What's Your Summer Electric Consumption/Bill

[banana]

My June bill wasn't too bad. I used 935 kwh for a total amount of $91.23. We have central air a dehumidifier in the basement and an attic fan going.
With the recent heat wave here in PA I am sure my July bill will be a lot more!

[cschin4]

I expect our electric bill to be over $100 due to central A/C use. I am in PA also. We are still paying our gas bill. Since we are on the Budget Plan it remains high all year. Right now, it is about $180 a month. Oct is our "balancing month" for the gas bill, so it will probably be a whopper if we aren't caught up with the budget plan.

[cschin4]

I could keep my home at less comfortable temps to try to save money. But, frankly, I have done that in the past and really don't think I saved all that much. Now, I just keep it where I am comfortable and just pay that darn bill!

Note to self - do not move to PA, lol. No offense intended.

183 kw hours for $16.60.

I live in a Swamp Cooler state though, and actually have been too, uh, frugal or uh thrify the last few years to turn that on, and have been just sitting in front of an oscillating fan.

[boefixepa]

Finally had to break down and turn the AC on the last few days. We are in a heat wave here in UT and are on day five of over 100 degrees. GGRR Today is the last day and then we hit the upper 90s for a cool down! My poor puppies.....I feel for them out in the heat, all they do is sleep....maybe I should try that one....sleeping the summer away!

[puppypal]

Well, Here in theHot Southern state of Arkansas the electricity cost are to say the least a near house note~
last months bill was 114.47
and I am completely freaking out as to this months bill! It is nearly 200.00
I have a very energy efficent 3 year ols home with a gas dryer and cook stove. Electricity is sooo much higher than gas around here. It would take 10 yrs of war and raising gas prices to beat it!
Now, I even leave the air conditioner on 80 from 9am til around 6 pm and still the durn thing keeps raising. But in a state as mine you have to remember that it was 72 degrees Christmas day!

[PrincessPerky]

I live in NC, temps in 90-100 (or more range)
my last bill was $32, but that is not accurate, it was a no AC month (well we turned it on for company once) I expect my next bill closer to $70.

AC is now on, and will stay for awhile..but stay t 80...I didn't start with 80 though..I started as a kid in PA with no air period..so to me 80 is rather cool...has an airless third floor apartment in 90 degree weather beat!

Its all in how you look at it.

I discoivered in winter I woke up cold every morning..wether the house was 75, or 65! I figure the same with heat, I gethot about 2 hours fter I get up..somedays it is 78, some 80...more about habit than temp!

Oh and drink more water! cold water cools you, and having enough water helps keep you that way.

[Ima saver]

It is hot here in North Georgia and I keep the a/c on about 75 or 76. My bill was slightly under $100 last month, but I expect it to be higher this month. I have been watching and reading my meter every day.

[sakigt]

I woke up this morning pretty cold. I checked the thermostat and someone had changed it to 72!

Use the ceiling fans I installed!

I switched it back to 74. Need to give the roomie a little talking to. 74 is plenty cold enough!

[Ima saver]

I use to keep it around 70, but I can handle 76. I know some don't even use it. If we had screens, it would cool the house down. My husband hates screens!!

[banana]

Iama saver - I've gotton into the habit of reading my meter everyday also. It definitely helps me see what I used from the previous day!

[Ima saver]

I could tell a big difference the night I forgot to turn off my hot water heater. I ran the dishwasher late at night and forgot to turn the water heater off.

[Bookie]

Just to add to the geographic picture, East Tenn is running in the mid to upper 90s. I'm going to use A/C when it's this hot. But . . . I keep it between 80 and 83 degrees, and I'm OK as long as I'm not active.

On the other hand, I'm going through ice at a remarkable clip.

[Ima saver]

I have an ice maker going full time in the garage, plus the regular one in the refrigerator!!

[cschin4]

Heating and cooling is expensive. But, I do think there are good reasons to cool the house. A warm house is going to be more likely to grow mold, etc. A cooler house helps prevent that. And, for those of us with allergies, putting a fan in the window is just not an option.
As for winter, I am one of those people who hates being cold. I really don't mind the heat at all but hubby does. So, we pretty much try to keep an even temp year round.

[Amorphous02]

Please Visit this link. Its from a close pal... it has worked for me. Have to get into the habit of planning for the oven.
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tell_a_friend.ldml?tf_index=tf33330642>

A lady who happens to have a yard stated that she likes to cook outside beacuse the stove heats up the apartment.
She is right, its just that we dont have yard of our own.

[puppypal]

Amorhous2
I couldn't agree more. Even though we have a gas stove it helps in the long run. We use the grill as much as possible. Because no doubt the heat from the oven will bring the temps up quickly. I also bulk cook in the oven during the summer months. Example I will cook a ham and another dish at once to double the food cooked with one oven heating. I have also used what is left over heat wise in the oven to bake a batch of cookies. I can sometimes get two cookie sheet full of cookies baked before the temp goes down to low. My hubby says that he has never ever seem anyone cook after the oven is turned off! I am slowly but surely learning!

[Ima saver]

I am checking the kwh's that each appliance uses. I was shocked to find that the ice maker I have in the garage is running me about 43 cents a day, that is almost $13 a month. We have an ice maker in my refrigerator, but my husband takes a cooler full of ice everyday. He works outside in this heat, and needs cold water, plus he keeps his lunch in there. I hate to turn it off. He would have to buy ice, and it is about a buck a bag! Thank goodness the fan and treadmill pull very little power.

[Amorphous02]

Dear Ima,
Check out the tip on freezers and electricity consumption in thriftyfun.com.
Lets do alittle math.
Q=mct ( physics, more like)
Q= energy/heat
m= mass
c= temp?
t= time?
So if your ice maker is large, then you can turn it off for 1 hour. Now you will ask: it will draw up more electricity to reach the temp on the thermostat, -14C... not true. size is inversely proportional to the time take to get to room temp.
So if you turned off the icemaker for 1 hr or 30 mins twice perday, you will have turned it off for 365 hrs. nearly 24 days, nearly 3 wks.
Of course they do stop drawing electricity, its an alternating cycle i hear. but still it saved a small grocery store owner $400/yr.

[Ima saver]

Thanks, Amor. It is not that big, the size used for behind a bar. But it was so noisy that we moved it out to the garage!! But we enjoy all the ice, so we will continue to pay for the electricity. You can't take a $900 appliance and just turn it off and let it sit.