How the hell do some of you people only have a $22 power bill?? you can't even run a damn toaster on that amount. Im on equal payment so I pay $75 monthly regardless of usage for my 3 bedroom house. The winter months yes my power usage doubles from what it is in oct or april when i barely used the central Air.

2/15/2007 10:27:16 PM

funny i should see this, our average bill has been around 150 and this past month's bill was 290 and apparently we aren't alone. this is strange....

2/16/2007 1:25:12 AM

same here. Mine was $100 for january and the new bill is around $200. I need to move to florida.

2/16/2007 8:55:39 AM

How many of you who got really high bills for January also got new power meters?

2/16/2007 11:01:33 AM

I once lived in an apartment where the heat pump for our neighbor was hooked up to our electricity and our heat pump was hooked up to our neighbor's electricity. We paid a good years worth of electric bills and didn't find out until the neighbors moved and their electricity was cut off.

^ when we got a new power meter (digital) our electric bills went down a good percentage - kinda makes me think that the old meters were scamming us with their inaccuracy.



[Edited on February 16, 2007 at 12:09 PM. Reason : -]

2/16/2007 12:07:41 PM

Yea, the old meters were often way off, but from the stories I've heard, most read low. A lot of people's bills went up with the digital meters that are supposedly more accurate (and more consistent).

2/16/2007 12:20:23 PM

Quote :

""ok i have a space heater, the oil kind, not the fan. i thought our bill went up because i've been using that a lot,""

Quote :

"doesn't matter. i use a space heater all the time. doesn't affect my bill very much at all. mine's like 1500watts, like a hair dryer."

well then why the hell am i paying 40% of the power bill instead of the normal 33%? so stupid. sorry i like to be warm and maybe have the heat on in the winter. wtf.

[Edited on February 16, 2007 at 3:24 PM. Reason : ""]

2/16/2007 3:24:01 PM

I found out today that my high January bill was due, at least in part, to a malfunctioning water heater.

2/17/2007 3:14:21 AM

Quote :

"I found out today that my high January bill was due, at least in part, to a malfunctioning water heater."

yeah a water heater can screw you over big time. and they won't do much to help, just say you used that power. when i worked there it was said to see people get screwed because of a water heater or heat malfunctioning problem. there bill would skyrocket to like 500 or 1000 dollars and they wouldnt try to to work out a way to pay it. sad.

2/17/2007 11:50:23 AM

yeah most people on TWW are broke pieces of shit and their opinion on monetary matters means nothing and represents a very small portion of the population

2/17/2007 7:04:21 PM

I'm sure there troubles are overwhelming.

2/17/2007 9:33:31 PM

i just figured out that i can turn off the vents to the upstairs with a switch in the laundry room.

2/17/2007 9:40:29 PM

My power bill has normal, but my gas bill more than doubled.

2/18/2007 2:50:58 PM

My power would have been $186 this month. thats almost 3 times normal. and lookin at graph it was way over usage from last feb. damn cold weather.

2/24/2007 5:07:56 PM

42 yay

2/24/2007 5:16:07 PM

basically...

Quote :

"Energy is just a fuckin monopoly and knows there aint much you can do about it so they dont really care."

and...

Quote :

"How many of you who got really high bills for January also got new power meters?"

and...

Quote :

"A lot of people's bills went up with the digital meters that are supposedly more accurate (and more consistent)."

hmm... sounds odd huh?

2/24/2007 9:34:54 PM

shut the fuck up with that conspiracy shit. energy readings went up with the new digital meters because the old induction based meters were inaccurate and the meter technicians fucked up the multipliers all the time. the T&D market is heavily regulated by the federal government, and they have a much lower profit margin than what is seen by other companies.

There is actually a lot you can do about it if you think your meter reading is being falsified. If you really think you're a victim of meter fraud, then file a complaint with the utilities commission for the state you reside in. Be prepared to be made feel like a dumbass when they show you how accurate your energy reading is.

I want to get one of the new time based digital meters so that I can get on a peak shaving program and save money.

[Edited on February 24, 2007 at 10:12 PM. Reason : more.]

2/24/2007 10:09:24 PM

I like how they keep sending me letters trying to get on that average pay scale shit....


their means of convincing me?


"Your average monthly bill is $55. If you switch to our pay scale program, you will only pay $85 a month!"



YEAH.




THAT'S SMART.

2/24/2007 11:08:07 PM

bttt

9/13/2007 9:08:30 PM

We just got our electricity bill, and for a 2 bedroom townhouse it was $220 for the last month. For two people that are pretty electric-conscious, have the whole house lit with energy-saving bulbs, and have never had a bill this high it just makes no sense. Any one else going through this? Are our houses using that much a/c cause of the insane heat or because of the drought or what?

9/13/2007 9:12:41 PM

neighbors stealing power?

