topic Re: Electric bill in Home

Electric bill

emmysmom — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:30:57 GMT

I'm on the budget plan, and I looked at my current bill and its almost doubled! I called and CS told me it was re-evaluated the end of July. She told me to keep my temp at 78..wondered what you ladies set your temp at. I live in the midwest and although its been a pretty mild summer, its been in the upper 90's recently..just wanted to vent, lol. Much rather spend it on clothes, skin care etc..lol!

Re: Electric bill

crazered — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:43:32 GMT

I too live in Midwest. I keep air on 74 during day and 73 night. We have ceiling fans that help. We live in story and half house . Our bedroom is upstairs and it's always warmer by 4-5 degrees. I can suffer some during day but like cooler to sleep. You might see if you can go on a level payment plan. Some people do this to budget. We also turn air off if it cools fown a few days.

Re: Electric bill

Allegedly — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:46:21 GMT

I live in the Northeast, but I noticed a huge increase in my electric bill as well. I keep my A/C set at 79 (when I use it), but thanks to a mild summer I have not even been running it much this summer. What gives? LOL. I was looking forward to small bill and it was HUGE! I think I only had the air on maybe 5 or 6 times in total this summer.

Re: Electric bill

151949 — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:52:46 GMT

We are from Florida and I guess we are used to being warm - we keep the AC at 77 or 78 all the time and we feel quite comfortable. if your electric bill has suddenly soared you may want to have the AC unit checked out - our neighbor's electric bill did that so she asked my DH to figure out why and he found that there was something wrong with the AC unit and it was running constantly.

Re: Electric bill

conlt — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:53:30 GMT

Here in Florida I keep mine at 78 or 77. I get too cold otherwise. I sleep with a ceiling fan at night. We recently purchased a unit for my mothers house. Here we use Heat Pumps which consists of a unit outside and an air handler inside or in in the garage. My mothers unit was 20 years old, still worked but could not keep the house as cool as expected in the 97 degree heat we had this summer. The AC company told me the average the heat pumps last in Florida is 10 to 15 years. We live about 3 miles from the Ocean but she lives 1 block from the Intercoastal Waterway, which is salt water so there is corrosion factors here. Anyway, my point is if your bill is too high I would check the efficiency of your system. We bought her a 16 SEER and that efficient. The least SEER that you can buy now is 13. My unit is 12 years old and my bill in reasonable this year. In the summer I get my highest bills and the most was $120 for July. In the fall, I hardly use any air or heat until the end of November or beginning of December so sometimes my bill is only $70 or so. My entire house is run on Electric, I have no gas, oil etc. So I would consider your system. If it is old, it needs to be replaced and the systems are super efficient right now.

Re: Electric bill

forest4thetrees — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:55:01 GMT

We had the same problem here, and bought one of those roll-around portable air conditioners just for the bedroom (Q carries the same type). You attach a hose (big, about 4" around) to the unit and the other end to an adjustable slat that fits in the widow opening. Then you close the window onto the slat to hold it in place. Works great! Keeps the bedroom as cold as we like at night and since it's only one room we don't pay a huge bill for the whole house. Amortize the cost of the unit over the years and it's the best bargain we've ever bought. We've had it about 7 years; definitely will buy another if/when this one "blinks out"!!!!

Re: Electric bill

emmysmom — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:55:33 GMT

On 8/31/2014 Smurfette said:
I live in the Northeast, but I noticed a huge increase in my electric bill as well. I keep my A/C set at 79 (when I use it), but thanks to a mild summer I have not even been running it much this summer. What gives? LOL. I was looking forward to small bill and it was HUGE! I think I only had the air on maybe 5 or 6 times in total this summer.

Omg, thats awful! Have you contacted them? Are you on a budget plan?

Re: Electric bill

emmysmom — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:56:27 GMT

On 8/31/2014 forest4thetrees said:
We had the same problem here, and bought one of those roll-around portable air conditioners just for the bedroom (Q carries the same type). You attach a hose (big, about 4" around) to the unit and the other end to an adjustable slat that fits in the widow opening. Then you close the window onto the slat to hold it in place. Works great! Keeps the bedroom as cold as we like at night and since it's only one room we don't pay a huge bill for the whole house. Amortize the cost of the unit over the years and it's the best bargain we've ever bought. We've had it about 7 years; definitely will buy another if/when this one "blinks out"!!!!

Very smart! Great news!

Re: Electric bill

betteb — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:59:13 GMT

I do not like level pay. Can't stand paying so much more in the winter, LOL. I'd rather pay the extra for three months and have the electric bill smaller when the gas bill is higher.

I'm in Kansas and my bill for July was $139. I keep my thermostat at 73 or 74, but if I get hot I will bump it down a degree of two, then turn it back up later.

I had to replace my AC unit 3 years ago and the new unit is bigger than recommended for my square footage. That means the unit does not work as hard, therefore, uses less electricity.

