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I feel you there. My bill whent from $240 last month to $376 this month.
How much was your last power bill?
- Thread starter skriz
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Mine jumped $100 this month..but it did the same last year on the same billing cycle.. Kinda weird
Jeez... when I fill my pool every year (only around 7500 gallons) it only jumps to about $50 that month
They did say that there was a rate increase after June 1. I used 13400 gallons, according to my bill. That's ~450 gallons/day. Two people. All the faucets, showerheads, toilets, etc are non-low flow, so that doesn't help. I know my RO unit isn't the most efficient, so that may be the culprit. I don't produce more than ~100-200g/mo of RO water, so even at worst, I shouldn't use more than 1000g from that.
Either way, I'll be changing some things up soon...
Either way, I'll be changing some things up soon...
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My last bill was $480.
300G Tank (5x400w MH + 6x58w T5) MH light on 14hrs a day.
500G+ Sump
1/2 Horse Chiller
Lots of pumps + UV and more
Large house 5300+ sqft kept at 78F in summer.
3 AC units (2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 Ton units)
Last year i've seen i saw my electricity bill go upto $750. I hope thats not the case this year.
Good news my water bill is at the lowest its ever been at $23.80 (normally $40)
300G Tank (5x400w MH + 6x58w T5) MH light on 14hrs a day.
500G+ Sump
1/2 Horse Chiller
Lots of pumps + UV and more
Large house 5300+ sqft kept at 78F in summer.
3 AC units (2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 Ton units)
Last year i've seen i saw my electricity bill go upto $750. I hope thats not the case this year.
Good news my water bill is at the lowest its ever been at $23.80 (normally $40)
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A/C at 72-74 (brand new A/C..so worth the money..at $7,600 though, glad i only had to pay it once) about $100 during the summer
GA Power came out yesterday to do my energy audit. According to him, they're having to do more and more "estimated" bills due to the changeover. I think he called it a "smart meter" and the installation of these new meters eliminates the position of meter reader. When it was announced, he said that a huge number of their current meter readers decided their jobs were no longer secure and they went on to new jobs. The problem with that is it takes approximately 3 months to train a new person for the job to complete the route in the allotted time. Once your billing cycle comes around, they have roughly 4 days to read your meter and process your bill. If they don't get the meter read in time, they have to do an estimated bill so you get your bill on time each month. It's been a real catch-22 for GA Power. The new meters will report directly to the GA Power servers and, according to this guy, it should all but eliminate human error in meter reading.
Okay, so now I understand the estimated billing crap, but he had no real answer as to why my bill is so high. We had a bit of a Clint Eastwood staredown when he mentioned I should consider eliminating my SW tanks. I started to grab the shotgun, but I figured surely someone knows he's here - not worth it.
He did say that we have the wrong kind of meter on our pole, but said it wouldn't affect our bill. They're changing it out anyway.
Aside from that, he said we were doing everything we should and that hopefully the weather would let off soon with the high temps and we would get some relief. Gee thanks. He also suggested that we remove the siding on our home and wrap it with a new type of Tyvek that pushes the heat away from your home in the summer and reflects it inward in the winter. He suggested I call One Stop Kitchen and Bath in Flowery Branch and they could tell me more about it. His other suggestion was to remove our shingles and put this same stuff on our roof because we have no attic. (He obviously looked at our mobile home on a dirt road in Jackson county in the middle of ten-buck-two and ASSUMED we are rich as h*ll and can afford to just rip our siding and shingles off and start over. I guess it's a common misperception since GA Power thinks I can afford a $600 power bill! LOL! </em>:confused2: )
So there ya go...that's my experience and I hope it helps someone else. At least I understand the estimated billing stuff now. I don't like it, but I understand it.
Okay, so now I understand the estimated billing crap, but he had no real answer as to why my bill is so high. We had a bit of a Clint Eastwood staredown when he mentioned I should consider eliminating my SW tanks. I started to grab the shotgun, but I figured surely someone knows he's here - not worth it.
