Is there a certain "cycle" you guys follow daily to try and maintain your electric usage low? I have my two younger sisters living with me and it surprises me that we've managed to keep our usage pretty low. I say the main thing would be that I (unless unbearable) keep the AC off during the day and stick strictly to ceiling fans. Once nighttime approaches, I turn on the AC. It seems to work just fine. $80 a month. No complaints here.
I think $600+, but ours includes water, sewer and garbage + we keep our home at a chilly 67 degrees. Yes, I'm a Yankee (from Chicago) but I've broken all ties - except Da Bears which I readopted when the Oilers left.
I keep looking these bills again to make sure it's all correct and I'm not gonna owe anything to my old provider. I went from 533 (highest by far) on my last bill with First Choice to 135 with Direct Energy!! And I thought that maybe Direct wasn't for a whole billing cycle, but it is. Since I've been back at work, I've turned the AC up a little during the day and the power strips to the computer and tv/game consoles have been cut off from the time we go to sleep till when I get home (that's about 18hrs). So I started doing that (keeping the blinds closed as well) and then switching from First Choice to Direct saved me .10 kwh. Damn I'm just so happy I was able to bring my electricity bill down.
It's normal to see 200's and 300's for a home... it depends on the home, its age, the AC unit and its age, window types, ceiling heights, insulation, thermostat setting during the day, square footage (which I see very few people mentioning), etc. There are very efficient homes that easily average $250-$350/month. I have a 4 year old house that's 2900+ sq. ft. that averages about $220-$325 during the summer months. I've seen a ton of people get $400-$600/month bills during the summer.
Oh, and I don't think I've ever gotten higher than $325 for a bill. This summer I hit right around that. My most recent bill was for $270 or so.
LOL! Now that's just sad. But then I've lived in my house for 4 years now and I've been in the backyard maybe 5 or 6 times. And 3 or 4 of those times were to make sure everything was ok after bad weather.
same here... though my highest was $400 for a 2200 sq foot condo that i keep from 79-82 all day long... since Ike I've said screw it and now blast the A/C at a cool 72... if i'm gonna pay an arm and leg anyways - may as well be comfortable... what difference is $700 and $400 a month if i get to be much more comfortable... none as far as i can see
Hmm, so if I have a 2900 sq ft house (older home at that), then I shouldn't complain about a bill in the $220 range?
