[survey] How much was your electric bill this month?

yeah, i'd have them look in to it. i didn't have any of that.

 

You know what's crazy is that 40% of Reliant's power generation comes from natural gas and gas prices are HALF of what they were last summer and they are STILL raising prices for electricity. We're getting screwed.

 

I used to work for Reliant. It doesnt work like that. You have to ask to increase rates a long time in advance.

 

True... IIRC, the last rate increase was around October... coinciding with considerably higher gas prices. No REP is raising rates anytime soon with the current low gas prices. The PUC wouldn't ever approve it.

Also, looking at a company's generating assets isn't the best indicator of it's ability to control prices. Coal plants on the East coast that are part of your generating portfolio don't serve your customers in Texas.

 

Stupid Reliant

900 Sq foot 2 Bedroom apartment

184.88

 

wow...how in the world are you guys ending up with bills like this???

 

I live in a 1250 sq ft unit of a duplex (top story) built in the 1930s. It's not all that energy-efficient, but my usage this past month was only $78. Part of it probably has to do with it being split between gas heating and electric cooling. Still, my gas bill was only $45.

When I see smaller places with much higher bills, I usually think either a) something's wrong with appliances or the A/C, b) CenterPoint mis-read the meter, or c) the user is just not as conscientious about conserving energy as I am. That's not a criticism of the user by any means. I just happen to be comfortable with the thermostat at 80 whereas some people can't live with it above 72.

 

My eletric bill is always less than $80. But last month I got a gas bill that hurt - $475. I checked the reading and it was right. It wasn't that cold so I think it was a catch-up reading. The month before that was $200. This month it was $265 which is high but more like a typical winter bill than the month before. I'd never even seen $300 until last month.

 

Hydroponics use up a lot of energy, allegedly.

 

I haven't had my AC running since last year, and I haven't turned on my furnace in about two weeks in a 900 square foot house. I have a gas furnace, water heater, stove, and dryer.

gas bill - 60 bucks
electric bill - 40 bucks

I better enjoy it while I can, before Summer hits. I'm going to spring for a digital thermostat pretty soon...

 

Were still in winter mode... i keep ours on at 65. During the summer, i'll keep it on around 78.

 

Well I just put in new programmable thermostats and have them set to run at different temps through the day and night and so far it is really paying off.. Last year at this time I paid around $200.00-$260.00 last months bill came in and it was for $135.00.. I have also switched to Direct Energy and get a 3% savings over Reliants rate.. This is only one month and there are many factors that could have caused the savings, I’m holding out to make my final judgment after going this route for at least a year or so, but at least it's starting out well..

 

how much did you pay for the programmable thermostats?

 

My bill was $92 last month but we actually had to run the AC and heater last month. We haven't run either since around the 19th of April and probably won't have to until about the 24th of this month because that is when temps are supposed to go in the 90s up here.

 

LMAO.. Well, I can take $60.00 off the top then.. $30.00 each..

 

actually, i was seriously asking! my may bill was about $80 more than my april bill. but i think the weather was much, much hotter. either way, i'd like to look into the programmable thermostats.

 

Max,

I got two of these..

LINK

I know it says $40.00, but I paid $30.00 in the store.. What I really liked about it is they have a recoup function that will slowly lower or raise the temp and not run the A/C or heater full tilt until it reaches the desired temperature.. This works great if your like me and have you’re A/C set 5-6 degrees higher during the day then I normally do when I get home.. You can also tell it how many degrees it needs to be away from your ideal temperature before it kicks on.. I.E. a setting of 76 could be set to kick on anywhere from a 1 degree difference all the way to a 3 degree difference... I also have mine cooler when I first go to bed and slowly raise the temperature throughout the night 3 degrees.. Overall I wish I bought these sooner..

 

$180 for a third floor apt. JESUS

 

You can get Honeywell 5-1-1 programmables off Ebay for about $30 each.

I ordered two of them last week, received them last night and installed each of them in about 10 mins.