What's new
By:

A federal program says you should keep your home above 78 degrees

lauriandres said:
WTH? How big is you house/apartment? Our apartment is about 60 m2 and electric bill is about 70 EUR per month and it is composed by the fixed fee and consumption by the kW per hour. Heating from october to may is about 50-100 EUR (we have central system using hot water - the apartment complex pays it to the heating company and the total bill is divided between apartments according to the size of the apartment) . Of course, the heating bill depends on how warm or cold are the winter months; i guess that if the entire month is every day over - 25 degrees celsius, then is about twice as expensive compared when it is mild (temperature between -5 ... +5 degrees)
Click to expand...

We’re 2,749 sf iirc.

Like I said the sump pumps and dehumidifier kill us. I imagine my normal $515 bill in the summer would be around $315-350 if I didn’t have those running all the time. Then factor in just one zone and keeping the house at 68, windows that need to be recaulked, and walls whose insulation is 45 years old and perhaps almost nonexistent at this point and you get my bill.
 
Last edited:
Wes Mantooth said:
My last electric bill was $711. Good times.

I think the one before was estimated and about $150-200 of that are my two sump pumps and dehumidifier all of which run nonstop basically.
Click to expand...
Got us beat. We keep our thermostat at 72 during the night and 74 during the day and ours was $580 last month. We also have fans running all the time.
 
Gameface said:
I'm gonna have to take a HARD pass on that suggestion. 78? 85? **** that!

I've been really proud of myself this year, I've been keeping the thermostat at 73. That's hot for me. If Energy was free and I wasn't married I'd keep my house at 67-68. The think that has helped me deal with 73 is that I bought a room air conditioner for my bedroom and I turn it on when I go to sleep and keep my bedroom at 64 while I'm sleeping. I sleep WAY better when the room is cool.
Click to expand...

*random fart sounds*

I just can't do it. <= 70 please. I will absolutely invoke my "American Privilege" here.
 
Our electric bill used to be pretty bad. I went through and changed every bulb in the house to LED. While the initial cost of the bulbs was substantial it has dropped our monthly bill by nearly $200 a month. Only took about 2 months to recover the initial cost of the bulbs. Oh, and 78-85? Oh, HELL no!
 
Two bedroom apt, with one air conditioner in the living room. If the dew point is in the 70's, I leave the air conditioner at 70 when I go to bed, around 1 AM. The Mrs. retires well before me, and will be asleep by then. We use separate bedrooms, because my C-Pap machine noise bothers her. If the dew point outside is in the lower 60's, I open a window, no air conditioner, and try to fall asleep. Once asleep, the heat won't wake me.

Ours is an all electric apt., and we never go above $150 on the bill. But no way I could deal with 78 or higher. There was no such thing as AC when I was a kid, living in the top floor of a triple decker tenement. Can't imagine how we did it in those days.
 
We rarely use air conditioning in SLC, mostly just on weekends here and there. Not home much on weekdays during the heat of the day. Open windows at night and in the morning helps the house stay well ventilated and cool until late afternoon, then ceiling fans into the evening keeps things pleasant enough. I’ve checked the thermostat maybe twice all summer.
 
I want to know if the good people that put this study together actually keep the temps like they say we should. I guarantee they don't. I like 74ish to live and sleep. We have upstairs and downstairs controls. We have solar (in Norcal its the only way to go) so I leave it at whatever feels most comfortable and DGAF about the bill. I used to be a damned Nazi about the thermostat and would try to leave it at 78ish to sleep because it would keep the bill down a little. The solar life is better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top