what on earth does electricity cost near you?

[check]

Costs are relative..... a business associate years ago moved from Texas to Quebec. Major tax shock. There can be big tax variations even within a Province or State. I noticed looking around this province for real estate 30 years ago, that there were big variations from one town to another. It would be interesting to see how the San Antonio tax load compares to the average for Texas. You are fortunate to have various low cost locales to choose from in the USA. Rgds, D.

Don't feel too bad, Dave as you said, costs are relative. For xample, while we pay a lot for electricity here, the values of detached homes in Toronto went up 26% in the last year. As well, you wouldn't want to be the guy that I met up with at the Cottage who had a bladder infection while travelling in the US and consequently had to be hospitalized for four days, ending up with something like a $185,000 bill. He had to sell his place, and died anyway.

 

[ultrarunner]

Gas dryer? Gas stove? Gas water heater?

I have a 1250 sq ft house (2500 if you count the semi-finished basement). In the spring and fall days of no HVAC need, 30kwh per day is my lowest.

Heck, on my work days and no one at my shop, I log 5 kWh down there with just a single fridge, a dusk to dawn light, and a LED exit sign.

Electric Dryer and Electric Oven and Cooktop... gas water heater that runs about $8 a month.... also a 22 cu ft 1968 Amana Garage Freezer and a 1980 Amana Refrigerator in the kitchen.

I wash a lot in warm water and probably the last of my neighbors to use a clothes line.

The LED switch made a huge difference... some of the bathroom fixtures at one time had 4 ea 100W bulbs and now they do nicely with two 13.5W LED... so 400W vs. 27W.

On the down side the 400W bulbs kept the mirror from fogging... no such luck with the LED so there is a tradeoff.

 

[LD1]

Boggles my mind how you get usage down to 12kwh/day with an electric oven, fridge, and freezer. Cooking a typical meal in the oven for an hour and a side dish on the top is good for half that. And that's just one meal.

I have an electric water heater. And laundry (dryer) is usually only done on Weekends. A house fridge/freezer side by side, and a fridge and chest freezer in the garage. TVs in the evening, a computer, cooking, coffee pot, lights, it all adds up. I figure my water heater is only good for 10kwh/day. So even if I went gas there, and dryer out of the picture, no way I'd ever be below 25. Which is still double your usage.

 

[ultrarunner]

Our Utility tracks usage and quarterly sends out a statement comparing similar size homes in the area... about a 150 and my usage always earns two smiley faces... typically in lowest 5% but this is combined for gas and electric.

On the face of it I would say it is climate but this really would not be a factor since I'm compared to neighbors.

It just must be lifestyle and no kids in the house where the washer/dryer runs almost non stop... I do think using a clothes line is significant too...

My brother has 3 teenage daughters and sometimes I think the washer/dryer never stop plus the curling irons, hair dryers and always something cooking.

I generally cook simple and then only dinner...

Also that old 1968 Freezer is not Frost Free which is another energy saver.

 

[3930dave]

Boggles my mind how you get usage down to 12kwh/day with an electric oven, fridge, and freezer. Cooking a typical meal in the oven for an hour and a side dish on the top is good for half that. And that's just one meal.

I'm about 12kwh/day, on natgas for heat and hot water. Similar to ur, we still use a clothesline, with only very occasional dryer use. It all does add up but an electric clothes dryer is a big energy pig - that's the funny thing about seeing clothes lines disappearing, in this Green Environment we are supposedly living in.

We have one small (cube footprint) chest freezer, and only ever have one TV screen on at the most. Some people seem to have 3-6 TVs on in a house, even when they are not there...... it all does add up, even with modern screens.... We never use our range oven except during low TOU pricing, so it is not on a lot. Stove top elements get used, but also a fair amount of microwave heating.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Also that old 1968 Freezer is not Frost Free which is another energy saver.

Your point about old appliances reminded me to check my fridge, as it has a switch to turn off the door heaters. They are only needed during humid weather, to stop condensation forming around the doors - now OFF, so this thread is helping me save a bit more over the Winter....

