what are you paying for electricity and heating?

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
I have a contract with Duke, fixed bill for 12 months which is based on the previous 12 months. BTW, my house is total electric, no back up heat, no heat pump, just simple baseboard heat. The 2 car attached garage is heated, plus another 2 car garage used as a hobby workshop which I only heat if I'm working in it.
a180736.jpg
 
George I own 2 all electric houses.

The old farm house is not well insulated and had electric baseboard heat installed back in 69 when the old fuel oiloooooout furnace bit the dust. Dad installed the heat and I moved into the house in 79 when he built his new house( also electric baseboard heat). Most winters cost around $1500 to heat the old house with electric. Seems high but that only amts to 1000 or so gallon of LP.

Love the electric heat as it was safe, thermostat in each room and quiet.

The 15 year old one I live in is geo thermal.
 
Forgot to add the geothermal house runs about 400 a year to heat and cool.

I like the geothermal but is not near as trouble free as the electric baseboard.

Gary
 
(quoted from post at 15:33:36 01/25/15) Forgot to add the geothermal house runs about 400 a year to heat and cool.

I like the geothermal but is not near as trouble free as the electric baseboard.

Gary

Gary what trouble have you had with your geothermal? The house we sold 6 years ago had geothermal and other than a water valve it was trouble free for the 8 years we were there. Like you said we spent about $4-500 a year to heat basically a barn and our cost per KWh was $.11. I hope to put one in this house before I get to the point that I can't cut wood.
 
What's your total energy bill for the year. Mine is $1715.88 tax included. That heating, cooling, lights, shop, everything, TOTAL energy bill.
 
I have used one cord of wood and $450.00 for electric for Nov. and Dec.for baseboard heat,water heater,well and lighting. We have LP gas furance but haven't used it this season so far. The only gas we have used is for cooking. Since we put in baseboard heaters we don't have any cold spots in house. I built house back in the early 80's and since then have up graded insulation to 20" in attic and walls can't have any more insulation or it would effect the circulation in walls.
 
We have an electric boiler and supplement with a wood-burning insert. There's no gas or propane so the electricity is our only utility. During the winter our electric bill runs around $300 and is about half that the rest of the time. Our 2000+ square foot house is well over 100 years old so it isn't the tightest structure around.
 
$0.0872 per kWH here, I thought that was pretty cheap.

Money spent on insulation and sealing leaks pays a good return for me.
 
Just paid last months electric bill, $345.00. Usually have a month in the spring and fall that is about $220.00. House is a little over 4400 square feet with two heat pump systems and a mini split in the addition. Two water heaters and two washers & dryers. With four kids there is laundry being done almost daily. And with four females for which there is no such thing as a short shower.
 
I wish i had that bill (Rate)just checked mine Nstar MA
usage 1287 Total bill $259.10 would have been over $500 your usage.
 
The newer house with geo is about 1600 for the year. 2 friges 1 upright deep freeze and electric heated garage at 45 degrees. 2000 sq feet with heated full basement under that..

Jan and Feb of 2014 were the highest ever at 208.

The geo was working overtime in the cold last winter.

Gary

Gary
 
The first compressor took a dump after 12 years.

The new one is more efficient than the first one and seems to run less.

Electric per kilowatt went up but our heating and cooling bill went down.

Gary
 
Straight math puts your rate at .05 per KWH, including all charges.

Mine was .17 last time I checked. Which is why I have a gas stove, oil heat and a wood burner in the living room.

I STILL pay on average $175 a month.
 
(quoted from post at 14:52:56 01/25/15) Straight math puts your rate at .05 per KWH, including all charges.

Mine was .17 last time I checked. Which is why I have a gas stove, oil heat and a wood burner in the living room.

I STILL pay on average $175 a month.

Mine is .14 KWH. We have a electric water heater, and propane for heat. Last year, the propane went to 3.69, it really hurt. This year, I pre paid @ $1.90. Now it is down to about $1.30!!
 
Just GOT MY jan bill 1048 KWH $103.93 plus $80.00 facility charge i am on one of the great Rural Electric Coops. not the facility fee so high because i have 3 phase power i guess 500.00 a mouth during corn dring is not as much as needed and this is no heating as i have N gas cooking ,hot water and heat all gas. I think they are a bunch of crooks
 
I spend $2.00 a day for electric.$.50 for internet. $1.00 for my land line phone. $.25 for my cell phone over $1000.00 a year for auto insurance and then there's TAXES,food,gas and sins... MTP...
 
