Technical > Home Improvement > Electric Bill

reply to Mr Matt

Re: Electric Bill

reply to aurgathor
The point that the zone control manufacturer was making was that the zone control system allowed the architect to specify one 60,000 BTU central AC rather than three smaller central AC's to meet the architect's requirements. I should have mentioned that I saw the demonstration system before the 2007 recession. I am sure that two additional smaller central AC systems cost many $$$. The other point that was made was lower maintenance cost of only one system.

reply to Archivis
It is also much warmer now, so you should be seeing a reduction.

reply to aurgathor
We've cut our usage in half by shutting stuff down. The electric company gives us readouts on a 2-day delay. We're already seeing our usage cut in half.
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A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -MLK

reply to Mr Matt

reply to Archivis

reply to TomS
My wife called. If I recall correctly, the previous owner's highest month was in the mid 200's.

reply to Archivis
>>> "When we bought the home, the previous resident said her average bill was in the upper $100's. I won't be able to call the electric company until Monday."

Sorry if I missed it, but what did PPL say? Were you able to obtain previous usage info?

reply to aurgathor
The problem of setting up a home zone control system is simple with a series of dampers and a zone control board as shown on this website:

»xcizoning.com/

I saw a zone control system as is described demonstrated at a home show. The demonstration system used a 60,000BTU central AC where three separate AC unit would have been required to meet the requirements of the architect. The system allows the temperature of areas or individual rooms to be controlled with dampers controlling the air flow to the controlled areas. A thermostat is installed in each climate controlled room or area.

reply to Archivis

reply to Archivis
Need to confirm with PPL but the home warranty guy came out and replaced the refriderator parts that went bad. After talking wtih the electrian that came out today too to check on the baseboard heaters to make sure they were working ok, he seemed to think that it was most likely a combination of the fridge constantly trying to start up and the dryer having to run more times than normal that caused the high pull of electricity. He tested the dryer and the one heating element is out so that causes the loads to almost need to be dried twice to get dry.
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»Re: [game] Crazy Game - The Resurrection - Day 2
Corrupt Politician - tmodelt
You may privately message the rest of the mafia: ekster, Rook008 & Kristopher. You win with the mafia.

reply to aurgathor

reply to AVD

reply to Archivis
I think your main issue is the electric baseboard heaters.

In the short term, you should turn them down, or completely off in areas not occupied, and then turn them back only when someone is in that area. So when you go to bed, turn down the heat in everywhere except the bedrooms you sleep in. That may be a bit of a pain doing manually (I'm assuming the controls are on the baseboard heaters) but probably not as much pain as paying an oversized electric bill. If you already have a programmable thermostat, just program it appropriately. This doesn't cost you any money.

The next step should be (if you not already have) installing programmable thermostat(s). This will cost you some money, but it shouldn't be too bad.

In the long term, you may want to switch over to heat pumps like these: »www.grainger.com/Grainger/ductle···t=subset and perhaps add some extra insulation and replace your windows with better ones.

As for insulation, I had good luck putting 1" .. 1.5" polyisocyanurate foam on the inside walls/ceilings, and then adding a layer of drywall on top of it, but depending on your house, other solutions may be more suitable and better.

The majority of heat pumps are in the $800 .. $3000 range, so they are not cheap, but they should pay off over time. Likewise, adding additional insulation/windows replacement may be a costly hassle initially, but they should pay off in the long run.
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Wacky Races 2012!

reply to Archivis
The previous owner MAY have been paying an annualized sum broken across every month. I think they call that the "budget" program at my utility. Also, you may want to look into whether your provider has a "time-of-use" billing. I have electric water heat, dryer, appliances, and I pay a premium between 7am and 7pm, but I pay a small fraction per kwh from 7pm to 7am. So....I put in a highly rated 80 gall water heater, and ONLY heat the water during the low cost times. A good electric water heater will only lose 1% of its energy per hour. Then we don't dry clothes until after 7pm.

I would also look at your insulation, windows, etc. Borrow a thermal gun and check around for air leaks. Also, look at your roof. If there is snow on it, thats good. If it melts off, that means your heat is going thru the roof.

If you have a fireplace, only use it if it gets its combustion air from OUTSIDE. If it uses the inside air, dont use it at all.

Good luck
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reply to Jim

reply to Hall

reply to Hall

reply to robbin
A "well guy" ? I didn't know there were people who were that specialized. I don't mean that as an insult either -- I live in the city, always have, and have no exposure to well water.

reply to Hall