My Occasional How Much Was Your Utility Bill Thread

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

I am now paying a monthly amount, based on averages from last year to my landlord, due to some bureaucratic snags in a new law that make it difficult to pay the utility companies directly here as an expat. For my three story house with gas heat and hot water, my monthly average for all utilities except telephone and internet is 150 euros per month.

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

Convert Euros To Dollars

1 euro = 1.3306 US dollars
time 150 euros per month

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Interested in your solar system.

Do you have battery storage or is it just while the sun's shining?

Only when the sun is shining...not a problem in the desert....

[longtimer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close longtimer]

Just paid our electric bill for 2 months - electric only (have oil heat and hot water but have electric stove and dryer) - $182. This is the lowest I can remember in years, but I think it's because we have become empty nesters this year!

Wow - that's good for 2 months. Our main home usually costs about $180/month for gas (budget billing - includes heat, hot water and stove) and $60 to $70 for electric.
Just got our electric bill for our summer home in the Poconos - it was roughly $177 last month! We turn off the hot water heater and drain the lines. So that's only covering a few night lights, the fridge and electric heat.
We'll be looking at converting to propane for next winter. Now I know why my mom always complained of her high electric bills for her all-electric home.!

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

We just got our electric bill and it was $288 for the month. At least $150 of that is for our outdoor Christmas lights that have been up since Thanksgiving. There is another $80 for the swimming pool/spa pumps. Our gas bill is $76.00 Our heating, stove/oven, clothes dryer, 2 fireplaces, BBQ, and pool/spa heater are all natural gas.

December is always our highest electric bill because my wife loves those Christmas lights.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Only when the sun is shining...not a problem in the desert....

Sunny all night, huh?

Our rural co-op has a Green program. Do you get credit for spinning the meter backwards?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

At least $150 of that is for our outdoor Christmas lights that have been up since Thanksgiving.

Our bill's for 10/13-11/11.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Sunny all night, huh?

Our rural co-op has a Green program. Do you get credit for spinning the meter backwards?

Yes, absolutely. We have two categories, peak time and off peak. Since off peak is most of the day, I never spin that one backwards. However, last month I generated so much peak time kwh's that the meter went below zero and ended up as 99974. My bill for that month was initially listed online as over $13K because they charged me the difference between where I started, 24 on the meter, and where I ended up for a total of 99950 peak time kwh's!!! It took them a day to fix it online and by the time my paper bill showed up it was correct.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Our boat dock solar system stores what we capture from the sun in a battery bank, then we use it as we need it. There's a charge controller coming in from the panels and an inverter from the batteries to the dock's circuits.

I have been on a solar power forum for a couple years trying to learn from the ex-spirts. I had pictured something similar for the house, but have not learned that technology has not quite moved along to that point. There are some systems in to $20K range, but battery replacement, a major part of the $2OK, would be every five years or so.

With the small system on the dock the expense v. grid is comparable, but not with the house. We have inexpensive grid here so it is hard to justify alternate energy, wind or solar.

I like the idea of capturing energy that is already there, and free, saving it, and using it as we need it.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Our boat dock solar system stores what we capture from the sun in a battery bank, then we use it as we need it. There's a charge controller coming in from the panels and an inverter from the batteries to the dock's circuits.

I have been on a solar power forum for a couple years trying to learn from the ex-spirts. I had pictured something similar for the house, but have not learned that technology has not quite moved along to that point. There are some systems in to $20K range, but battery replacement, a major part of the $2OK, would be every five years or so.

With the small system on the dock the expense v. grid is comparable, but not with the house. We have inexpensive grid here so it is hard to justify alternate energy, wind or solar.

I like the idea of capturing energy that is already there, and free, saving it, and using it as we need it.

We have not yet generated a total amount of kwh's that is higher than what we use in a month so storage for later use is not an issue for us. We are running a pool filter 8 hours a day so maybe if we didn't have that expense it would be closer but we were still at 200 kwh's last month and that is as low as it has ever been.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

We have not yet generated a total amount of kwh's that is higher than what we use in a month so storage for later use is not an issue for us. We are running a pool filter 8 hours a day so maybe if we didn't have that expense it would be closer but we were still at 200 kwh's last month and that is as low as it has ever been.

Yeah, it would take quite a system and quite a battery bank to do even a small house full-time. When you get into equipment that size, it gets really expensive.

Even if you have one for back-up power, it is expensive.

It's like spend a thousand to save a hundred.

[pranas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pranas]

I just purchased a solar assisted air conditioning/heating system for my home. With the tax credits and rebates it will be costing about 4K more than a regular air conditioning/cooling system. It will not be putting any power back into the grid but should supply all the power the compressor needs. I have some concerns about putting a solar panel on my roof because I live in a hurricane prone area. The extra fees that Florida Power and Light add to my bill each month are just about the same as their charge for electrical power usage. Hopefully, I will be able to recover this 4K in a few years.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Our heat pump shot craps in February, with the only part of the central working since then being the emergency heating elements. You would think we would be screwed.

But, we have heated with three of those radiator-style space heaters, and the emergency heating strips only when it was really cold. It has been comfortable and we can heat just the areas that need it.

The first bill was $150. The one I just got is $109.

We have friends here who have also just been using their heat pump on emergency (elements only) this winter.

We are seriously considering getting two window AC units and forgetting about the central system for awhile. That $5000 is a little steep right now, and there are no rebates this year.

Funny, we bought a 51-year-old house in Florida, and it's systems (HVAC, electrical and plumbing) are better than our house here, since they were all updated 7 years ago.

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

On average how many Kiowatt Hours of Usage do you use each month?

Missouri Electricity Rates
Empire Electric Rates and Standards

From: June 16 to Sept 16 $.1074 per KWH

The other Eight Months of the Year
$.1074 for the first 600 Kiowatt Hours
$.0728 for each KWH thereafter

View Sample Utility Bill for 1,000 KWH at a cost of $109.56

https://www.empiredistrict.com/DocHandler.ashx?id=3821

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Missouri Electricity Rates
Empire Electric Rates and Standards

From: June 16 to Sept 16 $.1074 per KWH

The other Eight Months of the Year
$.1074 for the first 600 Kiowatt Hours
$.0728 for each KWH thereafter

View Sample Utility Bill for 1,000 KWH at a cost of $109.56

https://www.empiredistrict.com/DocHandler.ashx?id=3821

Our electric utility has a tier system which is just the opposite of yours as the cost per KWH rises as you use more.

I didn't think that there were still areas in the US where the cost went down per KWH as you used more electricity. It kind of defeats conservation.