Electric bills, new and old

[Joe Piotrowski]

Ok, I just bought a new house and got my first full months electric bill. Here are some stats.

Old house..
2521 sqr feet, 2 storys, 5ton ac, no pool, 8 years old. Highest electric bill this year...$320.00 (july)

New house
2600 sqr feet, 1 story, 4 ton ac, pool (solar heated), 10 years old. First electric bill $456.00 (not counting startup charge)

Same people living in both houses, same fish tank. The old house is vacant and for sale, so I have the AC on and the fridge, but nothing else, not even the water heater. Bill for 1 month of being empty. $124.00 Gives you a good idea what it cost to run AC.

Needless to say the 'new house' will be getting a 13 seer AC asap. I will also downgrade the pool pump. It's 1hp running 8hrs a day. My pool is only 9000 gallons so, from what I've read, I can get away with a 1/2 hp pump.


Thanks for listening, vent over.

 

[VERVE]

That sucks, sorry to hear. I hope cooler weather is near us !

 

[DC321]

Same House, just FPL ripoff:

Date Days KWH Amount
08/23/2006 29 3608 $473.36 Electric Bill
07/25/2006 32 3720 $488.60 Electric Bill
06/23/2006 31 3650 $479.08 Electric Bill
05/24/2006 29 2965 $383.56 Electric Bill
04/25/2006 30 2492 $319.59 Electric Bill
03/27/2006 29 2092 $265.46 Electric Bill
02/24/2006 29 1914 $241.42 Electric Bill
01/26/2006 35 2255 $287.53 Electric Bill
12/22/2005 33 2192 $223.56 Electric Bill
11/21/2005 30 1977 $201.33 Electric Bill
10/21/2005 29 2610 $266.76 Electric Bill
09/22/2005 29 2735 $279.69 Electric Bill
08/23/2005 29 2802 $287.90 Electric Bill
07/25/2005 33 3081 $316.86 Electric Bill
06/23/2005 29 2439 $250.20 Electric Bill
05/24/2005 29 1897 $193.92 Electric Bill
04/25/2005 31 1476 $150.07 Electric Bill
03/25/2005 30 1015 $102.21 Electric Bill
02/24/2005 30 1035 $104.29 Electric Bill
01/25/2005 34 1248 $123.46 Electric Bill
12/21/2004 33 1286 $122.55 Electric Bill
11/18/2004 29 1321 $125.96 Electric Bill
10/20/2004 29 1352 $128.99 Electric Bill
09/21/2004 33 2025 $194.69 Electric Bill

 

[thor32766]

i just got a brand new 13 seer AC on my house that is 1900 sq ft with my tanks and my bill is 210 last month and 220 this month. The electric companys have gotten insane, last year with my old ac that was about 15 yrs old i was paying right around 100 dollars and now over double.

 

[bluefintuna]

I thought I was alone. My electric bill is over $100 more than last year's and I've done nothing different. Whats going on?

 

[Brazengrrl]

Mine used to be $140.00 on the high side, last month was $230.00 and this month is $273.00. I blame it on the digital meters..................now they dont even get out of the truck to check

 

[Juck]

We got an all-singing all-dancing A/C last year and my bills have gone from $280ish to $400+ per month as well. We have Progress Energy.

Progress my arse!

 

[Juck]

Now I come to think of it,, I think we had a new meter installed over the winter as well,, I can't check now,, we have a coral snake living in our garden and it's dark outside!

 

[cschweitzer]

We just got a new one and our power has increased over 20% from last year...

 

[waterfaller1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8041320#post8041320 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Juck
I can't check now,, we have a coral snake living in our garden and it's dark outside!

Sissy....
Don't feel bad Joe...my bill last month was $458.00, in a 2 BR apt! And I don't use the pool..LOL. Gee..maybe they are running the pool and laundryroom on my bill, I am right across from it.:lol:

 

[VERVE]

This is exactly what I was talking about on my thread, FPL is getting back at us for the hurricanes last year, they are trying to make up for that. We are the space goat. We need to write to our congress reps. This is one avenue. Complaining to each other does no good.

 

[BoricuaMojao]

different story

different story

I guess I will be the discordant note.

My home is 1700 sqft air conditioned. We had an A/C -Heat unit that was installed in 1987. Originally a 8 SEER but with years of service it was probably really a 4 or 5 SEER. Power bill was $100 on the low side and $250 on the summer and winter peaks

Come 2006, we installed a 17 SEER. Our most expensive bill has been $140, but the rule is $115 ish. Granted, the new unit is more expensive than a 13 SEER like mentioned here. The price of electricity is only going to go up in the future, so the more it goes up, the sooner I'll at least break even economically.

Digital meters have nothing to do with it. The reason power is more expensive is because fuel to generate it, is more expensive.

Of the three big companies around here, Progress, FPL, and OUC, the one with the lowest rates is OUC. That is not because they are good and nice to the ratepayers. It is because most of OUC's power is generated with coal, which is the cheaper and more stable fuel pricewise.

The other two have most of their generation in gas. Gas back in 2000 was around $2 per thousand cubic foot, right now I believe it hovers around $8 per thousand cubic foot, but it has seen spikes up to $13. This, of course is passed on to us.

