uses a wall switch.

I have to figure that the HVAC is killing me. I assume it was made back in 1984. I have never even seen it as it is on the roof. I had the water heater replaced in 2004 and it was much more efficient than the one it replaced. I can replace the washing machine which I believe was made back in 1984, but I can't imagine too much savings there. I never use the dryer. I don't use the stove that much and I never use the oven. I almost never use the dishwasher as I just hand wash everything.

I expect a big drop in kwh used for the next period as the weather has been beautiful in Dallas. I will also get the full benefit of controlling my light bulb usage. I will continue monitoring my appliances and report back.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Most dishwashers plug into 110 at a hidden recepticle under the sink. It's rare that they are wired directly into house wiring.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

It's not a 220v plug like my Washer/Dryer? I don't feel like pulling the thing out to check.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

I saw this blurb in the newspaper in case people wanted to know what the average price of electricity is nationwide:


And here in Texas we are getting screwed compared to our neighbors:

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

I got my newest bill. For 29 days I used 420 Kwh, which comes out to 14.48 Kwh/day. We have had such beautiful weather in Dallas that I have not used the HVAC once in that period. Obviously that is the main reason for the huge drop in energy usage, but I also received the full benefit of using compact fluorescent bulbs and turning off the halogen bulbs that I couldn't replace whenever they weren't being used for an entire billing period.

2/21/2007 – 3/22/2007
29 days = 420 Kwh, which comes out to 14.48 Kwh/day.

1/23/2007 – 2/21/2007
29 days = 1531 Kwh, which comes out to 52.79 Kwh/day.

1/2/2007 – 1/23/2007
21 days = 1495 Kwh, which comes out to 71.19 Kwh/day.

I started using the Kill-A-Watt meter and this is what I have monitored so far:

Cordless Phone w/built-in Digital Answering Machine [133 hours =.61 kwh]
.004586 Kwh/hour
.110075 Kwh/day
40.1774 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $6.02 to run for an entire year

36" CRT Television [10 Hours with sound off = 1.06 kwh]
0.106 Kwh/hour
0.53 Kwh/day [assuming the TV is on for 5 hours a day]
193.45 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $29.01 to run for an entire year

52" Samsung LCD Television [10 Hours set on ESPN with sound off = 2.17 kwh]
0.217 Kwh/hour
1.085 Kwh/day [assuming the TV is on for 5 hours a day]
396.025 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $59.40 to run for an entire year

I also monitored both TVs overnight when the power was turned off and I got no Kwh used - I'm glad to see that they aren't "electricity vampires".

Popcorn Hour A-100 [Power is Toggled Off but unit is still on 140 Hours = 0.97 kwh]
0.00692 Kwh/hour  [6.928 watts/hour]
0.16628 Kwh/day [assuming it is on for 24 hours a day]
60.6942 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $9.10 to run for an entire year

[Note: The hard drive spins up on bootup which increases wattage before it idles]

Sony PS3 Slim [Power is On but not being used 40 Hours = 3.09 kwh]
0.07725 Kwh/hour  [77.25 watts/hour]
1.854 Kwh/day [assuming it is on for 24 hours a day]
676.71 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $101.50 to run for an entire year

It is important to remember to turn this off.  When the power is off, the Kill-A-Watt registers zero watts - not an "electricity vampire".

Canon Pixma 600 Printer [Power Off] [75 Hours = 0.03 Kwh]
0.0004 Kwh/hour
0.0096 Kwh/day
3.504 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $0.52 to run for an entire year

Not an "electricity vampire".

Motorola Cable Box [Not sure which model, no DVR] [240 hours = 3.82 kwh]
0.01591 Kwh/hour
0.382 Kwh/day [Power On 24 hours a day]
139.43 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $ 20.91 to run for an entire year

Maxtor OneTouch II External USB 300GB Drive [250 hours = 2.43 kwh]
0.00972 Kwh/hour
0.23328 Kwh/day [Power On 24 hours a day]
85.1472 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $ 12.77 to run for an entire year

DSL SpeedStream Modem 180 Hours = 0.56 kwh
0.003111111111  Kwh/hour
0.074666666666  Kwh/day [Power On 24 hours a day]
27.25333333333  Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $ 4.088 to run for an entire year

 

Standing Floor Fan 24 Hours = 1.73 kwh
0.072083333333  Kwh/hour
1.73  Kwh/day [Power On 24 hours a day]
1.73  Kwh/day x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $ 0.2595 to run for an entire day

Refrigerator [Purchased in 1999 400 hours = 35.22 Kwh]
.08805 Kwh/hour
2.1132 Kwh/day
771.318 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $115.69 to run for an entire year

I'm curious if the refrigerator uses more electricity when the place is warmer in the summertime.

