you probably had a gas water heater, gas heat, a more efficient refrigerator and better insulation.

There are a THOUSAND reasons why the bills could be different.

3/12/2006 3:47:04 PM

Muthafucker, do you think I am really a goddamn idiot or something? WHY IN THE FUCK WOULD I COMPARE ANOTHER PLACE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IF THE TWO PLACES ARE NOT SIMILAR, I.E. ELECTRIC IN BOTH PLACES, ELECTRIC WATER HEATER... WHAT THE FUCK DOES INSULATION HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HEATING ON TO COMPENSATE FOR THE HEAT LOSS??


[Edited on March 12, 2006 at 3:54 PM. Reason : blah]

3/12/2006 3:53:16 PM

so you are saying there is some HUGE problem because your monthly power bill is less than HALF WHAT IT USED TO BE?

Taking out the fucking connection fee, your bill was 34 bucks. Less than half of the 80 in your old place. So what the fuck is it you are complaining about again? Are you unable to do basic math here?

3/12/2006 4:04:57 PM

80/4 = 20 EACH FOR 4 PEOPLE FOR 1 FULL MONTH

THAT DOES NOT EQUAL OR COME CLOSE TO 34 FOR 1 PERSON FOR 18 DAYS

3/12/2006 4:08:21 PM

hell yes it does, because the BULK of your electricity usage comes from base items.

heat, water heater, fridge. which you would know if you had been listening to what people are trying to fucking tell you.

my electricity went from 40 bucks a month to 55 bucks a month from living alone, to getting a roomate. in the same house.

3/12/2006 4:23:37 PM

I understand that clearly, but if 4 computers were running all day at my last apt, lights on ALL the time, random shit just being left on, etc etc, and according to your estimated values of how much a computer, a lightbulb, etc , cost a month to run, this does not add up even within a reasonable range of the bill at my last apt.

3/12/2006 4:36:17 PM

3/12/2006 4:38:06 PM

What people are trying to tell you if you would pay any attention is that your base electrical use which is part of living regardless of whether it's 1 or 100 people should easily start at somewhere around $20-30 / month and then the rest of your electric bill is shit you add on top of that. Your personal shit therefore accounts for another ~$10-20 / month. In otherwords a $40 electric bill for a 1 person apartment is not uncommon. Therefore the math works out. If you add more people with each person's personal shit accounting for another $10-$20 / month you will easily make an $80+ electric bill.

In otherwords there is a base cost that you will have because that is the cost of living (your water heater, fridge, stove and microwave if you use it) that will be roughly the same no matter where you go and it makes a good portion of your electric bill. Your random shit is less of your bill than you think. Your energy use is not a linear function of the number of people in the building.

[Edited on March 12, 2006 at 4:53 PM. Reason : sdf]

3/12/2006 4:51:06 PM

Just shut up and pay the bill... I lived with 3 other people and never paid more than $30/month for my 4th of the bill... now I live alone, and my bill averages out to be $67/month over the course of a year...

3/12/2006 4:52:52 PM

are you still living in an apt for 4 people? if so, go close the unused heat vents and shove towels under the door.

3/12/2006 5:16:56 PM

Has anyone else a problem with a high power bill? Yes, except ours was about $180/m. You think $32 for 17 days is high. Wow.

Someone probably covered it but this is when "strip", "aux", etc. heating more or less works.

Aux heating will more than likely come on when you try to raise the thermostat several degrees at once. It doesn't matter if you are going from 55 degrees to 65 or from 65 to 75. Aux heating will come on to help you get to the desired temperature as quick as it can. It is much, much better to raise the temperature a few degrees, let the AC unit work on attaining that temperature for a while, then raise it a few degrees more. That way you avoid activating the aux heat because you are only inching it up little by little every hour or so.

This is one of the reasons why it is best to just leave it on all day. Your system is only working off a few degrees at a time so the aux is never used. The aux is probably used in your scenario because you come home from work and just turn it on. You are probably engaging the aux heat because the temperature your apartment is at when you walk in the door is far enough away from the temperature that your thermostat is set to. Remember it is trying to get to the desired temperature as soon as possible.

The aux heat will come on when it is too cold outside for the heat pump to make any difference. The heat pump is trying to get as much "hot" air from the outside as it possibly can. It relies on aux heat when it cannot pull enough heat from the outside air.

The aux heat will also come on when you have your system set to heat but the outside unit is currently running its air condition (cool) cycle to melt any ice buildup on the coils. It runs the aux heat during this cycle so that the air coming out of the system will not be cold.

The aux heat will also come on when you force it to by pushing the aux heat button on the thermostat (don't do this).

Another thing you can do is check the freon level in your heat pump. Ours was low, when we got it filled up it reduced heating costs by (I wanna say) $30/month. It was obvious that ours was low because the outside unit would always freeze solid.

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 8:10 AM. Reason : -]

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 8:15 AM. Reason : -]

3/13/2006 8:06:34 AM