If you have a larger family...

[Pamela H in Texas]

Could you please tell me what your kW using is per month? We are concerned about how much we are using. My family is blaming ME regarding air conditioner usage. If that is the problem, it's not getting fixed (I started being super hot all the time a few months ago and I'm not going to be sweaty and feeling sick to my stomach all summer). But I have wondered if I'm just wrong about us using too much altogether. Our bill doesn't seem that high, especially considering we have nine people in our family.

 

So how many kWs are you using per month (if you know the per day, that is cool as that is how we get ours. We get a text daily saying how much we used)?

 

Thanks!

[CalicoKat]

Could you please tell me what your kW using is per month? We are concerned about how much we are using. My family is blaming ME regarding air conditioner usage. If that is the problem, it's not getting fixed (I started being super hot all the time a few months ago and I'm not going to be sweaty and feeling sick to my stomach all summer). But I have wondered if I'm just wrong about us using too much altogether. Our bill doesn't seem that high, especially considering we have nine people in our family.

 

So how many kWs are you using per month (if you know the per day, that is cool as that is how we get ours. We get a text daily saying how much we used)?

 

Thanks!

I don't know our KW. But if I was being blamed for a higher load because I was using the air I would buy one of these. :D

 

And I'd install motion detector lightbulbs to keep the kids from leaving on lights.

[BlsdMama]

Hm. I don't know but we'd be a poor match. It hasn't been warm enough in Oregon to even consider air conditioning this summer. :glare: :D

 

Wouldn't you know if it was a large family vs. air? Has your useage gone up significantly with the temperature/season change or stayed exactly the same as the winter or only varied a small amount?

[herbalgirl]

Without digging through the file cabinet, I am not sure exactly how much we use per month. I will try to ask my husband and post again later tonight...

 

What is your bill a month? We live in hot, sticky GA, so we're probably comparable to you all.

 

Do you use the dryer a lot? We've noticed that that will spike the bill. I've taken to hanging our clothes on clothes racks, as I am pregnant and there is NO WAY I will sit around being uncomfortable just to save a few bucks a month!

[nukeswife]

We're in VA where is just over the last 3 weeks started getting so hot we have to keep the air on. I looked at our past bills and our average usage for May and June is about 1700kWh, and it July and August it's usually 3000 kWh. I refuse to be hot and sticky when it gets humid and over 85° consistently here. We also have lots of TVs and computers etc.

 

Oh and we're a family of 5 with one dog and one cat. I expect our summer bills to be about $300-$400 depending on the weather.

 

ETA: over the cooler months when we either don't use the A/C or need just the heat (which is gas) our average is 900-1200 kWh.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I can't blame the kids. Our older three came from a home that regularly didn't have electricity so they don't even turn on lights, much less leave them on. They do go in and out a bit (and we leave the backdoor open (but the storm door is pretty air tight when closed so then it's just the fact that it's a glass door and not tinted).

 

I think we should blame the teenagers with the computers. Or my hubby with the fans, light, and radio in his man-cave.

 

We do use the dryer a lot as we have a load or two per day PLUS "refreshes" (5-10min to get out wrinkles).

 

I can't compare times very well as we moved in in April. At first, we were using the washer and dryer here. I didn't like theirs though so we exchanged them last month for our own (bought just this year). We saw a big drop in the daily usage initially so that was good. But I think I'm making up for that with the a/c now.

 

I have TRIED to put the temperature at a good reasonable one as I know it's not good for the environment to run it too cold. And my family is freezing much of the time (esp as I have to failure to thrive little boys with so little body fat). But they can put more clothes on and I'm limited. And every time I try to knock it up, even to 74, I'm soaked and sick to my stomach. Yes, I'm going to go to a doctor (I assume I need a gynecologist for this?); but in the meantime, I'm HOT and can only suffer so much. BTW, this is so weird as I've spent all my adult life freezing except for outside in the middle of summer. And I'm not even KINDA old enough for menopause.