Re: Electric bill

emmysmom — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:59:17 GMT

On 8/31/2014 crazered said: I too live in Midwest. I keep air on 74 during day and 73 night. We have ceiling fans that help. We live in story and half house . Our bedroom is upstairs and it's always warmer by 4-5 degrees. I can suffer some during day but like cooler to sleep. You might see if you can go on a level payment plan. Some people do this to budget. We also turn air off if it cools fown a few days.

I am on the level payment plan, thats why I was surprised~

Re: Electric bill

emmysmom — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:04:16 GMT

On 8/31/2014 betteb said:
I do not like level pay. Can't stand paying so much more in the winter, LOL. I'd rather pay the extra for three months and have the electric bill smaller when the gas bill is higher.

I'm in Kansas and my bill for July was $139. I keep my thermostat at 73 or 74, but if I get hot I will bump it down a degree of two, then turn it back up later.

I had to replace my AC unit 3 years ago and the new unit is bigger than recommended for my square footage. That means the unit does not work as hard, therefore, uses less electricity.

bette, I live in Kansas too, my bill was $75, and now its over $130. I live in an apartment. I'm on the ground floor, which helps..I noticed the upstairs apartment AC runs alot more, so I guess it could be worse! I keep it turned up when I'm at work and 74 at night, but there is a little mouse that turns it down to 72 when I'm in bed! Meaning my son, lol!

Re: Electric bill

betteb — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:09:18 GMT

On 8/31/2014 graceandmercy said:
On 8/31/2014 betteb said:
I do not like level pay. Can't stand paying so much more in the winter, LOL. I'd rather pay the extra for three months and have the electric bill smaller when the gas bill is higher.

I'm in Kansas and my bill for July was $139. I keep my thermostat at 73 or 74, but if I get hot I will bump it down a degree of two, then turn it back up later.

I had to replace my AC unit 3 years ago and the new unit is bigger than recommended for my square footage. That means the unit does not work as hard, therefore, uses less electricity.

bette, I live in Kansas too, my bill was $75, and now its over $130. I live in an apartment. I'm on the ground floor, which helps..I noticed the upstairs apartment AC runs alot more, so I guess it could be worse! I keep it turned up when I'm at work and 74 at night, but there is a little mouse that turns it down to 72 when I'm in bed! Meaning my son, lol!

Well, I hate to sleep hot, so I would have to give your "little mouse" a pass

It's been so hot here lately. I work an outside job, so I stay comfortable at home. If I can't pay the whole bill, Westar is really good about payment plans.

Re: Electric bill

jaxs mom — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:10:29 GMT

I live in Texas and keep mine at 78 in the summer.

Re: Electric bill

milly1 — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:14:58 GMT

Live in the Southeast where it's been in the 90's most days since May. We keep our temp on 78 day and night. But we have ceiling fans in every room.

Re: Electric bill

sunshine45 — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:21:08 GMT

i dont go on budget billing. i would rather just pay for what i am using each month. some months seem astronomical (summer/winter) and others seem like we arent even home. lol. i am in the mid-atlantic where we really had a relatively mild summer. my summertime bills have actually been about 300 less than normal. i dont even think we had one day over 90 this august which is unheard of! we keep ours set at 77 or 78 during the summertime and 67 or 68 in the wintertime. we do have ceiling fans in most of the rooms, including some of the bathrooms.

Re: Electric bill

Beccaboone2 — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:26:06 GMT

This is my first summer in Florida, and I was scared to open my first electric bill! The whole house here is electric, too. I am pleasantly surprised to find I can keep the AC higher here and be very comfortable. In the Midwest, I'd keep it at 74 to be comfortable. Here, I keep it at 78 during the day and 72 at night, and am just fine with that. My summer bill runs around $200, which is far less than I had envisioned. Looking forward to low bills in the winter, too.

Re: Electric bill

millieshops — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:40:14 GMT

Northeast here, too, and my last bill was 4% less than last year's. I was hoping for even less because I've needed to run the A/C so little and I've cooked even less than usual. On the other hand, I have been doing laundry for a friend who is temporarily in assisted living, so that could be adding kilowatts!

Re: Electric bill

nagrom — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:48:14 GMT

I live in Wisconsin and while our summer is cooler my allergies/asthma force us to use air conditioning all season long. We got a new air conditioner in May that is very efficient so our latest bill was $115. That is a good trade off for us compared to going to the doctor for treatment or worse yet the dreaded prednisone. I can't complain. Health is more important than monies. We keep our air set at 75.

Re: Electric bill

morganjen — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 17:00:02 GMT

Midwest here, and I have to set our a/c on 68 degrees in the summer because of my husband's breathing problems. So I spend more during the summer months (average $200 month, small house) than most people.

Re: Electric bill

emmysmom — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 17:01:36 GMT

Hi nagrom! I'm glad your AC is preventing you from taking prednisone..and going to the doctor!! The AC helps my son and Emmy too! Hope you're doing well!

Emmie's mom