My electric bill was still crazy this month, and I’ve been burning the whole time! Any ideas?

[shinyhaid]

I got mine yesterday and it was $50 more than usual! And I have been using the heat pump very little. The dehumidifier in our basement is the likely culprit. I think those things are the same as running an air conditioner. The only other thing that is different is the outdoor Christmas tree but those don't draw much power do they?

 

[billb3]

My electric bill is under $30.00.
I'm in Ma.
All electric except heat and hot water is oil.

Everything else is electric.
No AC.
No dehumidifier.
9xx sq ft.
Well pump.


I've had a old refrigerator start running too much which was costing me $50.00 a month bit it was old.

When I replaced the fridge and lights with CFL and went to just one TV and dryig clothes on the clothes line they replaced my meter.


To get the bill any lower than that would require rechargable lights charged back up at work.
Or candles.

 

[Bubbavh]

Check that your reading is correct. Sometimes the reader may misread your meter. I had this happen... I got a $400 bill when my usual is about $120. You should have a reading number on the bill check it with the reading on you meter.

 

[Henz]

sOMETIMES USING LESS ELECTRIC WILL COST YOU MORE

 

[begreen]

Moved to green room, not hearth related.

 

[jdemaris]

Any ideas as to what could have caused this? The blower on my wood furnace is only 2 amp.
2amp x 120volts = 240 watts. Thats roughly the same as a few lightbulbs on. I wouldn't think it would have used that much electric as compared to my AC / Heatpump.

Is this a full-sized wood furnace with duct work? I ask, because if so, a 2 amp blower doesn't sound possible.

My wood furnace has a three speed blower - low = 1/5 horse and 3.8 amps, medium = 1/4 horse and 4.6 amps, and high = 1/3 horse and 5.9 amps. That's amps at 120 VAC. And, those are running amps, not starting amps whic is a much higher figure.
If you're drawing 2 amps, seems you must have a tiny little motor - maybe 1/10 th of a horsepower? That wouldn't push air through duct work.

My furnace uses a lot power. Problem with a wood furnace is - once the fire is hot and you keep feeding it, it runs constant -not off and on like an oil or gas furnace.

 

[leaf4952]

You must have PP&L;as your Electric Company. Read my reply post in the Wood Shed - topic "Speading up drying time, does a fan help?". I'm also struggling with bringing my electric bill down.

 

[Hansson]

how much do you pay for one Kwh?

 

[Drumaz]

Mine went up considerably too...

 

[jebatty]

$0.103 general service
$0.04 off peak (electric hot water, after 11:00 pm and before 7:00 am)
$0.045 dual fuel (electric heat, interruptible; maximum 400 hrs/yr)

 

[Hansson]

OK
I pay $0.19/kWh here.
The price dont change over the day.Its always $0.19/kWh.

 

[Valhalla]

OK
I pay $0.19/kWh here.
The price dont change over the day.Its always $0.19/kWh.

Hansson,

Thank you. Is that in US or Euro dollar?

Cheers

 

[Hansson]

OK
I pay $0.19/kWh here.
The price dont change over the day.Its always $0.19/kWh.

Hansson,

Thank you. Is that in US or Euro dollar?

Cheers

US

 

[BJ64]

I have 3 meters scattered over the farm. One just runs a well, one runs a barn and small shop, and the third is my house. The utility company is Public Service Company of Oklahoma which is a unit of AEP.

Well #2 average usage 14 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.571
Barn and Shop average usage 109 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.211
House, Well #1, and Main Shop average usage 1944 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.103

 

[jdemaris]

I have 3 meters scattered over the farm. One just runs a well, one runs a barn and small shop, and the third is my house. The utility company is Public Service Company of Oklahoma which is a unit of AEP.

Well #2 average usage 14 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.571
Barn and Shop average usage 109 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.211
House, Well #1, and Main Shop average usage 1944 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.103

Do those figures show what you actually pay, or just what your bill shows for KWH charges? Around here in NY, the KHh charge is 7 cents, all the time for residential - but that means nothing. More than half the monthly is from all the add-ons and is actually 18 cents per KWh. Also here, farm-rate electricity is higher than residential.

 

[johnsopi]

My wood furnace fan runs for hours at a time once the fire burning it heating. My bill is @ 250 a month.

 

[Redox]

Any ideas as to what could have caused this? The blower on my wood furnace is only 2 amp.
2amp x 120volts = 240 watts. Thats roughly the same as a few lightbulbs on. I wouldn't think it would have used that much electric as compared to my AC / Heatpump.

Is this a full-sized wood furnace with duct work? I ask, because if so, a 2 amp blower doesn't sound possible.

My wood furnace has a three speed blower - low = 1/5 horse and 3.8 amps, medium = 1/4 horse and 4.6 amps, and high = 1/3 horse and 5.9 amps. That's amps at 120 VAC. And, those are running amps, not starting amps whic is a much higher figure.
If you're drawing 2 amps, seems you must have a tiny little motor - maybe 1/10 th of a horsepower? That wouldn't push air through duct work.