 

ETA: I looked and we're averaging 70kW/day this month which will put us about 2100 (or so) this month. That will cost us about $200 which isn't horrendous by any means. In the house we lost, we'd have $400 and $500 electric bills even though we had the a/c set on 84 and were doing every trick in the book to lower it. This house is only a livingroom smaller (still five bedrooms). We just get so excited when we have days where the usage is super low (lowest was 11kW but for a time, we had several in the 20s and 30s. Now, we get excited when it's in the 40s and I'd settle for 50s. I HATE 60s and 70s though!).

Edited June 13, 2011 by 2J5M9K

[Mommyfaithe]

Well, if it makes you feel a y better, I just got a letter from our electric company that we have the 8th highest electrical usage in the entire neighborhood, which won us a free home audit! I figure we work from home, we school at home, we have 2 teens, 2 adult kids who have computers and video games....of course we are going to use more electric than those families who leave for work every day, or the old lady who runs her dishwasher once a week and her laundry is done once a week.

 

We use all fluorescent bulbs, keep our heat and air reasonable.....but, with a large family, we are goi g to use much more electric than people who are rarely home, or live alone.

Faithe

[Jennifer in MI]

Last month we were at 27.6 KWH/day. But, we didn't use the AC at all last month. We also never use our dryer, but it's gas anyway.

 

HTH

[cathmom]

From 4/20 to 5/24 we used 1569 kWh. Average daily usage: 46.

 

We don't really use our dryer. We were home that entire time.

[alpidarkomama]

We've been using 58kwh per day here in sweaty Savannah (family of 6). We've been keeping our thermostat at 74, but I'd like to raise it to 78. I'm going to order some of those cooling bandanas that you can wear around your neck or head. That plus a little fan and you have a personal evaporative cooling system. :) Anyway... we're going to try it out!

[fairfarmhand]

I can't blame the kids. Our older three came from a home that regularly didn't have electricity so they don't even turn on lights, much less leave them on. They do go in and out a bit (and we leave the backdoor open (but the storm door is pretty air tight when closed so then it's just the fact that it's a glass door and not tinted).

 

I think we should blame the teenagers with the computers. Or my hubby with the fans, light, and radio in his man-cave.

 

We do use the dryer a lot as we have a load or two per day PLUS "refreshes" (5-10min to get out wrinkles).

 

I can't compare times very well as we moved in in April. At first, we were using the washer and dryer here. I didn't like theirs though so we exchanged them last month for our own (bought just this year). We saw a big drop in the daily usage initially so that was good. But I think I'm making up for that with the a/c now.

 

I have TRIED to put the temperature at a good reasonable one as I know it's not good for the environment to run it too cold. And my family is freezing much of the time (esp as I have to failure to thrive little boys with so little body fat). But they can put more clothes on and I'm limited. And every time I try to knock it up, even to 74, I'm soaked and sick to my stomach. Yes, I'm going to go to a doctor (I assume I need a gynecologist for this?); but in the meantime, I'm HOT and can only suffer so much. BTW, this is so weird as I've spent all my adult life freezing except for outside in the middle of summer. And I'm not even KINDA old enough for menopause.

 

ETA: I looked and we're averaging 70kW/day this month which will put us about 2100 (or so) this month. That will cost us about $200 which isn't horrendous by any means. In the house we lost, we'd have $400 and $500 electric bills even though we had the a/c set on 84 and were doing every trick in the book to lower it. This house is only a livingroom smaller (still five bedrooms). We just get so excited when we have days where the usage is super low (lowest was 11kW but for a time, we had several in the 20s and 30s. Now, we get excited when it's in the 40s and I'd settle for 50s. I HATE 60s and 70s though!).

 

 

I'd be happy with 200 a month. Last month was 160, but this month will likely be 250 or more as we've had to run the air every day. (there are 6 in my family. 2200 heated/cooled square feet)

[Shellydon]

I keep the AC set on 78 both day and night. When you bump it lower, the price for cooling really shoots up. AC is the thing that costs the most by far on our electricity bill.