I am not happy about paying more, but there is no conspiracy against us, it's just the market. We need to use less.

BM

 

[MacnReef]

2400 sqft, two story and my bill last month was $205, this month with the new meter, $279. My A/C is a 10 or 12 seer and 3 tons. I am planning on a 19 seer 5 ton Trane this winter.

Hopefully that will help, if not, the fish tank goes...then if that don't help, adding more ventilation to my roof...if it is still high, tinting all of my windows. If that doesn't do anything, then I don't know what to do. But something's gotta give.

Mike

 

[db_triggerfish]

Florida Power and Light got an ok to increase all customers last Feb 2006, about 42 percent.

 

[BoricuaMojao]

Mike

Mike

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8042200#post8042200 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MacnReef
. My A/C is a 10 or 12 seer and 3 tons. I am planning on a 19 seer 5 ton Trane this winter.

Mike,

Have you or the A/C contractor run a "manual J" to resize the A/C unit?

Unless you have added any more square footage to the house, do not put in a bigger unit. Even though there is a lot more to the calculation than the square footage, the 3 tons on that size of house sounds just about right. The additional cooling capacity will cool down the house but will not control the humidity.

If you are interested we can take it to pm, and discuss. We replaced our A/C recently, and I spent more time than I care to admit researching.

BM

 

[MacnReef]

You got PM.

I don't see how a 3 ton A/C unit is large enough for a house that is 2400 sqft but I hope you can enlighten me.

Also, FYI, my A/C is set to 80 on a digital thermostat during the day while I am at work and 77 at night. When I get home at about 5:15, my A/C unit is running and the thermostat reads 82 - 83...meaning it has been running for hours unable to keep up with the outside temps.

Thanks for any help.

Mike

 

[thor32766]

hey mike mine does the same thing, when i get home around 5:15 my thermostat says 82-83 and mine is set on 79 constantly. So they just run all day long.

 

[Brazengrrl]

We need to use less.........hmmm..........thats what the president said about it . Anyways, electricity is a neccesity, not a luxury like Cable. The electric companies have the market cornered, we can not change to another company because we dont like the service (like Cable vs Satelite). Progress Enegry told me that the "NEW" digital meters are more accurate, thats why our bills are higher. ALL of my clients bills who have gotten a new digital meter have gone up between $60.00 and $100.00. Its too expensive to go out because of the gas prices and its too expensive to stay home in the AC!! :mad2:

 

[duhfactor]

This is an interesting conversation, I'm not in florida, so I can't profess to know your market that well...but it appears to me that many of your A/C systems are noticably undersized. I've built two homes in the last 3 years, and have an A/C subcontractor who has been into salt water tanks for years do my systems. My current home is 2606 sq. ft. on the main floor, and he demanded a 5 ton system just for the upstairs. (14 seer with a txv valve)In the basement, (1500 finished sq. ft.) he installed a 3 ton (14 seer w/txv valve) compressor with a 4 ton fan on the furnace. Even though I don't have stable financial numbers for you yet on this new house, what I do know is that it only takes about 20-30 minutes of running to drop 2 degrees in the house. My last house had a 5 ton fan (on the furnace) a 14 seer 5 ton A/C, and 8" ducts which made a quiet system, and without the tank ran at about 180.00 on the hottest months (105 deg) in a 2210 sq. ft. home. It never runs continuously. My brother-in-law on the other hand, has a 2280 sq. foot home (multilevel design) with a 10 seer A/C, all of it is 3 ton, and it never shuts off in the summer. His house on hot days will only get down to about 82 deg. My homes on the other hand easily stay at 70-72 deg. His bills are similar to mine. So, I've learned a few things in doing this, some things may not be changeable in an existing home.
1)Use 8" ductwork if you can.
2)Use as large return air ducts as possible (two on the same furnace if possible, my 5 ton unit has two 18" round duct going to it for return air)
3)make sure your filters are large, and have two on one furnace if possible to reduce restriction.
4)Use TXV valves (150.00, easy to retrofit, and increase your efficiency by about .5 seer)
5)use attic fans with thermostats to vent attic heat, I have three home depot 1500 CFM ones in my attic set to 90 deg.
6)Tint your windows, or use Low-E windows.
7)Seal up the house well, adjust your door threshholds to seal up to the bottom of your doors tightly.
8)Teach your kids to turn off the lights and T.V.!!!
9)Set the thermostat to your desired temp., then leave it. My HVAC guy tells me it costs more to bring your temp down in your house after letting the temp rise while your gone, than to just let your system maintain a constant temp, even while you are away. So I usually set it at 72 deg., and keep it that way all day.
10)If you replace your furnace (which means the fan for the A/C)consider replacing it with a variable speed design. The fan only runs at the speed it requires, and usually once the house is down to the desired temp, it only takes a little work by the fan here and there to maintain it, thus running the fan less often, and at a lower speed, thus using less energy. But the system has to be sized right to begin with.
11)pray.......that the electric bill will go down.........J.K. Just some ideas that have helped me...

D

 

[MacnReef]

Damon, thanks for the info. I am currently looking into ways to lower my electric bill.

Mike