Lowest electric bill ever.

[EVuser]

SOD,
Selling back isn't worth the bang for the buck for us residential PGE customers. But, Net metering certainly is a plus. To bad they are so far off the grid. Did they get a estimate from a contractor or just PGE. I'm at -$50 dollars for the year after my first three months of the new year. Will likely drive more EV miles this year with the added range.

FWIW, as I understand, it was the PUC that required PGE to direct charge your folks and others like them for line extensions up front rather than putting it in the corporate cost of doing business. No more "city slickers" subsidizing the rural folks.

Soon starting year 12 on solar. Works extremely well for us.

[PaleMelanesian]

Tied for lowest kWh May (635), but the bill is about 10% higher per kWh starting now. That brings the payback on the upgraded AC from 8 years to 7.

(house is all electric: central AC/heat pump, water heat, cooking)

[MN Driver]

I figured a graphical representation would be the best way to show electricity usage and patterns. I left the lines out because usage doesn't really correlate in a linear fashion.

I don't like to count the June 2011 as being part of the general trend as I decided to use a dehumidifier to increase comfort and use the air conditioner less, then later realized that thing sucking 400 watts almost continuously caused a big gouge to usage. I stopped doing that and the second highest bill was 539kwh($70) in August 2010. Fixed fees are about $10.50 and all the variable rate fees including sales tax that try to hide your real rate per kwh amount to 11 cents per kwh. Lowest KWH usage was 115kwh, which I hit that exact number multiple times. I get billed for usage mid-month, so for example the May bill would be mid-April to mid-March

Past 12 months: 2382kwh
Monthly average of past 12 months: 199kwh

I use methane for air and water heating so those aren't in here.
I have an electric dryer and an inefficient non-energy star but fairly recent fridge.
I use a laptop instead of a desktop computer and I watch movies with a 350watt projector on occasion.

Edit: A/C is a large component for the 4 elevated months, this year I expect this all to be lower due to insulation efforts(still in progress) and I'm going to install static cling window tint to reduce the cooling load, I expect that to make a huge dent, we'll see.

[phoebeisis]

Wow
Pale- just 635 in ?DWF area right?
Still having a drought??
Were are in NOLA 1299 for May-45 per day-about 9 less than before the roof painting.
We were having a mini dry spell during that period- so usage a bit more than it might have been.
You are still in a drought- not many clouds- or has the drought broken near you?
Rain clouds make a big difference in NOLA- maybe 10-20 KWHr less on a rainy day vs bright clear day.
We are stuck with an old(32 years old) but very DURABLE electric dryer-6 KWHr per load- 1.5-2 loads per day!
A year or so ago-when NG was a bit more expensive-going to a used gas dryer would have saved just 25%.
When it finally dies we'll get a used gas dryer-save maybe $7 mo-
635 in DFW - very low!
Charlie

[vangonebuy]

No records, But respectable.
836 Kwh over 59 days. 14.17 average daily.

Kids are home more now. So it's up from here.
And since when is Memorial Day a 5 day weekend? Averaged 13.5Kwh before then.
Averaging $.21 KWH. Despite a price cut in April.

LED's are helping. Seem to be solid performance so far. I'm happy.
Great article on LED lifespan problems. If interested.
http://www.electroiq.com/blogs/insig...continues.html

[herm]

Originally Posted by phoebeisis

We are stuck with an old(32 years old) but very DURABLE electric dryer-6 KWHr per load- 1.5-2 loads per day!

a clothes line does a good job, and much lower cost!

[MN Driver]

I just ran a load of clothes this morning and reset my power monitor just prior to starting the washing machine. Full washing machine and 40 minutes of the dryer and I had clean and dry shirts, dry shorts, dry pants, dry underwear, and dry socks, yet slightly damp towels using 3kwh and 40 gallons of water. I could have been close to 4kwh though and the refrigerator probably kicked on a time or two during the 80 minutes the washer and dryer were running.

[MN Driver]

Mid-April to Mid-June usage just came in 208kwh or 6.7kwh/day. Those high 80's and 90 degree days along with high outdoor dew points used a little bit more power than last year but I expect this June to July bill to be lower than last years bill. Trailing 12 month 199.8kwh/month or 6.55kwh/day.