Our small chest freezer is also manual defrost; it does help save energy.

Rgds, D.

 

[jack707]

WPS their electricity cost is not really that high compared to We Energies in Milwaukee but since you know I leave my I got two pumps for my outside where I leave so they dont freeze up!when I go away and you know my and then I have my welder so the energy bill is like less than a hundred bucks a month.

 

[3930dave]

Only gas here is propane, no bargain. Off peak power and LP are about a draw so installing a LP furnace will never break even let alone pay.
We have a high efficiency fan forced wood burning insert in the fireplace, works great with lots of heat from a modest amount of wood. The novelty of snow covered firewood , bark , dirt , smoke, dirty floors , cold blowing into the house while tossing the wood in and having to keep throwing a couple of sticks of sood in every couple of hours is wearing thin.

One thing people don't like about wood is that you really need to have an attached dry storage area in this climate - common in my grandmother's pre-Confederation farmhouse, but not something most people even think of in the oil age when building new.

A friend of mine was looking for options other than the high-efficiency propane furnace he has, and went with a direct vent pellet stove. He buys pellets by the skid, still has to store them, but hardly uses any propane at all now.

He gets something like 18+ hours from a hopper of pellets. Maintenance is minimal - low ash load, and cleaning the vent pipe (easy to do) once or twice a season is about it. Electric draw is very minimal (auger and fan), so it is not hard to keep running with the grid out. Nice even heat, it's probably what I'd do if I didn't have natgas.

He gets the deal he wants on pellets by hauling a trailer load home when he needs it - some people can't be bothered to do that (I get it), but I have a trailer around anyway, and value the ability to be able to shop around - something you effectively can't do with electric or natgas. You can buy propane, oil, wood off-season, but usually not electricity or natgas.

Rgds, D.

 

[Kryton619]

I have been clearing land to build a new garage / shop at my cottage in Northern Ontario. I have no shortage of wood and am strongly considering installing a rocket mass heater in the new shop for heating. The more I research these things, the more there is to love about them.

rocket stove mass heater

 

[dmccarty]

...

It just must be lifestyle and no kids in the house where the washer/dryer runs almost non stop... I do think using a clothes line is significant too...
...

Yep, it is lifestyle and not having kids. Our clothes washer and dryer runs constantly because of the kids. The machines never seem to stop. Running that dryer on 240v adds up over time and it has to add a considerable percentage to our power bill.

BuickandDeere mentioned a block heater. I run synthetic oil in the truck so I no longer have to use a block heater. Now, it is not as cold down here as up where the funny talking people live, , but it is cold enough that the engine needs to be warmed up or use a block heater. My truck has a 1,500 watt block heater which I would run on a timer that would start three hours before I needed to drive in the morning. That is 4.5 KW per day, five days a week, which is 90 KW hours a month. Our power bill used to be 10 cents a KWH now it is up to 12 cents. Nothing compared to what our Canadian or CA friends are paying. :shocked: But even at our comparatively low rates, that engine block heater cost me 10 dollars a month. I figured that the power savings for using the block heater threeish months a year paid for synthetic oil.

I have been working too many hours at work, which stinks, especially since I don't get OT pay. As a result, we don't have enough firewood to burn this winter so we are having to run the HVAC for heat. We have some wood in case the power goes out and now that I am on vacation I am splitting more wood that I have had cut up and under tarps for a year. That wood is in good shape, and ready to burn, as soon as I split it. Last month the power bill went up 20-30% compared to previous years. Thankfully, it has been a warm fall.

Today it is going to be 60 which is pretty warm for December and I will go split some more firewood. :thumbsup: I should get enough split over the holidays to have enough wood to burn for a good part of the winter. We had a big North Easter a month or so ago that brought down three big trees that I have found so far. Plan to get those cut into rounds, stacked and tarped so we will have plenty of wood next winter. :thumbsup:

Later,
Dan