How much electricity do you use?

[cercis]

Not, "how much is your bill" but how much do you use in terms of kilowatts hours?

I'm trying to figure out if my usage is high, low, or normal.

We have 1800 sqft and this month we used 352kwh (28 day billing cycle). We pay 16.8 cents/kwh.

[DivaJen]

I don't know - I'll have to look the next time an electric bill comes in. It will be interesting to see how much we all use and what we pay!

[PrincessPerky]

Total KWH 395 421
Bill Period Days 29 28
Avg KWH/Day 14 15

that doesn't line up pretty, but it is from my ebill.

first colum is this year second is last. I only have 1100 sq feet. but used more.

[cercis]

I forgot that my water heater is gas, which cuts down a lot on my electricity. It's my only gas appliance.

[Ima saver]

My last bill, I used 1137 kwh, the bill cycle was 31 days, so I am paying .0828 cents per kwh, about half of what cercis is paying. I have a 3200 square foot house plus an extra garage which is heated, has a bathroom and an effic. apt. (with refrig that runs all the time) so that has added up. I was going to turn off the refrig, but it has to be pulled out and defrosted first, or the water will drain out on the floor.

as soon as humanly possible i'm investing in solar panels.

did you know the electric company will PAY YOU for excess energy?

[contrary1]

I pay $150 a month on the averaging plan here in the pacific northwest. I've got an all electric home, approx 2400 sf. There is a propane fireplace, but we don't use it except when the power goes out. I'm heating the house with a wood stove at this point.
Since we just moved here in Oct, I think the monthly bill will be adjusted & go lower. My actual charge for this past month was $148.00 so I will be paying way over come spring & summer.

I too am wishing for an alternative energy source. Wind power might work for me here, as I have no tall trees & we're up on a hill. I have one south facing roof that would work for solar panels too......... I'm still in the reading & research stage of this project.

[Ima saver]

My electric bill is always smaller than in the summer. I don't mind setting the temp way down and wearing 2 sweaters, but I can not stand to be hot in the summer time. About 70-73 is what I set the temp. to, in the summer time.

[cercis]

Originally Posted by cash4life

as soon as humanly possible i'm investing in solar panels.

did you know the electric company will PAY YOU for excess energy?

This depends on your state and the state laws. Some states don't require the electric company to pay you for excess.

Some states, you pay for what you use and they pay for what you produce, but the kicker is you pay retail prices and they pay wholesale prices. There are 2 separate meters, they read your use meter and charge you based on that and then they read the production meter and pay you based on that. So in a month you produced the same amount as you used, you will still end up paying them (probably about 4-8 cents/kwh). It does lower your cost and it helps the environment, but it's far from ideal.

The best for the consumer is "net-metering". This is where your meter can actually run backward. You only pay for what you use in excess of your production and they pay you (still wholesale prices) for what you produce in excess of your use. So in this instance, if you use the same as you produce, you pay nothing, but if you produce more kilowatts than you use, they pay you (probably 4-8 cents/kwh) and if you use more than you produce, you pay them (the normal rate 8-16 cents/kwh).

[Ima saver]

Well I noticed that cercis only used 352 kwhs and i used 1137 for one month. I wonder why I used so much more. I do stay home all day, which means I have lights and tv on all day, but that seems like a big difference. I am glad my cost per kwh is so much less than a lot of you.

[cercis]

Ima - my water heater is gas. I have CF bulbs. We're gone from 8:00-3:00 (but then I'm up watching tv and messing with the 'puter until 12 or 1).

And, the biggie, we're not heating at all. Today is the coolest it's been in my house and I think it's 65. We live in a warm climate and the house is well insulated. But, wait until summer when we have to run the AC (when the house will be 85 with the AC and 95 without).

[Ima saver]

My water heater is electric, but I keep it turned off 23 hours a day. I use propane gas for heating. My house is 3200 sq. feet. I run an electric blanket for my big dog all day and a heating pad for my little dog cause I keep the house so cold (65 degrees) My husband is bad wasting electricity, I am turning things off all the time around here.

[cercis]

it sounds like it's time for an energy audit and a meter check. The other idea - do you live in the country and have one of those security lights? That could suck some of it. Plus (and this is just a complete guess) is your wiring old and/or the meter kind of far from the house? More/older wire can result in more energy use as it is lost from the wires.

[Ima saver]

No, no security lights. My house is fairly new and the meter is at the house. My bill was $100 last month and I thought that was pretty good. It has run that amount for the past 22 years for 2 houses. When I lived in fla. in the early eighties, but elec. bill was about $400 a month and that was for running the a/c all the time and the pool.

[joesbaby]

lets see..i have a 3 bed room 2 bath mobil home. last billing month i used 2464 kw. i averaged about 7.29 a day for my kw. my house is about 1200 sq feet. this last month, the one ill pay for in march, i have used 2166kw or about a cost of 5.68 a day. our kw are paid for like this
first 750 is .10
next 750 is .089
and anything over that is at .05 a kw. hope that helps. i have no gas useage in my house at all. we are all electric.

[Ima saver]

So you used more than double what I used in kwh's. but cercis and perky used about 1/10 of what I use. That does not make sense to me. Does that mean that your bill was about $200 last month, Joesbaby?

[joesbaby]

it was 242 total, but i pay $16 no matter how much i use, so about 225 or so. plus i live in southern illinois. i also live in the country where there isnt much wind break at my place. we put the trailer in our barn lot, near our barn, but its out in the open. so it dont have much wind break out here. but im close ( 200 feet ) to my folks house.

[Ima saver]

How do you get by with paying $16 a month?

[joesbaby]

its $16 no matter what the bill is..a customer base cost..like...i dont konw how to explain it...i have to pay $16. then i have to pay for my electric on top of that. its for being a member of the co op here. its a required cost on top of the electric bill. does that make sence?? i dont know if im explaining it right or not.

[cercis]

He has a $16 membership fee, basically. I have a similar arrangement with my gas company. I have to pay a fee to have it available and then pay for the gas on top of it. So, even if I use no gas, I'll have to pay about $6. If he uses no electricity, he'll have to pay $16.