Computer Speakers w/subwoofer [Power Off] [48 Hours = 0.08 kwh]
0.04  Kwh/day [Power On 24 hours a day]
14.6  Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $ 2.19 to run for an entire year

Surprisingly, not much savings here.  I was surprised when the real time wattage was a whopping 1 watt even though the AC adapter runs hot.  With the Power on but the sound off it naturally used more electricity:

Computer Speakers w/subwoofer [Power On/Sound Off] [48 Hours = 0.19 kwh]
0.095  Kwh/day [Power On 24 hours a day]
34.675  Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $ 5.20 to run for an entire year

Dell Laptop Power Supply [by itself with nothing connected to it] [200 Hours = 0.06 kwh]
I thought this would be an energy vampire but it wasn't.  Real time usage doesn't even register 1 watt.

Black & Decker Toaster Oven [400 Degrees for 15 Minutes]
0.17 Kwh x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $0.0255
So, it cost less than 3 cents to run this for 15 minutes - interesting.

Bedroom Lamp using a 100w equivalent compact flourescent bulb [12 hours = 0.27 Kwh]
0.0225 Kwh/hour
0.045 Kwh/day [assuming the lamp is on for 2 hours a day]
16.425 Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $2.46 to run for an entire year

I monitored the lamp with a 100w incandescent bulb and it indeed did use 100w of electricity. It is amazing the amount of electricity that you can save. Going from the incandescent to the CF saves almost as much energy as the refrigerator consumes [while the lamp is in use].

I am going to monitor other items and see what they as using. Unfortunately, I can only check items that plug into the wall and use 110v. I can't check the HVAC, Water Heater, Washing Machine/Dryer, Stove, Dishwasher [I assume this doesn't just plug in the wall and use 110v like the refrigerator - I haven't checked] or anything that uses a wall switch.

I have to figure that the HVAC is killing me. I assume it was made back in 1984. I have never even seen it as it is on the roof, which is quite steep. A neighbor had their unit replaced for $5000. Part of the cost is using a crane to get it up there. That is a lot of money. I plan on selling this condo and I don’t think it is worth the investment. I had the water heater replaced in 2004 and it was much more efficient than the one it replaced. I can replace the washing machine which I believe was made back in 1984, but I can't imagine too much savings there. I never use the dryer. I don't use the stove that much and I never use the oven. I almost never use the dishwasher as I just hand wash everything.

I will continue monitoring my appliances and report back.
Edited by Jason L. - 1/17/10 at 9:37pm

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Another Texas resident here. I'm in a 2400 sq.ft. 2-story home with electricity bills from $450 to $500 last summer (only two bedrooms up there, with a large pine tree for shade and a new HVAC system - inside and out - installed in 2005). Even a nearby relative in a better-insulated home had basically the same bill.

Ah yes, the miracle of deregulation has worked wonders......

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Thought I'd ask for opinions on what electricity provider to go with in Houston. I bought a used 1800 sq.ft house.Reliant is the giant of course, TXU is well known too. Spark is another one I've been hearing about and was approached recently about Ignite. What I want to get is real feedback from people who have already tried some of the other smaller and newer providers out there. How about when you need service? Would be nice to know if you do have a problem,there will be excellent customer service.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

You think $0.15/kHr is bad? In Massachusetts this month I paid $0.106/kHr in delivery charges and $.111/kHr in generation charges for a grand total of 21.7 cents per kHr.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

First off, I assume that you know the website that lists the rates charged by the different energy providers in Texas, which is updated every month:

http://www.puc.state.tx.us/electric/.../Mar08Bill.pdf

You shouldn't notice any difference at all when you switch energy providers. In Dallas I moved from TXU to Green Mountain Energy. The electricity that comes into my home doesn't come from a Windmill/Hydroelectric source [which is what GME uses]. It comes from somewhere locally and the local company has to purchase "energy credits" from GME - or something like that, I can't remember.