Our only bill is for this old cell phone with internet, $19.95/month. We have wood heat, cooking and coil to heat water. We make our own electricity. 4-6v batteries, 3 small 24v solar panels and a 24v micro hydro generator from our gravity fed spring. Pretty simple. Small 24v refrigerator and freezer. 6-12v LED lights. This year we added a 24v coil heater (uses excess power from the micro hydro after batteries are charged) and a small computer fan in an air box using insulated flex pipe to blow warm air from ceiling of air lock entry to living and/or sleeping areas. When the sun is out, the heat from the big south facing window, would heat the entry to 85, so now a thermostat starts the fan at 70, On rainy days it turns on the coil at 65. So far this winter, we have been able to let the wood stove go out after cooking and water heating. We have had 2 short 20 degree spells, all was good. We also have a small attached greenhouse, some days we even open a small transom above the woodstove, to let heat into the greenhouse. We also have a small 12v pump in the greenhouse for the aquaponics system....James
 
I have a manufactured home, (doublewide) almost 1900 sq. ft. total electric. My bill for December was $163.00. Considering the price of propane and fuel oil, I'm happy.
 
Pretty pricy for the privilage of an all electric home. You are paying $16 per million BTUs with electric. If you had gas and used the same amount of energy for heating, you would be paying $12.20 per million BTUs. In other words, if your bill was all heat, instead of paying $140, you would only be paying $106.40. It dont seem like much but I will take a 36% saving any day of the week and twice on Sundays! If you had more than one home, boy oh boy would that add up fast!!

http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Calculators/Fuels/FuelCompare.htm

http://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/HeatCost_DukeIn_Nov07.pdf
 
I also have Duke Energy here in Greensboro, NC. My house is all electric. They charge me 10.56 cents per KWH (that includes all taxes and fees). I'm paying for actual usage each month.
 
I assume you mean Natural Gas vs Propane? A lot of people including myself don't have Natural Gas lines where we live. Last winter Propane was quite high--not sure what it is this winter but I doubt it's less than electric here.
 
(quoted from post at 16:09:12 01/25/15) I have a contract with Duke, fixed bill for 12 months which is based on the previous 12 months. BTW, my house is total electric, no back up heat, no heat pump, just simple baseboard heat. The 2 car attached garage is heated, plus another 2 car garage used as a hobby workshop which I only heat if I'm working in it.
a180736.jpg

Well George, I used 2/3 the power you did and my bill is 2 1/2 times what yours is.

Ain't you lucky.
 
We heat with coal (anthracite). The coal comes in 40# bags and one pallet of coal weighs 2400#. I think we paid $375.00 per pallet this year. So far this winter I have used up one pallet. Last year we burned 3 1/3 pallets ,but in was really cold and windy. This winter the weather has been milder with very few windy days.

My Dad heated our home, when I was growing up, with coal. He told me that he quit burning coal when it got up to $12.00 a ton and switched to oil. That was in the 60's. If $12.00/ton for coal was too expensive I wonder what the oil price was?
 
Bret,
What many people have missed is I have a FIXED,
NOT AVERAGED, ELECTRIC BILL, $142.99 for 12
months. In the summer I may only use 600 kw-hrs,
cost is the same $142.99. The cost per KW-hr is
close to $.16. In the summer I'm lucky to go over
1000 kw-hr during the warmest month running the
AC.

Some don't understand that my electric rates are
cheaper than gas because the more electricity I
use the cheaper it gets per Kw-Hr. That is crazy.
What is even more crazy is even if I got the best
gas furnace, I would then pay more for
electricity and gas combined.

14 years ago, it cost me less than $1000 for
wire, thermostats, circuit breakers and baseboard
heaters to make my house total electric. Already
had electric range, dryer. I did have to buy a
electric water heater.

I use the gas furnace blower for the central air.
The old gas water heater is next to it. The gas
company still has the meter connected, but locked
up. I will never go back to gas. Electric
baseboard heat is simple, absolutely no repairs
unlike all other heating sources that have a
short life expendency, like heat pumps. I have a
property that was built in the 60 that is total
electric. Only replaced 1 $15 thermostat in 55
years.