[Edited on September 13, 2007 at 9:34 PM. Reason : oops, this is the lounge]

9/13/2007 9:28:27 PM

if you have cfl bulbs in fixtures that you only use for a short duration, that'll use a lot more electricity.

so replace them with incandescents and it'll be cheaper.

9/13/2007 10:02:35 PM

Take a look at your power usage. Does your AC run all the time? Does it blow cold air? Does your fridge run all the time? To you leave multiple computers running 24/7? Is your water heater (if electric) working properly? IF you use them frequently, are the heating elements in your oven and clothes dryer in proper condition?

For most people, the HVAC system and the water heater account for 65%-75% of all the power used. Check those first.

9/13/2007 10:30:39 PM

Quote :

"if you have cfl bulbs in fixtures that you only use for a short duration, that'll use a lot more electricity. so replace them with incandescents and it'll be cheaper."

That is a myth. You would have to only leave your lights on for a fraction of a second each time for florescent bults to consume more power.

That said, incandescent bulbs cost far less, and paying an extra $3 for a bulb that is only saving you 10 cents a year is a bad investment.

Quote :

"For two people that are pretty electric-conscious, have the whole house lit with energy-saving bulbs, and have never had a bill this high it just makes no sense"

We too were shocked by that, until we discovered the townhome we lived in used electric (resistive) heating, which consumes about five times more electricity compared to a heat-pump.

I know it is no longer winter, but whenever winter returns, if you know your heater is neither gas nor oil burning then go outside when the heater is running and make sure the compressor (of the air conditioner) is also running. If so, then it is a heat-pump, congrats. If not, then get ready for a shock when the power bill arrives.

9/14/2007 12:44:34 AM

she lives at gorman crossings, which is horrible for power bills

9/14/2007 12:51:11 AM

i seriously doubt that the fact it's been near 100 degrees every fucking day in august has anything to do with a high power bill.

9/14/2007 9:24:45 AM

most people don't realize, but you actually pay more per kilowatt-hour from july to october

9/14/2007 9:34:50 AM

you pay more for a kWh whenever utilities have to pay for peak generation. June-September and December-February are usually the highest months in NC. I think winter kWh rates are usually higher in NC because of the massive amount of heat pumps found throughout this state.

9/14/2007 9:41:33 AM

i have a 2 bed townhouse also, and mine was $190.

i gave up fighting with CP&L though. i mean really, what other option do you have for power? they can charge as much as they want to and we'll still hand the money over every month.

9/14/2007 9:51:40 AM

I suspect you were fighting the wrong people. Don't fight the power company, just use less power if it bothers you so.

9/14/2007 9:56:47 AM

^^^july-october

9/14/2007 10:15:36 AM

^^^ A power bill that high almost always means that something is broken.

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 10:31 AM. Reason : english FTL]

9/14/2007 10:30:06 AM

Anyone have Duke Power? I can't figure out how to set up monthly billing. I found the section to do it, but it has a required field called payment amount. I just want to pay the entire balance every month.

9/14/2007 10:54:08 AM

Friend of mine had the same issue with their auto bill bullshit... I can't help you much, but I know he's forgotten to pay his power so many times they've cut his shit off twice lol. So, yeah, call them and ask

9/14/2007 11:12:06 AM

Hah. Yeah, I forgot to pay my bill last month and I thought my bill had doubled this month.

9/14/2007 11:26:50 AM

Quote :

"That said, incandescent bulbs cost far less, and paying an extra $3 for a bulb that is only saving you 10 cents a year is a bad investment."

sounds like you need a lesson in mathematics.
A ~23W CFL has the equilavent light output as a 60W bulb.
If you have this light on for a conservative 5 hours a day then the following math
is the electrical cost for a year given $0.085/ KWh


23W CFL-
5 Hours/day * 0.023KW * $0.085/$Kh * 365days/yr= $3.56 per CFL a year

60W Incandecent

5 Hours/day * 0.060KW * $0.085/$Kh *365 days/ yr= $9.30


Which equates to a saving of $5.74/ year.
This neglects the fact that a CFL will need replacing far less then an incandecent and
the extra cooling load (although minor) of the AC during the warm months due to heat
dissipation.

Quote :

"most people don't realize, but you actually pay more per kilowatt-hour from july to october"

yeah my worst power bills were the ones i received in march and february ( so this was power used in Feb & Jan)
they were about 2x of what i paid even in the heat of summer. My newest bill was only
$39 even with it being the hottest Aug on record whereas my bill in march for the month
of January was $81. Its pretty awesome though I have had $20 bills during the spring and fall

9/14/2007 12:05:41 PM

Quote :

"A ~23W CFL has the equilavent light output as a 60W bulb. "

13w

13W CFL-
5 Hours/day * 0.013KW * $0.085/$Kh * 365days/yr= $2.62 per CFL a year

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 12:13 PM. Reason : f]

9/14/2007 12:12:15 PM

^^i *discovered* this little fact after i happened to compare the bill for june with the one from july, and noticed that our usage went down and the bill went up--it's something like 10% higher during those months

^a nominal 13w cfl really uses about 20w, so in actuality it would be about $3--but the 13w are the ones that are usually comparable to a 60w incandescent

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 12:22 PM. Reason : ...]

