What does your electricity bill look like in this Heat?
 

I just got mine from 6/13 thru 7/13, 2,029 kwh
$504.27
I won't be suprise if next bill is close to 1G.

I don't keep my home like a meat locker, more like 78 to 79 even daytime since my parents are 'visiting' me.
It is a well insulated new 3500 sqf single story home. I keep the remote thermostat so that I would know when to open windows night time, say 75 or below. I didn't have whole lota chance to do that.

I'll make sure my parents do not stay with me during summer, perhaps find a job that I could telecommute in Alaska spend some quality time with 'Lard'.

Anyone has solar panel installed?
I could use some advice.

Wow, pricey......I'll be curious to see mine. Luckily we keep the house pretty sealed up (not a lot of opening/closing of doors).

Ours was $73 bucks for June...

July may push $85ish, as we
resurrected theCEO's hot tub which
is heated by our hot water sys. cheaply,
but the pump and stuff really sucks the
juice. And, we've actually had the A/C
on a few nights before lights out.

Back in NY, in a much smaller house,
it was
$120-150 month easy, 5 yrs ago.

Electricity, like any "fuel/fuel driven prod"
is not going down ever again in our lifetimes.

If you really want some solar hot water, solar
elec., et al links, lettme know:
not cheap, not
real effecient and only for someone that is going
to "live in that house" for several years. The "credits"
help, but it's really a decade payback, in my perusal.

GL,mD

Edit: our winter digs aka the FlawRaDuh Seasonal Starter Shack,
runs about $28-30 a month, in our abscence.

Lower temperatures here than you are seeing, but what is more notable is the cost of energy. We had 30 C a few times in the past month, 88 F. 6000+ sf home, 22 foot ceilings. Central air is set on 75F 24 hours.

Last two months usage was 1964 kwh, half of yours. No surprise there. However, my usage charge was $118.62 CDN, before transit levies, for the 1964 kwh.

That advice you wanted? Move north.

Jeff

:rofl:

Or, "higher"! :thumbup:

ours runs about $400 a month with the AC - highway robbery IMO...

Hey, you have coal-fired generation, but lots of oil. We have cheap hydro power and flooded valleys. Suck it up and spend what you saved on having no provincial tax. :)

(a former Edmonton and Grande Prairie resident, who used to pay those electricity prices)

sounds like there is something wrong with the bill.. 3000+ sq ft, 3ton Trane AC, indoor temperature 75 during the day and 68 at night, 2 1.5hp pumps on my pool that's on 6.5 hrs a day and my bill is ~$300. Edison's taking you to the cleaners! :confused:

Less than $40.00 a month to power the computer, washer and dryer, television, electric fan and other minor appliances. No a/c, no pool. ;)

What SEER ratings does your AC have and are the units matched? Is your attic insulated? Are your windows and doors tight? Is your coil on the compressor clean and ditto the fins on the air handler?

We have icynene spray insulation on the walls and roofline...the air handler sits in a cool attic...incredible stuff; year 'round energy cost is about $1.00 per sq. foot per month. G/L

How old is your house, and how large? There's no way a house built to today's standards should cost that much to keep cool in the summer (or conversely keep warm in the winter). My house (3,500 sq.ft.), built three years ago with low solar heat gain windows and properly insulated costs less than $100 for electricity in the summer with full a/c and my highest gas bill for heat (last January) was $87. It sounds like you either have a monster house or it's old enough that it's framed with 2x4's instead of 2x6's, has low quality windows, and/or isn't insulated to the same standard as today's houses. When I'm talking of standards, I'm referring of course to Canadian construction standards (seeing as you're from Edmonton), which are considerably higher than U.S. standards and several times more energy efficient.

Mines just fine. I don't have A/C here in Germany. I wish I did though. I'll make up for the cost when I have to pay my heating bill this winter.

My situ.: 3,200 sq.ft., 2 A/C's (One 5 ton & One 3 ton, both 14 seer), home is just over 3 years old. Last months bill was $148.00 (2,022 kWh). The key is that I am on the "Time of Use" plan. Peak charges occur between 1pm and 8pm. Mine is set for 77 at night (off peak), 84 during peak hours. The key I think is that I really cool the house down prior to on peak hours to ~69 degrees, and the unit doesn't need to come on till about 6:30pm, and it only stays at the uncomfortable 84 for about an hour and a 1/2.

You definately have a problem here. Hell, I mean I live in Hell ;).

1) Ensure that your filters are new and/or clean
2) Get on a time of use plan and get/use a programmable thermostat
3) Close blinds/curtains during the day
4) Install sunscreens on major exposed windows (This is a must here in AZ)
5) Check temperature differential between indoor ambient air temp and air temp coming directly out of your registers. The differential should be AT LEAST 18-20 degrees. If the differential is less than that, then you probably need a freon re-charge.
6) Have A/C coil checked and cleaned

How many A/C units do you have, and what size unit(s) do you have? It is quite possible that your unit is overloaded due to the size of your home i.e. I have 8 tons capacity for 3,200 sq.ft. You will know it is overloaded if it is continuously running and never seems to shut off.