It took me 5 years to build a new house around an
old house, doubling the size. Back then there was
a property tax advantage to doing that.
 

I understand that George. But if I went all electric my monthly bills would be up in the $6-800.00 a month range. I actually pay more for "Delivery Services" than for the power itself.
 
(quoted from post at 08:55:15 01/26/15)
What is even more crazy is even if I got the best
gas furnace, I would then pay more for
electricity and gas combined.

Nope, if you had natural gas your bill would be about $106. Thats about 36% cheaper than using electric alone.

(quoted from post at 08:55:15 01/26/15)14 years ago, it cost me less than $1000 for
wire, thermostats, circuit breakers and baseboard
heaters to make my house total electric. Already
had electric range, dryer. I did have to buy a
electric water heater.

Kind of an expensive way to go. Roughly speaking, you are overpaying $35 a month. So in the 14 years you overpaid about $6,000, not counting the initial $1,000 you spent or the water heater. Thats some serious coin to give up just for the privilege of having an all electric house....

Then you have to factor in you would be off the budget plan so for a couple months in the spring and then again in the fall you wouldnt be saddled with paying a high bill, you would pay next to nothing like everybody else.

Electric- almost every time is the most expensive energy you can buy and you helped prove it with this post, thanks!
 
(quoted from post at 19:18:18 01/26/15) OUCH

Yeah. Consider we heat pretty much exclusively with wood, use a little propane in one back room. Run the lights, dryer, well, water heater, barn well and lights and last month it ran $325.00 plus. 'Lectric ain't cheap here even though we have an enormous power dam across the St Lawrence River 45 miles away. It's 16 turbines produce 900,000 Kw of power that goes to one town here. The rest goes to Ottawa, On and NYC. Of course we pay to help "transport" that power...whatever that means. As I understand it "wouldn't be fair" for us up here to get a break on our power costs but somehow it is for NYC to do the same.
 
Some day my rates will have to go up when natural
gas replaces coal. Then it may pay to go back to
95%+ NG.
 
(quoted from post at 20:11:52 01/26/15)
(quoted from post at 08:55:15 01/26/15)
What is even more crazy is even if I got the best
gas furnace, I would then pay more for
electricity and gas combined.

Nope, if you had natural gas your bill would be about $106. Thats about 36% cheaper than using electric alone.

(quoted from post at 08:55:15 01/26/15)14 years ago, it cost me less than $1000 for
wire, thermostats, circuit breakers and baseboard
heaters to make my house total electric. Already
had electric range, dryer. I did have to buy a
electric water heater.

Kind of an expensive way to go. Roughly speaking, you are overpaying $35 a month. So in the 14 years you overpaid about $6,000, not counting the initial $1,000 you spent or the water heater. Thats some serious coin to give up just for the privilege of having an all electric house....

Then you have to factor in you would be off the budget plan so for a couple months in the spring and then again in the fall you wouldnt be saddled with paying a high bill, you would pay next to nothing like everybody else.

Electric- almost every time is the most expensive energy you can buy and you helped prove it with this post, thanks!

I don't have a dog in this fight, but who in the world $pend$ a grand on a water heater? The one I bought a couple years back was kinda steep and it wasn't $400.00.

Maybe I do have a dog in this fight after all. Nothing peeves me more than those who have natural gas piped to their homes telling everyone else how good they have it. The nearest gas line is 15 miles away from me. Does me no good to even consider what those with NG pay. Out here it's electric, propane, fuel oil or wood. Take your pick. I might say that you are over paying int he example you offered by $106.00 because you don't have a wood boiler to heat your home and water using wood you get off your own land. It's just as "free" as anything else in this discussion. You guys trade your labor for money to pay the bill for heat and hot water. Someone with a boiler would just trade his labor to himself for the same thing.

All in your perspective I guess.
 
Sounds like the hydro electric power is the thing. Is yours like the one that the Mountain Man Hustes (spelling) had. I had great plans to build a wind mill and install solar chargers, to become self sufficient. Problem is I can heat and aircondition my house for about $230 in a real cold month.Heat pump. Vic
 

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