My furnace uses a lot power. Problem with a wood furnace is - once the fire is hot and you keep feeding it, it runs constant -not off and on like an oil or gas furnace.

That sounds like you have a shaded pole fan motor. It might be worth changing it out to a high efficiency permanent split capacitor motor. I typically see 1/3 HP motors that only pull 4 amps or so. That could be $10-15 a month and the motor should be less than $100 if you can replace it yourself.

Chris

 

[Redox]

I have 3 meters scattered over the farm. One just runs a well, one runs a barn and small shop, and the third is my house. The utility company is Public Service Company of Oklahoma which is a unit of AEP.

Well #2 average usage 14 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.571
Barn and Shop average usage 109 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.211
House, Well #1, and Main Shop average usage 1944 KWH per month. Cost per KW = 0.103

You might want to check with your utility. I believe that all the meters at an address can be added together to one "aggregate" price. It's worth a try.

Chris

 

[Redox]

I agree you have to start turning things off to see what the big draw is. i have seen gadgets that read your meter for you in real time never tried one but it might work to help you control the bill

http://www.powermeterstore.com/p3982/power_cost_monitor.php

I finally bought a "Kill a Watt" off E-bay for about $36. It's amazing what it shows up. Things that I thought would be high weren't and little things add up. Everyone here gives it good reviews.

Chris

 

[rphurley]

I have my large screen HD tvs plugged into a power strip and I turn that power strip off when I leave for work in the morning. I hear that a large screen tv can use as much electricity as a refrigerator when it is off. I also like the engery saving lightbulbs wherever they are feasable. The garage, outside lighting, etc.

 

[jdemaris]

That sounds like you have a shaded pole fan motor. It might be worth changing it out to a high efficiency permanent split capacitor motor. I typically see 1/3 HP motors that only pull 4 amps or so. That could be $10-15 a month and the motor should be less than $100 if you can replace it yourself.

Chris

Nope. My motor draws about as low as I can get. My motor is capacitor start. I looked around years ago and there isn't anything out there that offers any substantial gain in efficiency. Mine is always on the low setting - i.e. - it always runs at 1/5 th horsepwer and draws 3.8 amps. If was running a shaded-pole motor at the same 1/5 horsepower, it would be drawing 6.7 amps, which would be a silly thing to do.

My motor is this:
Capacitor: 5M370V HP: 1/3 - 1/4 - 1/5 RPM: 1075 Volts: 115
Enclosure: Open Ventilated Air Over Type: Permanent Split Capacitor Bearings: Sleeve
Mounting: Bolt Circle - 5.2" Rotation: REVERSIBLE 50Hz/60Hz: No/Yes Speeds: Three
'A' Dimension: 4.25 Base: Stud, Band, Base or Lug (motor specific) Amps: 5.9 - 4.6 - 3.8
Shaft: 1/2 X 6 Item: AC Mtr 1/3 - 1/4 - 1/5 HP 1075 RPM 115 V Permanent Split
Capacitor OP-AO Catalog Number: D727

Shaded pole motor as thus:
Part ID: D158 Product Weight: 12 lbs. HP: 1/5 - 1/6 - 1/7 RPM: 1050 Volts: 115
Enclosure: Open Ventilated Air Over Type: Shaded Pole Bearings: Sleeve Mounting: Bolt
Circle - 4.62" Rotation: CW 50Hz/60Hz: No/Yes Speeds: Three 'A' Dimension: 3.875
Base: Stud, Band, Base or Lug (motor specific) Amps: 6.7 - 5.3 - 4.7 Shaft: 1/2 X 3-7/8
Item: AC Mtr 1/5 - 1/6 - 1/7 HP 1050 RPM 115 V Shaded Pole OP-AO Catalog Number:
D158

 

[BucksCoBernie]

I pay .16 cents per kwh for peak usage
.08/kwh for off-peak.

I have 2 meters on the side of my house, one peak the other off peak, but it looks like the only thing hooked up to the off peak meter is my water heater. i wonder if i can hook up my well pump to the off peak meter as well lol.

My electric bill is about $110/mo (just me and my wife).

we have CFLs and our tvs and cable boxes are hooked up to a strip that gets turned off at night....doing these things dropped our bill about $20/mo.

I picked up one of those Kill-A-Watt meters last month for $20 off ebay. awesome tool.

 

[Techstuf]

If one runs the numbers, the utility companies nationwide are profiteering like Somali Sea Pirates on Steroids.....


The writing is on the wall.


TS

 

[wrench340]

not sure what we're being charged per actual kwh ,but the total charge with distribution charges is 6.96 per kwh. That's why we call them NATIONAL GREED

 

[Redox]

I thinks we have some decimal points on the loose in this thread. Bernie is paying 16 cents or $.16/kwh. I am paying about 15 cents/kwh delivered and I think the national average is around 11-12 cents delivered. Wish I had National Grid as an option. Those are 1990's prices for some of us. Deregulation and all that, ya know....

Chris