That's all I can think of for right now.

Oh, check with a couple of your neighbors to see what their bill is running and/or call your Electric company to see if they can do a comparative check for you.

I hear ya. We have a place at the coast and I pay those bills monthly, electricity bill is rarely over $100. Ahhh BC Hydro!

Geez, we pay $400 in good months, like in the winter. It's $500-$600 every month from April to October.

Mine is almost $300/month and thats before the 72% rate hike BGE has in store for this month in MD.

It was built in 96. 4200 sq/ft 2x4 walls, however that still shouldn't account for that much of a difference. I've been trying to get the time to review our gas/electricity accounts to see if there's a better solution than Epcor/Direct Energy as I'm sick of paying through the nose for services. Calgary shouldn't be all that different. Who are you with and are you on a rate plan?

264 for June

Thats nuts! Mine has never been over 110.00 and I run the ac at 75 too, mine however is much small at 1000 sq ft. The only thing I hate is that the sun does bake it like crazy so when I come home its usually very hot but in the winter time its not bad, I just refuse to use the gas because its so friggin expensive!

You don't count since the average temperature in SD is 75 ;)

Not lately since summer started its been unusually hot, but JonK (who started this thread) lives in OC and should have the same general climate as we do since hes only 80 miles north of me. Even if I tripled my bill to factor in the larger size of his house i'd still be at 300.00?

I don't have AC...

June was $23.40. That's including the monthly charge of $20 for maintenance. I only used $3.40 in kilowatts. I don't need AC this close to Lake Superior. Our days are really long so the lights are on very little. In the winter I use about $20 in Kw. I have all wood heat so $200 worth of propane lasts me over 4 years.(water heater and gas cooking stove) My firewood is free that I cut myself on my 92 acres bordering the national forest.

Thanks for the input all of you.
3500 SQF + 500 SQF office 12' Ceilings. Only Two yrs old 5 and 3 ton Central Air and the other one for the office, all damn airconditioners has very good efficiency rating.
I've got all bells and whistles when I got this home, including tinted glasses and top of the line windows. Our builder, William Lions don't do the cheap job.
I have a supersized ceiling fans in every single rooms. The airfilter system we have that we hardly run. We paid way over million for this home.

It bugs the heck out of me when my house keeper makes stews during the daytime w/o the fan on and blasting airconditioners.

I'll check with the builder to see we have better options of insulating my home. I am looking into solar power since we got plenty of suns out here. It should payoff in long run. I'll also look into SCE rate schedule. Obvioiusly it penalizes me for being anoveruser.

Thanks again. I keep you posted as I come up with solutions.:thumbup:

You're really loving life right now with temps over 100 in Denver right now :mad:

p.s. I'l be in Denver (Parker) from the 29th of this month for 5 days.

Do you know what your R-Value (insulation value) is in your walls and ceiling?

I got the new bills yesterday. (8/16/2006) Mere $661. It didn't break the 1G mark as I expected. They say everyone will get automatic 90 extension but I think I'll pay off before I forget about them.

Here in Appalachia in the state that is the greatest net exporter of electricity in the US (and coincidentally, one of the biggest coal producers), my electricity runs $100/month and my natural gas (also in abundant quantities) is right about the same. So figure roughly $200/month all year long to cool/heat a ~3000 square foot home and a big-ass attached garage. Not complaining, since I work in the energy industry, and business is good :)

$225.00 on a 711 sq ft apt :angryfire

I just paid it yesterday, it was $117. I have about 2500sq. ft. townhouse and I turn the AC off completely during the day, set it to about 72 from 7-midnight and 75 from midnight to 6, then off again.

We just got our July elec. bill, (they are a lil' slow here),
and it was, for us, the highest elec. bill we've ever
received in our nearly 5 yrs on this Mtn: $108.42.

Back in NY, a hundred a month was cake/low...this
is our biggest usage of elec. here: 1088 kWh.

We experienced the most warm days ever, on the
Mtn. : several days of 77-78 and lows of only 70, which
is remarkable in our 5 yrs here. Thus, we had the A/C
on several times. Also, theCEO used her hot tub alot,
which is heated by a closed loop sys. off our boiler,
but the pump and stuff, ekectricity powered, ran often, too.

No beef on the Ben for monthly elec., though we
average about $50-65/month. It has been the
hottest July here at this altitude, we've seen.
BR,mD

Edit: our winter digs, aka the FLA SeasonalStarterShack runs
about $24-28/month for elec., in our absence.

$600/mo for the last few months. Got a couple more to go until things lighten up a bit.