# Don’t you just love energy bills like this?



## KennyK (Dec 7, 2018)

Gas bill from National Grid for November. Used 46% less energy than my efficient neighbors (that’s 46% less than the most efficient 20% of neighbors) and 65% less gas than last November before I had a wood stove. The gas we use is basically for hot water, stove and clothes dryer, plus a bit of supplemental heat here and there. Would have even been less gas use, but I had about a week when we didn’t use the stove due to laziness on my part (or just being super busy at work and getting home too exhausted to bring in some wood!). Still not bad at all!


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## blades (Dec 7, 2018)

Wood stove up and running for the past week, propane company not going to be happy.  Which of course thrills me.


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## Bigger_Al (Dec 7, 2018)

Yes, I’m on my first full winter with my wood stove and love that I’m not using the gas forced air furnace. This time last year my November bill was 44 cubic feet of gas used and this year just 17. I’m on level pay and they upped my bill $
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
3 dollars from last month though. I’m guessing they’re anticipating my normal increased usage during the winter. My guess is either I’ll have a forced savings plan with them or they start to adjust it down when they realize I’m not using their gas.

Note that stove went in at the first of March this year and the gas company bills me one month behind. I anticipate the graph to stay pretty flat from here on out.


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## KindredSpiritzz (Dec 7, 2018)

My only gas cost is the $10 service fee each month just for having the connection. I make my own budget plan, i send them $150 a month no matter what the bill is, usually its lower and then by winter i have a nice credit and they are sending me bills for like  $65. I keep sending them $150 til i get my bill down to zero then i take my free month and start over again in spring building up a credit. Works good and i never have to worry about them "adjusting" my payment plan. Just wish i could get that electric down, thats usually $130 a month but includes hot water heater, 2 fridges and a freezer and a hot tub. i do love my free heat tho.


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## jetsam (Dec 7, 2018)

When we moved into this place, I caught the heating oil delivery guy filling up the tank one day. (Yes, that's a thing in the northeast. Houses have big tanks of oil and oil burners, and trucks go house to house filling the tanks. Kind of like modern day propane in rural areas.)

He said he'd been coming to the house every 2 weeks in the winter for years to put in a couple hundred gallons, and now he was doing 30 gallons once a month.  

Good stuff!


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## Woodsplitter67 (Dec 7, 2018)

I love threads like this.. 
Prior to the wood stove we would keep the house at 68 degrees day time 63-62 at night. Heating bill for oil was around 1800 for the winter and about 350 for propane  for a total of 2150 for the winter and that was before we expanded the house.. my estimated savings now per year is at least 3k. Plus i have the benefit of keeping my house any temperature that I want so most mornings when it's cold in the lower twenties and upper teens my house will drop down to about 66° and when I'm home I keep it anywhere from 68 to 70 so my house is warmer and I spend basically nothing I think last year I spent a total of about $100 in heating oil nothing in propane
My house is so much more comfortable thanks to Wood heat and a very efficient wood stove.. love me some wood stove


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## peakbagger (Dec 7, 2018)

Note sure if I would recognize one. All I pay if service fee for power since I run a credit on my power. My range and oven is electric and I don't have propane or natural gas so no bills for them. I haven't bought oil for 4 years. The land line is on its last few months. Now If I could get cheaper internet I would be all set


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## Ludlow (Dec 7, 2018)

Wow. I dont burn wood at home, I have a direct vent gas fireplace. My highest ever bill in the winter was about $275 and that was when we had below zero temps for 2 weeks one year. That is for heating, cooking, hot water, clothes dryer, fireplace. I have no incentive to burn wood here.


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## blacktail (Dec 7, 2018)

I have electric heat and hot water. I attribute most of my increase to the water heater being out in the garage.


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## Woodsplitter67 (Dec 7, 2018)

peakbagger said:


> Note sure if I would recognize one. All I pay if service fee for power since I run a credit on my power. My range and oven is electric and I don't have propane or natural gas so no bills for them. I haven't bought oil for 4 years. The land line is on its last few months. Now If I could get cheaper internet I would be all set



I went solar this year.. was i stalled in September got net meter the end of october. Although i am not at 0 yet because of the winter, I'm enjoying about paying about 30% of what i used to pay
I like being green


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## Ludlow (Dec 7, 2018)

Woodsplitter67 said:


> I went solar this year.. was i stalled in September got net meter the end of october. Although i am not at 0 yet because of the winter, I'm enjoying about paying about 30% of what i used to pay
> I like being green


What was your investment?


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## Woodsplitter67 (Dec 7, 2018)

Ludlow said:


> What was your investment?