[Shellydon]

I can't blame the kids. Our older three came from a home that regularly didn't have electricity so they don't even turn on lights, much less leave them on. They do go in and out a bit (and we leave the backdoor open (but the storm door is pretty air tight when closed so then it's just the fact that it's a glass door and not tinted).

 

I think we should blame the teenagers with the computers. Or my hubby with the fans, light, and radio in his man-cave.

 

We do use the dryer a lot as we have a load or two per day PLUS "refreshes" (5-10min to get out wrinkles).

 

I can't compare times very well as we moved in in April. At first, we were using the washer and dryer here. I didn't like theirs though so we exchanged them last month for our own (bought just this year). We saw a big drop in the daily usage initially so that was good. But I think I'm making up for that with the a/c now.

 

I have TRIED to put the temperature at a good reasonable one as I know it's not good for the environment to run it too cold. And my family is freezing much of the time (esp as I have to failure to thrive little boys with so little body fat). But they can put more clothes on and I'm limited. And every time I try to knock it up, even to 74, I'm soaked and sick to my stomach. Yes, I'm going to go to a doctor (I assume I need a gynecologist for this?); but in the meantime, I'm HOT and can only suffer so much. BTW, this is so weird as I've spent all my adult life freezing except for outside in the middle of summer. And I'm not even KINDA old enough for menopause.

 

ETA: I looked and we're averaging 70kW/day this month which will put us about 2100 (or so) this month. That will cost us about $200 which isn't horrendous by any means. In the house we lost, we'd have $400 and $500 electric bills even though we had the a/c set on 84 and were doing every trick in the book to lower it. This house is only a livingroom smaller (still five bedrooms). We just get so excited when we have days where the usage is super low (lowest was 11kW but for a time, we had several in the 20s and 30s. Now, we get excited when it's in the 40s and I'd settle for 50s. I HATE 60s and 70s though!).

 

 

Lower than 74 is really quite cool, so you are probably to blame. Sorry. There is no way we could afford to keep our AC that low.

[Jan in SC]

Our cost is between $300 and $350 a month, during the summer. We keep it set at 71 during the day and 68 at night. I have no idea how many kw we use, though.

[Daisy]

Lower than 74 is really quite cool, so you are probably to blame. Sorry. There is no way we could afford to keep our AC that low.

 

Ditto. We live in Bakersfield, CA where summer temps are outrageous (think 110) and we set the a/c at 80. During the hottest months of the year we use 1,100 - 1,500 kw and our bill comes out to $250-$350.

 

I don't have a larger family and our house is 1,600 sq feet so it stands to reason that either way our kw usage would be lower than yours.

 

Computers make a huge difference. I can see where using multiple computers would at least compete with the a/c usage. Fans and radios don't seem to make much of a difference around here especially when compared to the computer and a/c. Those are our two biggest energy usages in our house.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Daisy

[lisamarie]

Last month we were at 27.6 KWH/day. But, we didn't use the AC at all last month. We also never use our dryer, but it's gas anyway.

 

HTH

 

Another MI gal. Last month we used 1215kWh and our daily average was 37kWh. I thought that was pretty high for May, but we did have a few 90 days in there. I keep the a/c at 76 during the day and 75 at night with fans blowing on us. By choice, I would have it at 74 or lower at night because I don't sleep so well when it's hot. And we did just have our house weatherized this past winter so I know it's as good as it's gonna get short of buying a new a/c unit.