9/14/2007 12:16:52 PM

yeah i i'm just being a loser.

i use the 100w equivalent ones muhself.

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 12:52 PM. Reason : f]

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 12:53 PM. Reason : wh ]

9/14/2007 12:52:25 PM

our cp&l bills for the last 3-4 months have been outrageous (close to $300)

granted we had 3-4 people living here at times.

but the roommates have been gone for almost 2 months and the bills haven't gone down. Considering one roommate had her computer on 24/7 and lights were left on all the time.
We also had a struggle with the AC temperature with it being constantly adjusted by 3-4 people.

Now my husband and I are trying to figure out how to manage it
* I think it's best to leave it at a constant temp, say 75 and turn on a fan (we have either a ceiling fan or a rotating one in every room) if its hot rather than keep on adjusting the controls.
* My husband thinks we should just turn it off or up to 80 when we're not home during the day and then bring it back down to 70 - but the house is an oven when we come home and it never cools down and I'm still sweating by bedtime.
* whos right? *


We have a split level house with high ceilings in the living room and kitchen which I know isn't helping. I also moved my reptiles back to the classroom so their absence should make the usage go down (light bulbs and undertankheat pads that were timed to be on 12-14 hrs/day)
However, we put hardwood floors in the house which should help keep it cool.
I know they suck in the winter when you're trying to heat the house.

I would think that only 2 people here and cutting our usage back so much would make a difference. I've even closed the vents in the rooms we're not using anymore.

I've never seen someone read our meter and assume they're just estimating (which sucks since our house was a rental for the last 8 yrs and always had a lot of people living it)

any advice??

9/14/2007 12:53:33 PM

^most CP&L meters have been converted to AMR technology around here, so they don't have to do anything more than drive by your meter in a truck to get your reading.

9/14/2007 1:10:57 PM

Your bills are high because you run your AC at 70 degrees all day.

At our house, we kept it at 80/80 and at my new house now I'm keeping at 78/74 (downstairs/upstairs).

Electric bill for this month was under 100$.

9/14/2007 1:20:56 PM

Is it not bad for the AC to keep it really high during the day and low when you get home?

9/14/2007 1:38:11 PM

Quote :

"A power bill that high almost always means that something is broken"

ya, tha anti-monopoly laws.

9/14/2007 2:39:43 PM

^^^ i didn't say that we run it at 70 all day.

Our house is a little over 1600 sq ft.

It wasn't so bad when 4 people were splitting the bill but now with just the 2 of us it's a lot of $

9/14/2007 2:46:34 PM

Quote :

"Is it not bad for the AC to keep it really high during the day and low when you get home? "

it's only bad if you have it cutting on and off a lot throughout the day. having the AC follow the natural temperature cycle of the outside won't hurt it and will save you money on your power bill.

9/14/2007 3:02:44 PM

good luck. power companies suck. monopoly.

9/14/2007 3:39:32 PM

Quote :

"sounds like you need a lesson in mathematics. A ~23W CFL has the equilavent light output as a 60W bulb. If you have this light on for a conservative 5 hours a day then the following math is the electrical cost for a year given $0.085/ KWh"

Allow me to re-quote the individual I was responding to:

Quote :

"if you have cfl bulbs in fixtures that you only use for a short duration"

So, forgive me for concluding a bulb "that you only use for a short duration" is on for far less than 5 hours a day. My closet lights off most days, perhaps 20 minutes a week.

So the math works out to:
$0.03 per year for CFL
$0.09 per year for incandescent

Now, explain to me again why I should spend $3 to save $0.06?

9/14/2007 6:12:00 PM

70? Wow! Are you from up North? I never cool below 80 and it's comfortable.

9/15/2007 3:05:07 PM

Stop whining about power costs in this state.
http://www.newsobserver.com/1156/story/379965.html

Quote :

"For a typical December's worth of electricity, Duke Power will charge an average household $84.07, and Progress Energy will bill $93.14, including fees and taxes. The same amount of electricity this month will cost a New York City resident $217.52, and add up to $179.31 in Pomona, Calif."

Quote :

"Progress Energy and Duke Power agreed in 2002 to a rate freeze until 2008 as part of a state requirement to curb emissions from coal-fired power plants. The companies can raise their prices to account for fuel costs, but not for operating expenses such as payroll or equipment. To control operating costs, Progress Energy gave early buyouts to 1,447 workers this year."

I'm betting many of you (counting roomates) have a couple of PC's that pretty much stay on all the time. Each one of those is adding up to $25 per month to your electricity bill.

9/15/2007 3:42:17 PM