Electricity bill

[marla]

What does everyone pay for their electricity bill? Is $90 a month out of line?

[Tree0164]

My bill averages between $90-$120 each month. We have a pool and central air during the summer so those tend to be on the high side.

Wowee. I never pay more than $25 a month. Granted we only use our air conditioner sparingly, but we also power an electric wood pellet stove in the loooong winter which is on 24 hours a day.

[DivaJen]

We don't have AC, and our heating is all gas, so electricity runs about $45-$60 a month, I think. Our cooktop is electric, and we have a server running 24/7. For about 8-9 months of the year we also have our spa heated.

[joeswife]

hi we live in a 3 bedroom trailer, window ac, gas heat, water heater, and stove, plus a well pump. we live in southern illinois. little town. ours runs between 90-120 a month. altho, i did get it down to 70 one month. that was when we didnt have the kids home all day, and i wasnt using a ddryer every day for laundry.

have a good day
ericka

[sarah]

My electric bill has been a problem and I am not sure why. I live in a 2400 sq foot ranch with a southern exposure on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. I also have a very strange electric co-op as an electric co-op. I've seen electric bills as high as 250 a month. (This included A/C but not heat) They recently changed the electric meter and my bill has fallen to a more reasonable 135.00 a month. Moral of the story: if you think your electric bill is high and can't figure out why ask the electric company to check your meter.

[rabbitfoot]

I don't think that $90 is out of line, but a lot depends on where you live. Our bill used to be about $120 and we've worked hard to bring it down to the $80. We hope to knock another $10 or so off even with the increase in energy prices.

[marla]

Originally Posted by imafirecracker

Wowee. I never pay more than $25 a month.

wow...how do you keep your bill so low? Do you have natural gas too or only electricity? I'd love yto hear your secrets!

Hi Marla,

Yes we heat the house and our water with natural gas. We cook with it too. However, we mainly heat our house with a wood pellet stove. I LOVE these things. If anyone is interested in getting a pellet stove, feel free to ask me about them. They're so great for the environment, and cuddly to sit next to in the winter.

We're careful about how we use electricity is all. We never use a dryer for our clothes, and only use lights when we need them. Our outdoor lights a motion-sensored and we only run the dishwasher when it's full. We have dimmer switches on the lights we use most often, and so it's rare that we have them on the brightest setting.

[crosses]

Originally Posted by imafirecracker

Hi Marla,

Yes we heat the house and our water with natural gas. We cook with it too. However, we mainly heat our house with a wood pellet stove. I LOVE these things. If anyone is interested in getting a pellet stove, feel free to ask me about them. They're so great for the environment, and cuddly to sit next to in the winter.

I'd like to know more about it. How much do they cost? How much do you spend on wood pellets each winter? Does the stove heat only one room, or does it provide enough heat for the entire house? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm very curious

[keeneye]

I would also like to know more about the pellet stove. How does it exactly work?

Hi - sorry for the delay in response.
The wood pellets are actually compressed sawdust leftover from other projects, so they are very environmentally friendly. I get them in 40 pound bags. I need about 3 tons per year - which is pretty heavy. So, you need to be able to pick up heavy things if you want one. On my stove, the lid opens on the top and you just pour in the pellets. You can choose how hot you want it to be, and pellets come down a chute, and then burn in plain view so you can enjoy the flame.
There are different sized stoves. Mine can heat the whole house, but I do supplement it with my furnace which I need to keep on anyway for hot water. I placed it strategically in my house so that the hot air would go into several rooms, and it is definitely warmer in those rooms. Its very cozy in the winter to sit next to the fire, which you can see from the glass window. The stoves make some noise though.
I bought a floor model as the store was moving, and it cost me roughly $1100. They come in all sizes though. I just saw an ad on Freecycle for one in my area though, be on the lookout for free ones!

Also, get the hardwood pellets which produce less ash (I only had to dump my ash container once last Winter and I run my stove 24-7). The bags are between $1.50-$2 each so there is an investment that needs to be made up front.

Let me know if you'd like to know anything else.

[singinjeannie]

My electricity is $95.00/month. I have propane furnace, dryer, stove/oven and no central air. Don't know why it's so darned high. Maybe the TV on all the time (kids). $25.00 a month is AMAZING!

[2moretrees]

Originally Posted by imafirecracker

I get them in 40 pound bags. I need about 3 tons per year - which is pretty heavy.

How much do you end up paying for the wood pellets during the winter? And where do you store it all???!!??

I paid $555 for 3 tons this year. I keep them on pallets in my basement - with half of them fitting under the stairs down. We stack them five bags a row, which utilizes the space vertically.

[LAN5773]

I now use budget billing with my electric company. I am in Orlando, FL. After switching to the new low watt bulbs and unplugging the appliances I do not use me bill dropped from $140.00 to 121.00 to 105.00 per month. And I am using my A/C

[Ima saver]

When I lived in Fla., my elec. bill was about $400 a month cause the air ran all the time. I think it was the fact that the house was poorly insulated. (22 years ago)

[FrugalDiva]

Well, my usual is $45-$50 a month but during the winter it went up to $90-$105, now for the month of April it went to $65 which to me is a little high but I am hoping to get it down even more.

[getforfree]

My bill is different every months. It depends a lot on the weather. It is highest in January and August. We have central gas heater, but we din't even turned it on this winter because they increased the prices a lot. So we bought 2 portable radiator heaters. It was much cheaper to use electricity than gas for heating. January electric bill was $108 compare to $150 gas last year. If we would use gas this year, I think it would be around $200. My bill for march was $68. We didn't turn any heaters on this months, so it should be around $25.

[joesbaby]

since we moved last year..ours has averaged out to about 140 a month..thru the whole year. we used to have an old trailer..(see above under joeswife) but i bought a newer one a year ago in jan, this one is a '90. 14x80. central air/heat, washer dryer, all electric. and its really good. i have been able to keep this months bill down under 75 so far. my goal is to not turn on the ac till i absoultly have to.

ericka