[waltermlee]

I live alone in an all-electric middle townhouse (3 floors/500ft each =1500ft total): 3bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms. This townhouse has an electronic thermostat controlled 2 ton heat pump, an energy star fridge, an insulated water heater, insulated hot water pipes, insulated central air duct works , and CFL lighting except for the Global Incandescent bulbs in the bathrooms. The attic insulation has been upgraded from R-30 to R-68. I am still hanging onto the original +20 year old double pane windows and sliding glass doors - replacement cost is high and the improvement factor is low - I calculated the ROI is 15 years - I may be dead by then. My home uses the most electricity in the wintertime to heat the house. I used a laser non contact thermometer to determine where my townhouse is losing most of its heat during the winter. My home's biggest thermal loss source is the aluminum frame of the sliding glass doors and the glass of the sliding doors. The next big thermal loss is from the older double pane windows. My electrical usage varies between 260kwh to 750kwh per month with a running average of about 415 kwh/month. My electric usage in order of usage is: heatpump, refrigerator, water heater, stove/oven, clothes washer/dryer, lights, computer, tv/radio. While I've switch to an LCD TV and a low powered computer with a LCD monitor - the power savings has been small.

year month kilowatt hour/month
================================
2011 June 300
2011 July 300
2011 Aug 440
2011 Sep 280
2011 Oct 260
2011 Nov 310
2011 Dec 370
2012 Jan 610
2012 Feb 680
2012 Mar 750
2012 April 360
2012 May 320
2012 June 290

I get my electricity from Cleancurrent - a wind turbine consolidator - which charges about 10 cents per kwh for 100% wind turbine electricity (mainly from OH and Pa wind farms). However, with taxes, distribution fees, and local government surcharges the final cost per kwh is about 16 cents per kwh. The above chart does not indicate the energy (kwh) charge/include in the distribution fees for the electricity that I purchased (my guess is that for every 1kwh I use it cost about .33 kwh to distribute/deliver to my home). The local electric utility PEPCO uses a mixture of coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear power to produce the electricity (that is used to distribute the electricity that I purchased) - I have no control over the source of this electricity. While in theory PEPCO does net metering - when I called them up about it - they said they didn't do it which made me think that setting up a net metering PV system was going to be a hassle and suggested to me a net metering PV system had to be done by a very expensive pre approved installer (monopoly/oligioarchial commerical arrangement). Since my home doesn't have a perfect southern orientation arrangement and my geographic location doesn't have a great deal of sun to begin with - I nix a PV roof top option as not economically viable.
My guess is that my CO2 emissions are about 50% to 75% less than the average American but probably still several time higher than anyone from the developing world, e.g. India.

[Dream'R]

Walter,

I was interested to read your detailed recap about your electrical usage.

I wondered whether you might wish to consider a few things I've done to conserve electricity. Like you, my house is all-electric except we do use propane for our stove.

I have a 240V timer on the hot water tank so it shuts off overnight. Some have multiple trippers so you can regulate when you have a "full head of steam". I also lowered the thermostat to 120F. The dishwasher will boost the water temp if it's too cool to work properly.

Our heat pump thermostat has an outdoor sensor which can be used to lock-out the back-up electric coil. I normally set mine to 30F but it can be lowered further if you don't get excessive frost buildup on the outdoor unit. The heat pump is at least twice as efficient even at below freezing temperatures but when frost restricts the needed airflow eventually there is a lower bound. I've found during dry winter conditions my heat pump can still produce a good amount of heat in the low 20's. (Many thermostats simply call for the back-up boost after a set time interval instead).

Your comments regarding the sliding aluminum patio door reminds me of our former home where we had the same situation. When we built our new home we went with out-swinging wood framed patio doors. They are very effective and have good weatherstrip seals.

Finally, I wonder how old you heat pump is? Newer units are more efficient and often quieter. We had to replace ours 2 years ago and have been very pleased with the further savings which I estimate at about 15%.

Cheers,

Roger