How much is your electricity bills.

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WTH? Hows things so expensive for everyone else? Me: 2200 square feet. electric bill under 100 and gas around 45. Gas heat, gas water.
 
oops my wife pays the bills. Just looked at the budget. 170 power, 150 gas. lol, damn I need a energy efficient house. I removed all the catalytic converters on my car cause I hate Al Gore, but I'd like to conserve some electricity and save a buck or two.
 
3200sf, Feb was 33 day bill cycle, 67kwh per day, and $206.72
240g tank + 100g sump + 50 tank, 3-400w mh + 1 250w mh, 2 6' vho + 2 3' vho.

avg 2200kwh per bill (month), with a high of 3360 last July (AC running)

I have done a LOT of investigating of solar PV, and am finding the price of entry & yield in western WA to be at odds.....something I would definitely consider if in CA.
 
Research says that you are better off doing a whole house phtovoltaic than buy a hybrid car which costs the same.

Reading everbody's answers here... comparing to mine... Im still way off.....

Danno, they said that PV and wind turbines are a perfect match here in the NW.
 
oops my wife pays the bills. Just looked at the budget. 170 power, 150 gas. lol, damn I need a energy efficient house. I removed all the catalytic converters on my car cause I hate Al Gore, but I'd like to conserve some electricity and save a buck or two.

Is this possible? I mean can you still do emission test and pass?
 
I can't get any wind or enough Sun at my place. Danno, $206 is sweet considering you are on the water. That usually bounces usage way up. Man, I am way out in front eh?
 
My electric bill this month went down to $109.49 with gas being 63.47 this is for a 1400 sq. ft. condo in Issaquah Gas went down $20 just with the few degrees it has warmed up.

I have 4 tanks; my 180 with 2-250w mh and 1-400w mh plus 4 - 96 watt PC's. A 26g with 2 175mh's (same system as 180 though no additional support power.. My 55g freshwater, a 12g freshwater (now converted to Quarantine tank for reef), my 50g FOWLR tank.

Plus I work from home so 3 laptops, 2 pc's a 42" LCD TV, 32" LCD monitor, 2 - 21" LCD's a small fridge in the office for sodas, oh yeah and a larger laser printer, fax machine etc... One thing I did do when I moved in though was every light in the place is a CF bulb including the vanity bulbs in both bathrooms. I have now added a 12g nano reef with a halide and a 90g so we shall see what this heads up to plus summer is coming so not sure how much the chiller will be running. A/C last year with minimal chiller run time only went up about $20...

Now mind you in northern CA I had a $100 electric bill every month and only one 12g tank not working from home and living in a RV so yes CA is A LOT more expensive!
 
Dunno why its so cheap up in the northern sticks. I have workmates that are in King Co that ask me the same thing. I think my electric is only .06 a KWH. Our gas bill, completely different story. Much more expensive. Water and heater is all gas. The rest of the house is electric. Still though, its dirt cheap. The difference between here and So Cal is dramatic.
 
Buddy of mine up in Arlington had his bills triple just a few years ago...maybe part of the WOOPS deal.
 
We get monthly-averaged electricity bills (the "econo plan") for our house through Snohomish Cnty PUD. When we first moved into our house in 1995 the bill was ~$100/mo. year-round. A couple years ago it went up to $200/mo. year-round. Now, 1 year after adding my system (120 tank, 30 sump, 30 cube, + 10 g. detached QT), it's gone up 33% to $300/mo.
 
You can reduce the impact of those items a lot if you replace your clothes washer with a front-loader. Not only uses less water, but due to the very high-speed spin, clothes dry in half the time (at least mine do).

I used to own a solar company that I got out of and handed over to my partner there are a lot of things to consider here in WA it is more economical to run wind turbines if you can (most can't) as stated ealier solar water heating is a cheap and very effective means to save energy this day and age.



Good points there MC and Dnjan...

But in my thread here...
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/...ad.php?t=34261

I too am using a front loading (very new) washer dryer... Sometimes it makes me wonder, is it really saving me energy or just water? If its water then its no use since water is cheap. I want to concentrate in energy.

See.. for 7 years I have lived in a 800 SF apartment. And my electric bills range from 75 to 120 dollars.

Now recently we purchased a 1000SF (1978) house. Still using the same space heaters, still using the same schedule when its on or off. But now using brand newwasher and dryer compared to the old top loading washer and dryer from the apartment. My bills are hovering 220 to 250 dollars.

OBTW, I noticed that my water heater has two heating element compared to one from my apartment... If that makes a difference.

So I too am very interested on how fraggle rock will solve his energy issues.

My next step is to do a full wash on washer and dryer using a "kill a watt" meter... on both top load and front load to actually see if theres a big difference or is it just a hype...
 
something to note is that you can buy appliances that heat their own water like dishwashers, clothes washers, etc. I believe this save drawing off and subsequently heating the water heater. Not sure if it's fact or fiction.
 
That would probably be best in conjunction with tankless water heaters for bathrooms and kitchen. The two big "wastes" in a conventional water heater are 1) the heat loss to the surrounding air while no hot water is being used, and 2) heat loss in long pipe runs.
Some of this wasted energy is recovered when the heat loss results in reduced household heating needs in cooler months, but water heaters and pipes in unheated areas are just energy losses.
 

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