What is your Electric Bill?

Is it increasing?

[Visit Thailand]

Some of the comments in this thread (http://www.webmasterworld.com/foo/3838898.htm) about the economy mentioned electric bills, and as we have a global audience I was wondering what is your monthly electric bill like?

At home I spend around 3000 Baht which is just under US$ 100 per month.

I have many aircons but only use the one at night normally.

How much do you spend and what consumes that amount?

[Green_Grass]

I also spend apx. USD 100 a month, on average, per month. I am in North India. The summers are extreme, which makes usage of aircons mandatory, during the day and night. Winters mostly mild. The average works out to USD 100 a month.

[Yoshimi]

I think mine is around £25 per month, 3 bed terrace house with 2 people in it, but we are very concious of our electricity use, there is generally one light on in the house at any given time, all lights use energy efficient bulbs, all appliances (including TV, x box, microwave) are switched off at night or when not in use, we watch very little tv, and my only electric luxury is leaving my netbook on and plugged in all of the time .

Doing all this we haven't had a noticeable electricity rise in 5 years.

[tangor]

We are in constant battle with e company. They don't read our meter (I watch their guys dis us as they do the neighborhood) and then say we use what everyone else does... and we don't have central anything! About $300 month.. but that also includes all the cr*p they are demanding for "repairs" for Hurricane Ike slamming us... and we without power for 13 days. And billing us for living by candlelight. Fun stuff.

[steve40]

I live in the frozen tundra called the Midwest and to make it worse live in a converted barn that was built post and beam over 100 years ago , Monthly energy bill $470.00 per month with worst month ( January ) last year hitting $1,500 for one month and the house was still cold ( 5 frozen pipes and two burst pipes in one season. This year installed couple of pellet burners to help very pleased house is now warm and this January bill ( plus 5 degrees colder than last year ) was $750 and the house was warm and no burst pipes.

So hoping when it comes round to this years monthly budget payment will go below $300.00 per month.

steve

[wyweb]

12 month average is 264.00 (US)

Much higher in the summer. I love my AC. Lower in winter. That's when the gas bill skyrockets.

[rocknbil]

$250 - $350 winter, $100-$150 summer, USD.

Yes. Ouch.

[GaryK]

I'm in Miami so bills are much higher in summer than winter. It also tends to be warm for most of the winter. I like it very cold so average indoor temperature year round is 65°F.

Since I work at home I'm running several servers and computers here. They're all on 24/7 except my laptop.

My condo is very well insulated and gets no direct sunlight which helps keep things cooler than average.

So average summer bill this past year was $360 USD. Average non-summer bill this fall and winter has been $240 USD.

Florida Power & Light adds an oil surcharge as-needed, and it's varied with the price of oil. The past year has been a bit more expensive than recent previous years.

[pageoneresults]

Single male living in the dark about $80 to $110 per month.

Before I leave this great planet of ours, I do want to go "off the grid".

[grandpa]

"off the grid"

$0.00

Solar panel and a few deep cycle batteries give me all the light I need (fluorescent tubes) with enough to run battery chargers and a small fan in the summer. A 12v pump provides water from a 750 gallon tank outside for sink and shower. Propane and a radiant heater, and a few good blankets, provide enough warmth.

I have run a laptop at night, with three or four hours of service.

[tbear]

I really do admire your lifestyle, grandpa. It's what I aspire to, here in Spain.

My electric bill is quite low for lack of appliances....LOL.... maybe 50 euros per month.

But, perhaps we should also express our power bills in relation to what percentage of our earnings they cost us.
I don't know how many dollars, pounds sterling, baht, dollars Au, anyone earns.
So, 50 euros per month is equivalent to one tenth of the average/good apartment rental fees around here. Rental fees which could account for, maybe, two thirds of your earnings, or more!

Just a thought...

[adamxcl]

$80 elec and gas. I'm in Santa Fe, New Mexico with a passive solar house. Nice because as long as the sunshines, I stay 72-75 when it's less than 40 outside at no cost. Have to use gas or elec at night though. We get some clouds every couple weeks or so and those days are cooler, drops the house into the upper 60s.

I just changed to a heated mattress pad, thinking if my bed is warm, I can drop the rest of the house into the 50s at night.

[MatthewHSE]

I just changed to a heated mattress pad, thinking if my bed is warm, I can drop the rest of the house into the 50s at night.