One tip - and I'm not sure this applies to all companies - if you get a 12-month contract you can usually avoid the service delivery fee(?) which is something like 5$ a month.

Don't sweat it. Go Green! - and don't buy from TXU - they are evil.

Ouch. Does LILCO [Long Island Lighting Company] still have the highest rates in the country? Carl from LI would know.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Not sure how green Green mountain energy is, have you seen this website?

not sure what to make of it but when I bought my house, I saw that website and also saw GME sells power in NJ.

Having said that, my electric bill every month is like $20...

Jay

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Hmm...I checked my last bill and I'm only paying $0.059 per kWh from Idaho Power. What are you guys doing wrong?

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Just because you have a new HVAC system doesnt mean it was installed correctly

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Thanks for the info guys, checked out a couple of sites like powertochoose which showed various charges and plans, of course there's zero info on customer service or how happy their customers really are. with the cost of natural gas going up,looks like the electric bill will too. Jason L. ,lol, tell me why TXU is evil???

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Karl, you are trying to choose a energy service provider - not diffuse a bomb. Local electricity is delivered to your home by a separate entity. You probably won't ever need to contact with your energy company except for billing. Just pick one and if you don't like them switch. Electricity is a homogeneous commodity to the end-user perspective.

As far as GME/TXU being evil - here is an earlier thread:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...in-energy.html

The TXU story goes like this:

1. TXU gets involved in foreign markets. In 2002 these turn into a disaster forcing the company to write down billions of dollars. The stock price craters to a low of around $8 a share:
Link - Energy Future Holdings Corp (TXU) - Stock chart, Index chart - MSN Money

2. TXU returns to profitability and its stock price rises [to near $70 by late 2007] not by improving their product, cutting costs, or being better than the competition. They do this by doubling their electricity rates. It is correct that the price of natural gas jumped during this period - but not this much, nor did they lower the price when natural gas prices went back down. The consumer is also to blame here as people are just too afraid/apathetic/uninformed/confused to change their electric provider. I have talked to people in DFW about switching but they think that they will be forced to use candles if they switch because something might go wrong. This is simply not true. Deregulation has been a bust so far for the state of Texas.

3. An enormous transfer of wealth occurs between TXU's customers and the company in order to make up for their boneheaded foreign markets foray - enough to give $270 million into the pocket of John Wilder who was CEO of TXU for a whopping 3 years until they got bought out.

4. TXU decides to build 11 dirty, cheap, coal-fired plants in a state that has some of the worst air pollution in the country.

5. During this time TXU agrees to be bought out by the private LBO firm of KKR for $45 billion. We all know how wonderful privatization has worked out so far. Analysts say the only way KKR can afford this price is to raise rates - even though KKR swears to lower rates as they should have done originally when the price of natural gas fell.

6. TXU has incredibly powerful lobbyists in a state that is probably the most favorable to buseness. They have been charged with all sorts of price gouging, fraud, etc. TXU was in the newspaper almost on a daily basis about a year ago.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

No commercial entity would bother to run lines out to rural Idaho and Oregon, so the government steps in and subsidizes it. Your power bill is low for the same reason people living in places like the Tennessee Valley Authority have low bills: your fellow citizens are helping pick up the tab. Meanwhile, in the densely populated West Coast and Northeast -- where commercial power generation and transmission is commercially viable -- the government decides to let the free market prevail and the rates are much, much higher. Texas is also densely populated, but since they also produce a lot more per capita energy than the Northeast and West Coast, the states' rates aren't quite as bad.

For more info, check out this page:
Idaho Power - About Us - Regulatory Information

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Adam,

You miss the point of my tease. Idaho generates huge amounts of electricity from our local hydroelectric plants. Until quite recently we were a net exporter of power. Now that we are starting up on several nuclear plants we should get back into the net exporter role. Don't forget that the Idaho National Labs have been building plants since the late 1940's, and that the first commercial nuke plants were right here west of Idaho Falls.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Don't forget that the TVA was set up to build dams and hydro power plants, so the TVA itself is a net exporter of power.