 

I did figure something out last night though. Our office is in the bedroom right across the hall from the thermostat. DH's computer is HOT HOT HOT and heats up the room big time. I never made the connection between his computer and the a/c running so much in the evenings (when DH is home and using his computer) until last night. In the kitchen it was 71, yet the thermostat on the other end of the house said it was 76 and the a/c kicked on. DH's computer is messing with our system! :glare:

[Pamela H in Texas]

Okay, trying 75 and fan this morning. Not a good start but I brought another fan in the livingroom and it is helping. I just threw the kids outside (we got baths, reading, Spanish done...yay!) and the baby is sleeping so gonna try to do chores. IF I can try for a few days, maybe I'll stop getting sick to my stomach (I hope). Maybe it'll help. Today is a large laundry day (bedding) though so I probably won't be able to tell on my daily usage til tomorrow's numbers come in.

[Teachin'Mine]

I'd call your electric company and ask them if they could do an evaluation of your usage. They often offer a free service and will make recommendations like better weatherstripping, or insulating, etc.. I'm guessing that your glass door should be replaced with a double pane storm door to reduce heat transfer, but there may be other issues as well. Is your water heater electric? If it's older or not very efficient, that can be an electric hog. If that turns out to be the case, you may be able to negotiate with your landlord to have it replaced with a high efficiency one. I'd also check on the clothes dryer venting to make sure that all that heat is going outside.

 

I think that electric bill actually sounds reasonable for 9 people and a nice indoor temp in the summer. If you consider a per person cost, it's actually very good. :)

[Liz CA]

Another thought entirely - do you have a smart meter? Those fairly new ones that were installed recently (at least in our area). I have heard several cases where those new meters were malfunctioning and people got much higher utility bills than they should have. If you suspect this could be the case, you can have it switched out or checked by a tech.

[eight_gregorys]

We are a family of 8. We live in Southern California and I keep our AC/heat set at 70 degrees all year. Our home is around 2000 square feet and our bill runs between $250 & $325. I know I could probably lower our bill, but my husband and I both like the house cool. Our dryer is gas so that isn't included in the electric bill. Our gas bills aren't terribly expensive though....around $40 in summer and more in winter. They balance out though and the total is between $300 and $400 for gas and electric.

[Susan in TX]

Our highest usage in the past two years was 2742KwH in Jan. 2010. It was VERY cold. Our lowest is 1209KwH in Nov. 2009. It was probably a mild Nov. and we didn't need heat or A/C. Last month (May) was 1509KwH.

 

The size of the house you are trying to cool/heat makes a big difference. We have 1200 sq. ft. After heating/cooling the biggest use of electricity, if you are all electric and don't have a gas hot water heater, is the hot water heater. We have 9 people living in the house.

 

Susan in TX

[Aelwydd]

Pamela, my family and I live in the DFW area as well, so it is definitely difficult to stay cool. I mean, look how hot it's been the last several days?!

 

My husband hates the heat, so it's difficult to find a temperature that keeps our utility bills low, but also keeps him cool. We live in a spacious apartment, but it's on the second floor, so even if we keep the a/c set at 74, it ALWAYS is up to 80 degrees by 3 pm. And that's with the shades drawn, no oven or dryer on, lights off, and ceiling fans on. :tongue_smilie:

 

I would caution you about use of a vented dryer during the day, even if it's a HE dryer. The only dryers that don't suck out huge amounts of cubic feet of a/c air are condenser driers. I make sure to do my drying at after 9 pm, and before 8 am. Otherwise, I'm just paying for my a/c air to get heated, and then paying for the same amount of air to be re-cooled again.

[fairfarmhand]

I looked at our last June electric bill. We used about 90 kwh per day.

That would be running the Ac all day every day at around 76. We'd love to make it warmer, but with southern humidity it would be misery.

 

Again, family of 6, 2200 sq ft cooling.

 

BTW, summer cooling is almost a nonegotiable thing. In the winter we can make it cooler in the house, lowering our bill and just wearing extra layers. You can only take off so many clothes in the summer. And you have to be cool in order to sleep.

[AngieW in Texas]

I think you have an insulation issue.

 

I keep the thermostat at about 72 at night and 74-75 in the daytime. I start to feel nauseous if I get too hot. I can handle heat when I'm outdoors, but not when I'm inside.

