July 2008 Electric Bill ( Number 9 )
Unlucky number 9. That’s what we’ll call my latest and greatest electric bill. Well, latest and highest, at least. It’s actually 12% higher than June’s bill, which was my previous highest. What was the damage? A whopping $221.36. Unreal.
Natural Gas - down, down, down
I used 37% less natural gas, which amounted to a 25% drop in my bill. That funny accounting again. With the summer being here, my only gas usage is for heating water and cooking. I have made an effort to keep my showers a bit shorter, which I guess has helped. Next months’ bill will be worse though - we have two houseguests staying with us. More people = more showers = more gas usage.
Electricity - Unstoppable.
My bill is, at least. My usage jumped by 11%, which by the electric company’s creative math, increased my electricity cost by 21%. The disparity is mainly due to a “peak capacity charge” and a huge “fuel adjustment” mystery fee. $60 for a mystery fee is a bit excessive.
What does the future hold?
These constant bill increases are hard to swallow. I’m using more energy to be sure, but my bill is increasing faster than my usage. This month will be tough, because of the aforementioned house guests. My two sisters-in-law are with us for the month, which means increased energy usage. On an upside, we did finally get around to installing 3 ceiling fans on my lower level. With the air circulating, hopefully we can manage to keep the A/C a few degrees higher, and still remain comfortable. Besides that, hey it’s summer in Texas. It’s going to be hot, and the electric bill is going to be high. All I can do is try to keep it (relatively) manageable.
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July 15th, 2008 at 4:00 am
Great post. I will read your posts frequently. Added you to the RSS reader.
July 16th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Most motorized home appliances (air conditioning units, refrigerators, freezers, ceiling fans, washers, dryers, dishwashers, pool pumps, vacuum cleaners, furnace blowers, etc.) operate most efficiently when they’re operating at full capacity. When they’re not working at full capacity they pull more energy than they use, wasting the difference.
And let’s face it, rarely does any appliance or device in your home constantly work at full capacity. In fact, the average home in America today operates at a power factor of .77. That means 23% of the electricity being delivered to the home is being wasted by the use of motorized appliances working at less than capacity.
You can increases that power factor, in most cases, to .97 or .98, therefore increasing the effective use of your electricity and lowering your usage.
Department of Energy Fact Sheet on Power Factor
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/pdfs/mc60405.pdf
For more education on power factor:
http://www.SlowMyElectricMeter.com