what's your electricity usage?
- Thread starter damage
- Start date
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
Wow Digger!Digger said:
At that rate would you benefit from Solar Power any (as far as the outlay vs benefit costs)?
I spent some time at a neighbors today and their bill happen to come up and miraculously it was within dollars of mine with the central air. Given I have a bit more technology running (servers, etc) I guess I am doing ok.Digger said:
Unfortunately power on LI is not cheap. The bill in question was $530 for one month.
I hear power is more expensive in St Croix, but I'm skeptical
EDIT: Typo
just for reference, here's the usage on my house for the 5 months (since I bought it):
April:
1730 kWH used
average price (before taxes) 13.44 cents/kWH
May:
1812 kWH used
average price (before taxes) 13.41 cents/kWH
June:
2999 kWH used (you can tell when it started getting hot in Texas)
average price (before taxes) 13.20 cents/kwH
July:
3659 kWH used
average price (before taxes) 13.14 cents/kWH
August:
3732 kWH used
average price (before taxes) 13.13 cents/kWH
this is starting to get really expensive for me (over $500 a month after taxes), so i'm interested in reducing my usage as well. obviously, for us, the major use comes from air conditioners, considering we've had near constant 100+ degree heat in Dallas for the past 3 months. I have a 3-zone AC system in a 3300 sq ft house, 1 zone upstairs and 2 downstairs. We have a small baby, so we've been trying to keep it between 70-72 while we're home and 80 while we're away, but that doesn't seem to be working. I've recently told my wife I want to try 74 while we're at home and 85 while we're away to see if it has any impact. I don't have any computers running 24/7, but I do have a beer fridge in the garage. plus, we've been using CFL's for the main usage lights, but we still have incandescents where they are seldom used. has anybody done any research on radiant barrier technology, or the new permafrost AC additive which are both supposed to increase your energy efficiency? and also, damage, how did you find the baseline for your area? to be fair, the energy market in texas was deregulated a couple of years ago, and prices have done nothing but go up and up and up...
April:
1730 kWH used
average price (before taxes) 13.44 cents/kWH
May:
1812 kWH used
average price (before taxes) 13.41 cents/kWH
June:
2999 kWH used (you can tell when it started getting hot in Texas)
average price (before taxes) 13.20 cents/kwH
July:
3659 kWH used
average price (before taxes) 13.14 cents/kWH
August:
3732 kWH used
average price (before taxes) 13.13 cents/kWH
this is starting to get really expensive for me (over $500 a month after taxes), so i'm interested in reducing my usage as well. obviously, for us, the major use comes from air conditioners, considering we've had near constant 100+ degree heat in Dallas for the past 3 months. I have a 3-zone AC system in a 3300 sq ft house, 1 zone upstairs and 2 downstairs. We have a small baby, so we've been trying to keep it between 70-72 while we're home and 80 while we're away, but that doesn't seem to be working. I've recently told my wife I want to try 74 while we're at home and 85 while we're away to see if it has any impact. I don't have any computers running 24/7, but I do have a beer fridge in the garage. plus, we've been using CFL's for the main usage lights, but we still have incandescents where they are seldom used. has anybody done any research on radiant barrier technology, or the new permafrost AC additive which are both supposed to increase your energy efficiency? and also, damage, how did you find the baseline for your area? to be fair, the energy market in texas was deregulated a couple of years ago, and prices have done nothing but go up and up and up...
Hi,
How do you guys monitor your usage?
Do you just check the bills or do you actively monitor the meter?
I found it very useful monitoring the meter. I do it in a similar manner to this http://www.btinternet.com/~jon00/electmon.shtml
What I found was that I was using a shocking amount of power when I was sleeping. Here in the UK we generally do not have aircon. However, I understand the dilemma having grown up in the middle east.
With the data gathered both per minute and per hour and day. I managed to reduce my usage by a to 3kwh/hour at night. on average I was last time I checked using aroud 15kwh a day.
If I had HVAC, I would probably be around double this. My place is also typically british and not huge!
Currently my system is disabled, as I am renovating but when I have wired it in I plan to perminantly monitor it.
How do you guys monitor your usage?
Do you just check the bills or do you actively monitor the meter?
I found it very useful monitoring the meter. I do it in a similar manner to this http://www.btinternet.com/~jon00/electmon.shtml
What I found was that I was using a shocking amount of power when I was sleeping. Here in the UK we generally do not have aircon. However, I understand the dilemma having grown up in the middle east.
With the data gathered both per minute and per hour and day. I managed to reduce my usage by a to 3kwh/hour at night. on average I was last time I checked using aroud 15kwh a day.
If I had HVAC, I would probably be around double this. My place is also typically british and not huge!
Currently my system is disabled, as I am renovating but when I have wired it in I plan to perminantly monitor it.
upstatemike
Senior Member
Nice project! Wish I had a meter with an LED or something I could monitor. I'm stuck with an old Thomas Edison autographed model with no simple way to interface to it.
It is possible to do it with other meter types.
This guy has done it for water electric and gas
http://www.bwired.nl/
This guy has done it for water electric and gas
http://www.bwired.nl/
WRT usage comparisons, we check our bill's usage and compare to previous years at same time... the price has almost doubled for the SAME USAGE since last summer. It's over triple from a few years ago.
Unfortunately, we do not have smart-meter options that I know of - though I'm going to inquire.
Yeah... I'm going to grab a few of those metering thingys to see what's pulling and see what I can get rid of. I can't imagine going to CFs 'cause I really like dimmable lights and hate the color of flourescents (even the "warm" ones).
Unfortunately, we do not have smart-meter options that I know of - though I'm going to inquire.
Yeah... I'm going to grab a few of those metering thingys to see what's pulling and see what I can get rid of. I can't imagine going to CFs 'cause I really like dimmable lights and hate the color of flourescents (even the "warm" ones).
Guy Lavoie
Active Member
That's incredible. Ouch!Digger said:
At that point, anything you do to reduce it becomes worthwhile.
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