 

There are 4 of us at home all day (dh is only home in the evening) and we have 3600 square feet of air conditioned space. Last month we use 65 kWhr/day. We're generally a few degrees warmer around Austin than y'all are up there.

 

We also have 3-4 computers that are on nearly all the time along with 2 refrigerator/freezers and a deep freeze. Our house has a lot of windows, so we rarely have lights on in the house before it gets dark.

[Julie in CA]

I'm the wrong person to ask--I've never seen bills like ours.

My bill ending 5/09/11 shows an average of 52.5 Kwh per day.

 

With that said, we haven't really used our a/c yet. We have a 9 yo home with double-paned windows, insulated crawlspace under the house, upgraded roofing with good insulation & ventilation. I line dry most of our laundry. We try to use fluorescent bulbs where it's practical to do so, and we don't have a pool or anything else that should be sucking extra juice. We have zoned a/c so we only cool the main area of our house during the day, and we only cool the bedroom area of our house at night. When the a/c is on, it's set to cool to 79*. Our summertime electricity bills....

 

 

 

 

Wait for it.............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait for it..................................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:001_huh: :glare: :svengo: :nopity:

Over $1,000 per month in the summer.

 

When I call PG&E to inquire about this (and I have called several times) I get a standard answer each time. "We recommend that you set your air conditioner no lower than 80*".

Umm.....thanks. :glare:

[Sparkle]

Our bill shows for April-May we averaged about 24 kWh/day - weather was very cool for the most part though. Looking at last year's bill, July was our heaviest month, and that was about 50 kWh/day. I do like to keep the house cool, so I usually have the a/c set to about 72-73 degrees.

[Melissa in Australia]

If it is hot why don't you line dry your laundry, you would save many $$$$

[Pamela H in Texas]

Wow Susan! First, to have such a reasonable kW usage consistently for such a large family is great! Second, to have such a modest home with such a large family is also great.

 

(In our defense, we have state rules to contend with on housing size. I most certainly can see how we could live with much smaller, but the state wouldn't allow many things I'd do to make that happen including "too few" sq ft, certain room combining options, etc)

 

Appliances: Everything is pretty new as the house isn't even 3 years old. We just bought a new energy star washer/drier this past Spring. But we definitely could hang more clothing (right now, it's just towels, swim wear, diapers). And other than bedding, I *could* run the dryer later in the evening. On the water heater...it is electric. However, it is VERY well insulated which no doubt helps.

 

We DO have a Smart Meter. At first, I wanted to jump on this, but since the jump definitely seems related to the increase of temperature (and we had a pretty mild Spring and Summer is hitting pretty hard), I think I just need to suck this up. And yet, I keep thinking of the drastic drop we had after we changed out their washer/drier for our own...It would be worth it to get them to check it at least.

 

As for insulation...I am pretty comfy with that one. When the house was built, less than 3 years ago, the guy chose both the radiant barrier AND additional insulation. He tends to "overdo" such things (like I said with the water heater). He also did similarly with the screen doors (though I wish he had gone with tinted as well since we do have to keep the main door open for supervision reasons; but there is no air getting through).

 

This is how it's looked since we moved here (all but 3 weeks of which, we've had 9 people and we had 7 except for those):

 

April's average: 44 kW per day

May's average: 50 kW per day

June's (so far): 70kW per day

 

It's that jump that is bugging me.

 

Yesterday, I did REALLY well with 75 for the most part. I did have to pull my hair up and take a few breaks in front of the fan, but it really wasn't so hard. I think I can stick it out. I didn't do as well at 72 overnight (woke drenched after 5 hours of sleep despite two fans).

 

And I will go to the doctor as I assume this is some sort of hormonal imbalance causing me to be SO hot fairly suddenly. Don't know what they can really DO about it though. I thought it could have been my thyroid (which took me a decade to get stabilized), but my TSH is in a sweet spot so that isn't it.

