Ouch!!!

[goofywife]

I am not sure how many kwh we used but our bill was $155.00. I thought that it was high. We have a programable t-stat. DH has it set to go to 84 after we leave in the morning. It goes back to 74 half an hour before we get home. We also planted lots of trees. Our big bill the is water/sewer. It was $202.00. We have to water the trees.

[teri88]

We just moved into this house in November, and the utilities are killing us! They are 3 times what we estimated they would be. Between that and the way gas has gone up it's costing my husband $70 a month just to drive back and forth to work. He works 3 jobs and the one part time job just covers our gas for the month. We are seriously considering moving out of NJ when Megan graduates from HS.

[DianaB]

I keep our thermostats at 78* and if we get hot then we turn it down. You know when it's 100* outside then 78* feels pretty good. We also turn on the ceiling fans when we need a breeze on us and sleep with them on in the night. We haven't had very many really hot days yet and have actually had a nice summer so far with the cloudy and rainy days.

We had blinds installed in our windows on the west side of the house soon after we moved in because of the heat that comes in so when it's hot the blinds are turned to reflect the sun. When it's really hot I close them completely in the afternoon. It really helps to keep the kitchen cooler. I try to keep my computer on stand-by when I'm not using it because then the fan doesn't have to run......now if my family could just get that little trick through their heads!!!! Just press a key and it automatically comes back on.

My bill last month was $82.20 and we used 712 KWH. We read our own meter and send it in with our bill and I know that next month's bill will be higher. Our home is 2,350 sq. ft. with a full unfinished basement (4,700 sq. ft. all together).

[Marilyn]

I just don't get it. All of you have so much lower rates and lower bills. Diana, your rate calculates to $0.115 per KWH, so you are higher than most, but your usage is sooo low. Hubby and I live in a home build in 2003 with oodles of insulation, high efficiency everything. It's just soooo frustrating.

If we were paying Janet's rate, our bill would be $189.80.

At Angie's rate, our bill would be $203.62.

At Diana's rate, $278.76.

Our bill is $421.51!!!! And that's using non-profit, COOP power!!!!

We also use gas to heat our water, so our total energy bill is even higher!!

If we used some of the higher priced companies in our area, our bill could be as high as $509. We are using almost the lowest priced option in our area. We need more nuclear or something!!!! Maybe we need to violate the subdivision restrictions and start hanging the wash outside on a clothesline. That would look nice on the 15th fairway, don't ya think???

[Janet]

There is no way, honestly, that we would be able to pay your electric bill Marilyn. I forgot to mention that we are total electric also. I guess I shouldn't complain too much about what we pay.

I was also told...don't know how true it is...but that changing the thermostat settings is what makes most bill go up. I guess the reasoning is, once it's at a certain temp..it doesn't take much to stay there, but if say you turn the air up while you're gone...then it has to work harder longer to get cool again...same way with the heat. So we pretty much leave ours the same all the time.

[DianaB]

I want to say that if you're total electric you get a different rate, but I could be wrong on that.

We use gas for our clothes dryer and hot water heater so we're not total electric. I think that I save a lot by keeping my thermostat turned up. I'm comfortable with it higher because I don't handle it much cooler than 75* (Thanks to low thyroid). When my family is hot we just turn it down a notch and usually are comfortable. We have a pretty effecient home with Pella windows. Our home was built in 1999. We pay less for utilities than we did in our old, old home that was half our size!!! Did I mention that it was really old?

[Tink]

We used 890 kWh last month @ .09675 for a total bill of $124.67.
My refrig is 16 yrs old, my range 6 yrs old, my dishwasher, washer and dryer are too old to even remember when we got them; and we have 3 window air conditioning units going. I thought OUR elect bill was high till I saw Marilyns! LOL

We have natural gas for the water heater and furnace.

[DianaB]

Originally Posted by Janet

.........I was also told...don't know how true it is...but that changing the thermostat settings is what makes most bill go up. I guess the reasoning is, once it's at a certain temp..it doesn't take much to stay there, but if say you turn the air up while you're gone...then it has to work harder longer to get cool again...same way with the heat. So we pretty much leave ours the same all the time.

We have a programable thermostat in our home and I think that once you have the humidity out of the house it's not too expensive to change the temperature. If I understand correctly, it's more expensive if you turn your cental air off and on a lot because of all the work of getting the humidity out. That's why we didn't put in an attic fan.

In the summer our airconditioner doesn't change too much. For some reason it's a little warmer in here in the morning so it's set at 77* and changes to 78* at noon. We're finding that we're more comfortable with it like that. We also sleep with the ceiling fan on low with a sheet and light blanket.

In the winter it changes quite a bit because at night it goes down a lot cooler for sleeping and warms back up right before we get up in the morning.

I would highly recommend a programable thermostat for everyone. I think that it does save on utilities. I think that we paid about $40 for ours.

As for having the temperatures in the 60's or lower I'm just not comfortable with anything below about 73-74*. My nose gets cold and I just shiver. I know that it's because of my thryoid. I'd absolutely die at 52*!!!!!! Or be dressed like an Eskimo!!!!

[Marilyn]

Already doing that. We have 3 programmable thermostats. I think our problem must be the high coastal humidity. Probably makes the systems work harder, and the high rate per KWH that we are forced to pay. It's highway robbery!!!