He did say that we have the wrong kind of meter on our pole, but said it wouldn't affect our bill. They're changing it out anyway. Aside from that, he said we were doing everything we should and that hopefully the weather would let off soon with the high temps and we would get some relief. Gee thanks. He also suggested that we remove the siding on our home and wrap it with a new type of Tyvek that pushes the heat away from your home in the summer and reflects it inward in the winter. He suggested I call One Stop Kitchen and Bath in Flowery Branch and they could tell me more about it. His other suggestion was to remove our shingles and put this same stuff on our roof because we have no attic. (He obviously looked at our mobile home on a dirt road in Jackson county in the middle of ten-buck-two and ASSUMED we are rich as h*ll and can afford to just rip our siding and shingles off and start over. I guess it's a common misperception since GA Power thinks I can afford a $600 power bill! LOL! </em>:confused2: )
So there ya go...that's my experience and I hope it helps someone else. At least I understand the estimated billing stuff now. I don't like it, but I understand it.
I do run my AC on 77 or 78 and it was serviced over the winter. All of our appliances are electric and less than 3 years old (probably closer to 2). He checked everything and said we were doing everything we should be doing. No real power hogs causing the excess.
Now with the estimated billing, don't fool yourself. It's not a guess that just keeps on guessing for a couple of months. By the time your next bill goes out, the adjustment for your actual usage from the previous month is added/deducted from the current month's bill. Your current bill may need to be estimated if it can't be read in time, but the actual overage/underage from the previous month is added to the current month. He blamed the extreme bills on the unusally hot weather and says that we don't normally get weather that hot so early in the summer. Between that, the new higher fuel surcharge, and the summer rates kicking in, we got the snot knocked out of us. Aside from turning the AC off altogether and sweltering until late September or October, there's literally nothing we can do to save any more power usage than we're currently doing.
And yes...he most certainly made those very suggestions to wrap my house in Tyvek. I suggested replacing our windows and he said we would save considerably more over time with the Tyvek application (up to 50% on the heat/AC portion of your power bill). When money loosens up again, I'll probably put some money back to do it. My hubby and I can do the siding ourselves and it would be a great excuse to make my house the color I want it to be. Kill two birds with one stone!
I call it Tyvek, but it's not actually Tyvek. It's LIKE Tyvek. He says it looks like it has foil on one side of it that should aim away from the house when installed. Says it's relatively inexpensive (the siding is the expensive part). His description was more of a cocoon type advantage over windows that just protect a portion of the wall where they're located. I get what he's saying I guess. He suggested replacing our windows too, but said they should be secondary to the Tyvek-like application under the siding.
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Well mine came in for this month, $340. This heat has to give! My house will climb to 84 degrees with the A/C set @ 75 during the heat of the day. I have reset my light timers to come on later in the day, so that they will offset the heat of the day. I don't have GA Power, local is a co-op, Flint Energies. I need to look into them and see if they are estimating as well.
The wife is ready to have a cow!
The wife is ready to have a cow!
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Yeah, this is total crap. My power bill was higher than it has ever been in 2 years (since I bought the house).
House is 2800 sq ft, dual up/down AC. $350 this past month.
I keep it at 80 when I'm gone, 78 when I'm home, and only keep the floor I'm on at 78. I do turn it down to 77 upstairs at night when I sleep, but the auto thermosat goes back to 79 while I'm zzzzzz.
Last year my highest bill was $250, but I didn't have the 75g tank either. I find it hard to believe a 75g tank is costing me $100 per month.
WHAT GIVES?!!?
House is 2800 sq ft, dual up/down AC. $350 this past month.
I keep it at 80 when I'm gone, 78 when I'm home, and only keep the floor I'm on at 78. I do turn it down to 77 upstairs at night when I sleep, but the auto thermosat goes back to 79 while I'm zzzzzz.
Last year my highest bill was $250, but I didn't have the 75g tank either. I find it hard to believe a 75g tank is costing me $100 per month.
WHAT GIVES?!!?
