Texas Heat!
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Bird
Rest in Peace
We hit 100 around 10 a.m., 101 by 11 a.m. and only 107 now.
Jim,
Perhaps your daughter needs to do an electrical use audit. If the bill is way out of line the meter could also be faulty.
When you add your pond aerator and run it 24/7 probably be another $30 per month for you if it is 1 HP running on 110V.
Bird
Rest in Peace
My last electric bill was $263.19 and the water/sewer/garbage bill was $162.80. Of course, we just have a 1295 sq. ft. air-conditioned house. I did run the window unit in the shop for 30 minutes to an hour probably 6 or 8 days.
Our youngest daughter has a 2947 sq. ft. 2-story house in north Fort Worth with 2 separate A/C units; one for upstairs and one for down. The house faces the west and has some big windows on that side, but when they first moved in, they installed some kind of thermal screens; e.g., like a fabric on the inside that you can see out through it but not in from outside. I know the first year they were pleasantly surprised by how low their electric bill was; in fact no more than ours, so I'm going to have to ask what it's like this year.
Both their front and back yards are very small, but they do have a built-in sprinkler system, but I don't have any idea how much they use it. I'm sure they're having to water their landscaping a lot.
jinman
Rest in Peace
- Joined
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- Texas - Wise County - Sunset
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I think my daughter's biggest electric use is her air conditioner. They only have one unit. She said someone had suggested them going to a split system for upstairs/downstairs, but it seems to me that the cold air upstairs would just come rolling down the steps. There is a large family room upstairs that is open, and opening a bedroom door would allow air to empty out pretty quickly if all the doors aren't closed constantly. My daughter likes her bedroom very cool around 72 or less. That means the lower level of her house is probably less than 70 degrees. That's the primary problem in my opinion. The house on the west side of them is a single story house, so they get full sun on their west side walls on the 2nd floor. It all adds up. Another big user of electricity is the pool with a filter system that runs constantly.
300UGUY
Super Member
Did you Texans do something to upset the cosmos? Is Texas the "New Helll ?
Bird
Rest in Peace
Yeah, Jim, I don't really know just how much difference it makes, but I used to like to keep the temperature at 72 or less, and now we keep the thermostat on 76. I have ceiling fans running all the time and Margaret either wears a heavy bathrobe or is sitting under a blanket watching TV.:laughing: And I know even 30 years ago the pool we had cost us.
Bird
Rest in Peace
You know there's some disagreement as to where and by whom the quote originated, but anyway, some have said, "If I owned **** and Texas, I'd rent out Texas and live in ****.":laughing: But it's only miserable, as far as I'm concerned, about 4 months each year.
AGGIE00
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 9, 2010
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She should really look into spray foam in the attic. The advantages are tremendous and especially help with balancing a 2 story house. Once an attic is foamed correctly the temperature will be about 10 degrees higher than inside the house. Contractors are hungry right now and with electric bills like that the payback will come quickly.
LarryD
Veteran Member
From what I recall about my first 24 years in Texas, you are just getting into the "miserable" period.
When I was in Cairo, we had a new Engineering Security Officer arrive and she wanted to improve the video surveillance for the embassy in Saudi Arabia, in August!:shocked: I told her this would be better done in the winter months and to just trust me. We arrived to over 120º temps and I think she realized then what I was talking about. It was like sticking your head in an oven.