I did a 20kw system.. roof mount  2 inverters, optimized.


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## Ludlow (Dec 7, 2018)

Woodsplitter67 said:


> I did a 20kw system.. roof mount  2 inverters, optimized.



Whats that run cost?


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## peakbagger (Dec 7, 2018)

Rule of thumb is $3 an installed watt minus state and local rebates than 30% tax credit. Check this website http://www.dsireusa.org/ for info specific to your area.


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## jebatty (Dec 8, 2018)

We've had a net credit on our electric bill since October 2015, that is, nothing owed to the electric utility. Heat the house with the wood stove in our living room. Small amount of electric baseboard to keep the walkout basement at about 50F and backup for the whole house when we are gone for more than a day in cold winter. On the graph, blue is solar PV kWh, red is heating and electric hot water heater kWh, green is general service kWh for the house.


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## Woodsplitter67 (Dec 8, 2018)

Ludlow said:


> Whats that run cost?



My actual panel wattage is 17420.. my projected generation is aprox 20kwH I paid well less that 3per watt and also get to wright off 30% of the cost on my taxes. Plus the generation of my SERCS 
If your interested in solar.. look into it i purchased mine outright. No lease i owen it


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## Woodsplitter67 (Dec 10, 2018)

And this is where perfectly good threads go to dye...
So long good thread..


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## Where2 (Dec 12, 2018)

peakbagger said:


> Note sure if I would recognize one... The land line is on its last few months. Now If I could get cheaper internet I would be all set


If I could get internet as fast (fiber) and as cheap as I get it at my farm in rural Maine ($60/mo), I'd be all set!! (It's 500Mbps down, 700Mbps up)

If you want to kill the land line but keep the number, port your number to Google Voice and either get an Obihai 200 (Google Voice version), or just redirect the land line to ring your cell. If you need tips or pointers on porting, let me know.

With a 4kW array on our second floor roof, I still have a power bill, but the 5.6kW pallet of panels and inverters I have should fix that problem in my all electric house. The panels and inverters were $0.78/W shipped freight across the US. Now I just need some cheap ground mount racking capable of sustaining a 3 second wind gust of 170mph!!


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## CaptSpiff (Dec 13, 2018)

Where2 said:


> .... Now I just need some cheap ground mount racking capable of sustaining a 3 second wind gust of 170mph!!


Is that the Florida standard or the Maine standard?


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## Where2 (Dec 21, 2018)

CaptSpiff said:


> Is that the Florida standard or the Maine standard?


That's my criteria for my ground mount in FL. Seems silly to have a panel rack on the roof rated for a 3-second gust of 170MPH, and then have a panel rack in the yard rated less than that which could potentially let go sending panels sailing into my house, or my neighbor's house... a 3'x5' solar panel has plenty of surface area to turn into a flying object.

Maine building standard is 100psf ground snow load where my ground mount array in Maine will live. There's a reason I don't spend winter there...


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## Circus (Dec 22, 2018)

KennyK said:


> View attachment 235128
> 
> 
> Used 65% less gas than last November before I had a wood stove.  Would have even been less but due to laziness on my part... not bad at all!



Another way to skin a cat. For the past ten years I've had similar savings from my solar air collectors hanging off the south side of the house. Kind of glad ten years ago the propane companies were gouging us customers. I needed the motivation to do something. So now I simply save money while doing nothing.   The only trees lost were those blocking the sun, about two days heat in a wood stove.


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## Dobish (Dec 27, 2018)

funny this came up.  I was just looking at my utility bill and was noticing how much LESS energy I used when we had people in our house the whole time. Our bill is $40 more this year than it was last year. I don't know if the hot tub added that much more electricity, the furnace kicking on more since nobody is home cranking up the stove all day, or what, but we took a big jump in both gas (52% higher)  and electric (50% higher) over last year. We are pretty much the same usage as 2016.

I think part of it is my wife keeps turning up the thermostat to try and get the house warm, but then doesn't turn it back down. We use the hot tub a few times a week, but i'm guessing just keeping the water is adding up.


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## peakbagger (Dec 27, 2018)

Hot tubs are rather notorious for being big energy hogs.


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## Dobish (Dec 27, 2018)

peakbagger said:


> Hot tubs are rather notorious for being big energy hogs.


yeah, but they are also very nice for relaxing   Given my bill in 2014/15 was about 3x what it is now, I am ok with it. Also, when I install my new solar array, it will pretty much wipe out my utility bills.


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## Woodsplitter67 (Dec 29, 2018)

My hot tub loves electric.. I did solar to cover the electric bill.. i did realize how much it took to keep the water warm in the winter..


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