Posted: 7/6/2015 9:40:54 AM EDT
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For those of you local to Houston, does $320 a month for a 2088 sq foot house sound like a big bill for electricity during the summer months?
I have an older home and not well insulated but was just curious what others thought cause it seems high to me |
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Quoted:
For those of you local to Houston, does $320 a month for a 2088 sq foot house sound like a big bill for electricity during the summer months? I have an older home and not well insulated but was just curious what others thought cause it seems high to me I have 2400sqft and my last bill was $275. House was built in 1970 so it's far from efficient. The next 3 bills are are going to suck. |
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We've remodeled the whole house from foundation up.
We redid all the sheetrock on the ceiling as well as walls but haven't insulated the attic yet. I guess that's one big one but the quote I got was $5500. For the time I'll be here, I'm not sure this would be worth it. We haven't done the attic insulation yet because we were redoing all of our electrical wiring in our house as well and our electrician needed a lot of space in the attic to work with. |
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Damn! I would hate to see a bill that high. My 2 story is just under 3k sqft and I havent seen a bill over $175 in the summer - keeping the temp at 75. Granted I do have 2 units, radiant barrier (the think paneling not the spray in stuff), room jumpers in the vents, and double pane windows. Reg bill in the summer is around $150 month.
I used to live in an older 1 story 1800sqft house that was built in the 70s. My bills were close to or above $200 some months. It is amazing what energy efficient upgrades can do. ---It also depends on what rate you are paying. |
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On the insulation part....check into rebates/incentives from Utility companies. My house is smaller than yours, but it only cost me $300 for them to blow insulation. Had a friend with same size house in same neighborhood spent $2500 to have his done 2 weeks before mine without the rebate.
It was some kind of deal going where they came around and put notice on door knob to weather proof your home. They caulked under cabinets where pipes came in and put on some extra weather strip around doors and windows. Has some thing to do with how much air they pull before and after the improvements. The only cost to me was the $300 for insulation. Also....buy some of the little insulation forms for the back of you outlet and switch plates for the outer walls.....you would be surprised how much heat can come in there. |
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My house is 2 years old just over 3000 sq. My ACs are set to 75 during the day and 70 at night. My bill right now is about $160 a month. My old 1976 house with added insulation, new AC, low e double pane windows and 1800sf would run $250s this time of year with the same 75 during the day and 70 at night. Both using Reliant.
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I used 366.6 kWh last week. I think I am paying ~.10 per kWh. I have a 3 ton and a 2 ton AC.
Gas heat, water heater, and cook top. Everything else is electric. Most of my lights are LEDs now. I just bought almost 30 BR40 through reliant. They were on sale for ~$11 each. Much cheaper than Lowes or Depot. FYI on my old house I tracked my electricity for almost 5 years. Blowing in more insulation was the best bang for the buck. That cost me ~$800. Replacing all 11 windows did not do much. That was around $3K. Replacing the AC and heater was around $4k. Again then best saving was with more insulation in the attic. Also seamed to make the house quitter too. |
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We're missing some key information here. What is your kwh rate and how much are you using? Just giving us a dollar figure doesn't tell us anything. If you're paying .20 per kwh your usage might be really low, but your bill will still be high. Yeah sorry, I'll have to dig up that info. I don't get statements, just directly comes out of my account. I do use reliant however. I'll update soon. I know our lights stay on way more than they should but we also have gas to make up for some costs like in the water heater. |
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To get the lowest overall cost, you have to be willing to do some research and maybe dust of MS Excel. Take a year's worth of bills (two years is better) and looks at the kWH each month. Using the monthly numbers, look at the various plans on Power to Choose. Your looking at the combination of the service fee, plus the usage. Some of the plans have usage broken into two, or even three, tiers based on consumption or time of use.
just changed our plan to one designed for low-use homes. Under 1000 kWH is an obscenely low price per kW and the kWHs over 1,000 are 12.1 cents. We stay below the 1,000 8 or 9 months out of the years, then hit 1,200 - 1,300 in July Aug and Sept. Based upon this, our summer months stayed about what they were with Reliant, but our fall, winter, spring bills dropped to about half what they were. |
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I have a flat rate of .9 per hour rate .. used power to choose .org web site
1550 sq foot house built in 79 since buying the house I have upgraded all windows added ridge vent ( removed power actic fan and gable vent ) and soffits all over the place sprayed in radiant added 30 plus inches of blown in insulation in the attic replaced original ac/ system ducts and air handler and outside unit ( all of it ) changed water heater and dryer and heat to gas ( from electric) when I replaced the siding on the south side of the house i also replaced the rolled insulation painted the south side of the house white planted some shrubs and fruit trees to provide a green shield from the sun added ceiling fans to every room. last electrical bill was under 60 bucks ( thermostat is smart and when I an not home its at 80 and when I am home its at 76) |
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Quoted:
Yeah sorry, I'll have to dig up that info. I don't get statements, just directly comes out of my account. I do use reliant however. I'll update soon. I know our lights stay on way more than they should but we also have gas to make up for some costs like in the water heater. Quoted:
Quoted:
We're missing some key information here. What is your kwh rate and how much are you using? Just giving us a dollar figure doesn't tell us anything. If you're paying .20 per kwh your usage might be really low, but your bill will still be high. Yeah sorry, I'll have to dig up that info. I don't get statements, just directly comes out of my account. I do use reliant however. I'll update soon. I know our lights stay on way more than they should but we also have gas to make up for some costs like in the water heater. just re read my post. I didn't mean to sound like a dick. If you can dig up some info, I'll be glad to help out. |
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Check on your rate. You may have been put in a month to month account with a high rate.
5500 dollars for insulation of the attic is way too high you could get 18 inches of blown in fiberglass for about 1600 to 2k Soffit vents you need them and a ridge vent or gable vents. Ac is the big deal and if it is real old it may be using a lot more than todays units. I have about 2600 feet and new windows and added blown in 78 model all gas and my bill is mostly under 200 except for July and august it may be little higher but I have a daughter. I also have a large workshop with a lot of fans that I run all day on sat and sun. All my lighting is incandescent because my wife likes it and she has a light on in almost every room all day and three tvs going all day. Edit 78 recessed cans with 65 watt lamps waiting for cheap LED that my wife will accept. Also we have 12 ceiling fans that never turn off. We keep the bedrooms at 72 at night 74 during the day. living area 74 during the day and set at 80 at night but they never come on and the temp is about 76 in the morning. Everything is at 80 when we leave but that does not happen very often. This house was from my fathers estate and I bought my brother out and did a massive remodel. My father had old ac's and had electric water heater. His windows were double pain edit : They were a pain and while they were double pane they were lousy. He had a electric dryer and his bills were 600 in the summer. I just got through with the blown in insulation in April There were places in the attic that had no insulation . We will see this summer if it has any effect. We waited till we were sure we were not going to add anymore electrical before we did it.. My father had three extra freezers and refrigerators They ran 24 7 biggest waste he had. Water logged water wells and pool pumps are another large drain. I am an electrician and I hear horror stories that make yours situation look great, every day, but there is always room for improvement. In a hurry but will come back to help Last bill was 179 and it was more kw than last year without the added attic insulation. But I have been working more in the workshop this year. |
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I own a small energy consulting company in Houston.
I can help you get the lowest rate(s). Another way is to "shop" for the best residential rates is go to www.powertochoose.com Since rates are pretty low right now, I would recommend getting at least a 12 month contract. 24 month contracts are just a little more. You should be able to find something for under 8 cents/kwh total. PM me if you'd like assistance. Keith |