 

Anyway, so I'm going to get serious about a few of the little things and hope it makes a difference. And I'm going to see if I can get used to 75 (and if I do, maybe I can try higher). We'll see how it goes.

 

Oh, and I'm going to be thankful for electric company choice and a good rate. The owners were paying 13cents/kWh. We pay 9. Right now, my balance says I have $86 which translates to about 13 days (and some change) at our current usage rate. Again, so much better than our old house!

Edited June 14, 2011 by 2J5M9K

[farmwife]

Please don't feel bad. We use 4,280 kwh per month or more. But we do have a dairy farm. ;)

[farmwife]

Over $1,000 per month in the summer.

 

When I call PG&E to inquire about this (and I have called several times) I get a standard answer each time. "We recommend that you set your air conditioner no lower than 80*".

Umm.....thanks. :glare:

 

Julie...I feel better now. Our bill was only $515 this month. I guess it is one of the disadvantages of dairy farmers...high electic bills!;)

[MaMa2005]

We live in GA so the same as TX. Our bill for last period was right at $150. Don't know the KW.

 

Just FYI that I found out this week - we are having to replace two central HVAC systems ($$$$$$$$$$$ :svengo:) and each company that we have gotten estimates from have determined how much heat each person in the house gives off to determine the size of the units we need. Since you have a large family, according to these guys, it takes more energy to heat/cool your home.

 

See -- it isn't your fault :D.

[Rosyl]

I can't tell you my daily usage, but i can tell you the difference between 2 people-about 53.00 for my bil and sil vs 150.00 for our family of six.

 

I do 3 times the laundry, 3x's the dishwasher, 3'xs the computer and tv usage and 3x's the the lights left on.

 

 

I should mention motion detector lights to my dh, I think he would love that and I would love to not have him complain about lights left on. I'm loving the idea , too.

[goldberry]

My family in Texas in a 3/2 house regularly has a bill over $200. I don't think that's bad for Texas.

[happypamama]

Our family is on the larger side, but it's the size of the house that seems to make the most difference. We have electric baseboard heat in several rooms and window AC units, and those are the biggest factors in our electricity bills. Usually February is our highest month, because it's the absolute coldest, with January up there as well; July and August usually hit pretty high too, but they don't top the heaters. I see a significant drop most springs and falls, though, when we're using limited or no heat or AC.

 

I'd see if your electric company has an equal payment plan. We pay the same amount all year round, regardless of usage, which generally lets us balance out the higher months. Normally, I finish paying for Jan. and Feb. around March or April and then am paying ahead (more than my actual usage) for the spring months, so that when the summer highs hit, I've already paid for them.

 

Also, you might see if your rate per kw is fixed or not; in some areas, the rates can go up in the summer. Ours is fixed, but that is because our state just had a bunch of changes, and now competition is allowed.

 

If the central AC is a little inefficient, you might consider going to window AC units for all or part of the house. I actually like those, because it means that we only cool the parts we really need to cool, when we need to cool them. In our previous house, in order for the central air to cool the bedrooms to a reasonable level for sleeping at night, we had to have it freezing in the family room downstairs. Here, only the bedrooms (which are upstairs) are cooled at night.

[Julie in CA]

Julie...I feel better now. Our bill was only $515 this month. I guess it is one of the disadvantages of dairy farmers...high electic bills!;)

Yes, but doggone it, our house is on a completely separate meter from the dairy! We are actually separated from the dairy by about 1/2 mile, since our house is on one end of our property, and the dairy is on the other. We have completely different addresses, right down to the fact that we're listed as being on one road, and the dairy address is on a different road (we own a corner). I can't blame this on the cows. :glare: :glare:

[Sparkle]

Another thought entirely - do you have a smart meter? Those fairly new ones that were installed recently (at least in our area). I have heard several cases where those new meters were malfunctioning and people got much higher utility bills than they should have. If you suspect this could be the case, you can have it switched out or checked by a tech.

 

:iagree: I've heard this too.