Ah, NO. The US northeast is a net importer of power. NY and New England produces a fraction of what they consume: most is imported hydroelectric power from Quebec.


California's politics has prevented any reasonable construction of power generating plants in the last 5 decades. California is grossly a net importer of power.

The Pacific Northwest states (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) have the two things necessary for hydroelectric power generation: rivers that flow lots of water, AND lots of vertical drop. The Southwest has precious little water. The US east of the Rockies is basically flat as a pancake, with little vertical drop in the rivers. There's a reason that Boeing - our largest aircraft producer - is based in Seattle. Aluminum is extracted from its ore by electricity. Only the Pacific Northwest has the hydro capacity to produce aluminum in vast quantities.

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Well, for the time being,I'm going to try the TXU Freedom Plan since there's no deposits,contracts, just go month by month.I needed to find something fast, had closed on a used house Friday,power was going to be disconnected Monday and by the time I got around to calling on various electric providers this last weekend,alot of these new electric providers don't have operator's on call 24/7.Reliant did,as well as TXU. Decided for now TXU will do til I do more research and see if I can find one cheaper,will lock in for a year,and NOT have charges for breaking a contract. I did a little sniffing around on Ignite Energy and found out it's like a MLM,you pay a bunch of money to join and try to get a bunch of others to join at the tune of around $300.00!!!!

...resurrecting dead thread

I have these old computer speakers with a small subwoofer.  It has a big brick for an ac adapter.  It gets hot even when the speakers are turned off.  This seems like a perfect example of an energy vampire and a perfect candidate for the Kill-A-Watt:

Computer Speakers w/subwoofer [Power Off] [48 Hours = 0.08 kwh]
0.04  Kwh/day [Power On 24 hours a day]
14.6  Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $ 2.19 to run for an entire year

Surprisingly, not much savings here.  I was surprised when the real time wattage was a whopping 1 watt even though the AC adapter runs hot.  With the Power on but the sound off it naturally used more electricity:

Computer Speakers w/subwoofer [Power On/Sound Off] [48 Hours = 0.19 kwh]
0.095  Kwh/day [Power On 24 hours a day]
34.675  Kwh/year x $0.15 Kwh/hour = $ 5.20 to run for an entire year

 My electric company is a rip off my electricity is also high, here is what happened to us they turned off our electricity and said we were way behind cause our electric bills were like $200.00 a month so we paid all the money to get reconnected but we were without electricity for two days and all my food went bad, I had just went to market and purchased $400. in food. Two days later they(Electric Company) saying we had over paid them about $350.00 which when they shut us off we know how fishy it was because we paid always on time and the whole bill even though we had to without a lot of things. When I called them to let them know about our food and that they made a mistake and I was going to sue them the lady told me when they had shut us off it had nothing to do with us being over paid. I tell you they are rip offs one time it was way over our usual charge of $200.00 a month and I called them the lady told me to read the meter to her and she said that it was wrong and corrected it. You know if you have a dog in your yard they will put anything they want cause they will not go in your yard to read the meter. I live in California and I do not even have to use a heater cause it is always sunny out here and my electric bill has always been high. Even when my boyfriends mother lived in the front house and we lived in a garage converted to a apartment. She never really watch TV. We have all flourasent lights too. Which is suppose to cut down the bill. We even have a low rate added to our bill. I even paid enough money to get ahead a few months ago and now after I paid all the bill this month they say they are going to cut me off for $33.00. That tells you what rip offs they are. There are only three people who live in the main house since my boyfriend's mother died in 1993. Sure we have cable and three TVs. But they are not on all day. Now tell me does that sound odd? I thought they had a new law where we can choose a different electricity company? I've checked on-line and only Texas has it. I wonder what ever happened to that law? 

EDIT:  I'm a victim of a post bumper

Where I live in Germany, I have no feel for what electricity costs. When I take a Train in the country between Munich and Lindau on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) I am amazed how many houses have sun collectors on the roof. Sometime I will inquire about  the costs. These houses are not of rich people but mostly farmers. I'd be interested in comments.