Ouch!!!

[gja1000]

I live in HOT Austin Texas - 100 right now at 5:45PM. Last month I used 2196 KWH for $230.60 (.1051 per KWH) Our home is about 27 years old, 2000 sf. total. 1200 sf is 27 years old and not well insulated; 800 sf we built on 6 years ago and it is very well insulated. We have two AC units - we put a separate one in the new addition. We have a den and my office in the new part and we stay out there almost exclusively except to sleep, of course. We keep the thermostat on 78 out there with two ceiling fans in the den and one in my office.

We keep the "main" part of the house at 80, unless I cook and then I turn it down a little. I don't cook much in the summer - we eat lots of sandwiches, fruit salads, etc. or cook out on the grill.

At night we turn the air down to 74 to sleep. My hubby has a heart condition and has to use oxygen at night. The oxygen concentrator (separates the oxygen from nitrogen in the room air) creates lots of heat, so our bedroom usually stays about 76-77. We use a ceiling fan and a floor fan blowing directly on us. We have two yorkies and they sleep under the covers!

My water bill was $50 because I have to water some trees every week. I planted trees a few years ago in front, side and back and they are getting big enough to provide some shade and help keep the house cool - but they do require some water right now. They are very drought tolerant, after they get a good start I won't have to water them so much.

[Dobie]

Wow- it must be because some of you are in very hot climates and are used to it, but I couldn't imagine having the house in the 70's. We keep most of the house at 68 and our bedroom is at 64 - I don't feel bad about keeping the house a little cooler now, because we only set the thermostat at 52 in the winter (and I still walk around the house in just shorts and a t-shirt). I really can't stand the heat, I guess I'm lucky I live in New England and not a warmer part of the country.

[Tink]

52!?!?! Dobie, I'd be one huge goosebump at your house!
I keep my thermostat at about 70-72 year around. With hypothyroid, my body doesn't regulate it's temperature well, so either extreme hot or cold really get to me.

[Dobie]

Originally Posted by Tink

52!?!?! Dobie, I'd be one huge goosebump at your house!
I keep my thermostat at about 70-72 year around. With hypothyroid, my body doesn't regulate it's temperature well, so either extreme hot or cold really get to me.

I'm lucky that Jim also likes it at 52 in the winter, unfortunately, I think the dogs are ready to go live a grandma's house - they like it nice and toasty.

[Marilyn]

gja1000, you are so fortunate to have the lower rate available to you in Austin. If you paid our rate, $0.167 your bill would be $366.73. Not too far below us.

Hubby and I have been talking about it, and we are going to start raising the thermostat and see if we can handle it higher. We'll do it gradually. We had it at 75 in the bedroom last night, and slept fine, and did not use the ceiling fan. I'm going to raise it to 76 tonight and see what happens. We're going to try to get to 78 all the time with the fans going if needed and see what we can do. I hang quite a few of our outer clothes on hangers to dry, but have to dry the towels, sheets, and underwear. I've raised the thermostat upstairs to 80. We'll just see what happens. We had all of our blinds closed all day today (I don't like being all closed in, but oh well) and changed out a few more bulbs to the small florescents.

We also pay the bill at hubby's office, and he said his last bill was around $180, but he has not received the latest one yet. He's expecting it to be over $200. He pays a higher rate than we do at home because it is a business. Phone, internet, everything is much higher than for a residence. His office is six rooms if you count the restroom and little kitchenette. He's taking a fan to work to put on his desk while he's drafting on his computer. He has to keep it comfortable for meetings in his conference room, though. Can't have the clients uncomfortable.

Diana, we don't get a break here for total electric, and Janet, the temperature differential is so small when we raise and lower our thermostats during the day that it does should not affect the efficiency that much. If we shut the units completely off and were trying to cool down a hot house, that would be different. We're just talking about a few degrees, and the recovery time is pretty quick.

[Marilyn]

Was just watching our local news on TV and they reported that electric rates are up in the area due to the rising cost to coal and natural gas. The price of coal has doubled in the last year, and natural gas prices have doubled in the last 6 months. Guess we should be thankful that electricity has not doubled along with them. Electricity has gone up 30%.

[Shada]

Its to bad our wages don't reflect the true cost of living.

In the past six years, my job was eliminated. Given a different position. Froze my wages, until the devision I am now working in comes up to to the wage I had been making.

So basically that means that two years ago I got a ten cent an hour wage increase, last year I got a one time payout of $300.00 .. WOW... Impressive. Corporate greed. Yet gas prices are rocketing, all utilities have increased. Groceries are going up due to gas prices.

Times are tough.. and getting tougher I am afraid.
Sad for the future of our Country.

[Marilyn]

I feel for the people who had money in the IndyMac bank that failed. FDIC will cover the first $100,000, but if they had more than that on deposit, they are probably going to lose it. For many, that could mean their life savings for retirement. We should all be more diversified than that, so we are not caught if something like this happens, but it's kinda like not backing up your computer. Most of us know what we need to do, but getting around to it, or knowing how to do it is another matter. Maybe we are just too trusting.

Our world is changing, and we'd all better be preparing and being prudent with our lives and our funds.

[Tink]

I'm afraid that's the first of many Marilyn.

We might get a taste of what our grandparents went through during the great depression by the time it's all said and done.

[Marilyn]

I just checked the rates for the Rural Electric Authority in our county to see what their rates are, and they are paying $0.083701 compared to our $0.167. There is a rural substation right down the street from us, about a mile away. They do not provide service to our subdivision and cannot. So we have to pay double the rates. This is soooo not fair. There is some kind of agreement between the rural authority and the company that owns the transmission lines in the city.

[goofywife]

OK, I found my electric bill. We used 1211 kilowatts and the price is 0.125466 per kilowatt. We are with the local co-op. My DH works for the competitor OGE.

[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!!!

[HALEY]

Try living in Pa, talk about crazy, the change of seasons, somedays we run the a/c during the day and the heat at night!! Never get a break from the gas or electric companies....

[Janet]

Originally Posted by Marilyn

I feel for the people who had money in the IndyMac bank that failed. FDIC will cover the first $100,000, but if they had more than that on deposit, they are probably going to lose it. For many, that could mean their life savings for retirement. We should all be more diversified than that, so we are not caught if something like this happens, but it's kinda like not backing up your computer. Most of us know what we need to do, but getting around to it, or knowing how to do it is another matter. Maybe we are just too trusting.
Our world is changing, and we'd all better be preparing and being prudent with our lives and our funds.

LOLOL....that and most of us don't have $100,000 to begin with....LOL...