We keep our house 52 during the winter, and that's without heated mattresses! (But yes, we use LOTS of blankets.)

[LifeinAsia]

Wow, the wife complained because last month's bill was over $50 (usually $20-30, but Dec. was cold- for California).

Our summer bills are usually around $20 or lower, because Southern California Edison has a great deal. You can get a discount (varying levels, but I think we have the 25% discount) on your monthly bills during the summer if you let them install a little device on your A/C so they can turn it off during crisis periods. You get the discount, even if they don't need to turn it off. We've been on the program 2 summers and they have never turned it off.

One month we even had a negative balance between the discount and some sort of credit SCE issued because the electricity was off for several more hours than expected during a "routine" upgrade.

I'd be interested in going the solar route, but I doubt our HOA would approve it- they are very strict against doing anything to the exterior of the houses.

[Swanny007]

I spend just under $100 CDN per month (average over last 12 months) on electricity (household & A/C) and about the same amount on natural gas (for heating the house and water). With the current exchange rate that's in the neighbourhood of $80US/month each bill.

I'd be interested in going solar but we have very little south-facing roof surface due to the "cottage" style roof and shape. The panels I've seen are either all big rectangles or they look like shingles. I don't consider the ones that look like shingles to be that good a choice because they generate quite a bit less electricity than the big "old school" style collectors. Who knows maybe we will put up what solar we can...

[edited by: Swanny007 at 12:43 am (utc) on Feb. 3, 2009]

[zeus]

There are so may alternatives out there, a example of new thinking all new German House must have solar power and I think within the last years there is a million House now get heat from the earth, no Oil, No gas, no monopole electric companies.

A tip NEVER buy anything for your House heating/electricity that has something to do with Oil or Gas then you are on a good way.

Now a days, you can get heating/cooling from Air/earth/sun so why choice anything else.

[edited by: lawman at 11:46 am (utc) on Feb. 4, 2009]

[Shaddows]

Er, ok.

Marconi- radio (EU)
Baird- TV (EU)
CERN- Internet (EU)
Ancient Greece (if you discount slaves as people, but then didn't everybody?)- Democracy (EU)
Blethley Park- computing/code breaking (EU)

So given we have radio, TV and the internet, what are you laying claim to?

Besides, zeus was talking about "green" technology, which the US might have lead had their government not been in denial about the problem for the last 8 years. But, like the car industry, is only belatedly incorporating into the mainstream in the way Europe has for at least a decade.

[deMorte]

A couple living on a two-room apartment: 30-40€ per month. We have couple of computers and some electronics that are usually on for about 8 hours a day. We only pay for the electricity we use, no cost for heating or such.

I'm interested if others have a similar system in their electricity billing. Here the companies make an estimation on the use of electricity per year, that (I think) is based on readings from previous year and bill you accordingly for the entire year. At the end of the year they check their readings and either bill you more or refund the amount you have overpaid.

[shaadi]

Rs. 1500 ($30) with (per day use)--

1/2 hr water heater
8 hrs air conditioner
3hrs laptop

Mumbai, India

[zeus]

If you buy a new house, make sure it dont have Gas or oil, then you are in good hands.

One thing once on CNBC they dident even know that you could use the earth heat to heat up a House. ha

[edited by: lawman at 11:48 am (utc) on Feb. 4, 2009]

[Rugles]

We just paid our electric bill yesterday.

$142 for 2 months (Canadian dollars, that would equal $115 US). In the summer when we turn the air conditioning on, it goes up to $225 for 2 months. Its a 3000 square foot home and we are careful not to waste too much and we have invested a large chunk of money into new air conditioning, new windows and energy efficient light bulbs to keep costs down. But I do have computers and a ginormous television that are well used.

The second part of the question, its going up very slowly, our electricity is heavily regulated here in Ontario.

[zeus]

another thing energy related - Here in Europe there is no Competition on the Gasoline market so all stations have the same price, today we had a price of 1.23€ per liter, now yes thats much, but thats not the point, the Oil companies had always said its be cause of the High oil price that we saw a Gasoline price of 1.50€ but now we are at 40$ oil still we are way to high and in the US where there is competition, that Gasoline price went from 4.30 to 1.60$

[creative craig]

At the end of last year the price of electricty in South Africa went up by an average of 27.5%. Eskom the provider, were pushing for a 50% increase!

[Essex_boy]

About £170 per month in england.