Author Topic: Who has a $175 electric bill?  (Read 9489 times)

Jill the Pill

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Who has a $175 electric bill?
« on: February 24, 2013, 05:27:53 PM »
     I was at a fair, standing behind an older man at the solar information booth.  The young salesman was trying to convince him that the monthly finance payments on the system would be less than his current electric bill.
     "What if I don't like to owe any debt ever?" the old guy asked.  Reasonable question, I thought.  The young kid didn't quite get it, so he went for a specific example.
     "Let's say your electric bill is $175, and then . . . "
     "Wait a minute!" shouted the old man, "WHO has a $175 electric bill?"  This guy is a real Mustachian, I thought -- sheepishly.  In a bad month, ours gets that high, especially since we bought the turtle a goddamn lamp.  But no . . . he continued:
     "My bill is $1400 a month in the summer!  I've got 6000 square feet and three central air units!" 

FiveSigmas

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2013, 06:17:15 PM »
Umm... wow.

Nicely told, BTW. I was rooting for the guy up until the punchline.

Phoebe

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2013, 07:18:04 PM »
Holy cow that's incredible!

gecko10x

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2013, 07:23:27 PM »
Haha, great delivery!

And, that's insane!!

Paul der Krake

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2013, 07:30:47 PM »
Where was this if you don't mind me asking? That's roughly the size of my workplace, I'd be curious to see how it compares, climate-wise and all.

Crazy stuff. That's almost 3 months' worth of my housing budget, utilities included.

Jill the Pill

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2013, 07:53:08 PM »
PdK, Connecticut.  Our rates are quite high.

Jamesqf

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #6 on: February 24, 2013, 09:40:21 PM »
But why on Earth would anyone need air conditioning in Connecticut?  Outrageous heating oil bills in the winter I could maybe understand...

FWIW, my monthly electric bill hasn't been over $50 in at least a year, and I've had one or two sub-$40 months.

jrhampt

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2013, 08:04:14 AM »
But why on Earth would anyone need air conditioning in Connecticut?  Outrageous heating oil bills in the winter I could maybe understand...

Exactly.  We have central air, and we only use it a handful of days in the CT summers.  Our bill averages around $60/mo.

Jill the Pill

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2013, 08:49:40 AM »
The old guy went on to say he couldn't have solar because his property is too shady, but that solar would be great for a beach house.  So, he even has shade and still needs that much a.c.? 

Our house is also too shady for solar, and we don't run our a.c., except maybe one hot day a year just to prove it still works.  Our winter bills are the high ones.  We keep the thermostat low, so the kids sometimes use an electric space heater.  I use the clothes dryer in the winter, finding it takes too long to dry heavy winter clothes in a rather chilly house.  I also cook a lot and we work (computers) from home.  But really, ever since we got a heat/sun lamp for the turtle, our bill has been higher.  The plan is to dig it a habitat in the backyard this spring, and let it hibernate/take its chances over next winter. 


strider3700

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2013, 09:52:31 AM »
My mom works with someone who is very "everything green", back to the land, off grid mentality. I also happen to lean the same way so I'm not judging btw.   They take this way further then I do,   right down to the point of having a wood kitchen stove so she rushes home each day and lights the stove to cook dinner on.    Even I was sitting there thinking holy crap that's dedication.   I did however find out that their son likes fresh air  so they leave his bedroom window open all winter to make sure he gets it.   To compensate for the heat loss they have multiple space heaters in his room running 24/7 the entire heating season.   Their electric bill is roughly $1000 a month.  Quick calculation suggests they're using something near 11,000 kwh a month to get that bill.   

The Money Monk

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2013, 01:57:24 PM »
Hey at least he doesn't like debt.

For a while I would be flabbergasted at how low people on this forum were supposedly getting their electric bills, then I realized that I was calling my entire utility bill (electric, gas, water, waste collection, and all fees) the 'electric' bill. So then I felt better. the whole bill is still rarely over 175 total though, but it does happen, because the girlfriend isn't as hardened of a mustachian as I am.

Rollin

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2013, 02:28:42 PM »
My mom works with someone who is very "everything green", back to the land, off grid mentality. I also happen to lean the same way so I'm not judging btw.   They take this way further then I do,   right down to the point of having a wood kitchen stove so she rushes home each day and lights the stove to cook dinner on.    Even I was sitting there thinking holy crap that's dedication.   I did however find out that their son likes fresh air  so they leave his bedroom window open all winter to make sure he gets it.   To compensate for the heat loss they have multiple space heaters in his room running 24/7 the entire heating season.   Their electric bill is roughly $1000 a month.  Quick calculation suggests they're using something near 11,000 kwh a month to get that bill.   

Sounds as though they could pay for a fresh air/heat exchanger with one month's bill.

Jamesqf

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #12 on: February 25, 2013, 04:02:55 PM »
For a while I would be flabbergasted at how low people on this forum were supposedly getting their electric bills, then I realized that I was calling my entire utility bill (electric, gas, water, waste collection, and all fees) the 'electric' bill.

You can feel bad again :-)  In my case, that $40 is electric, which includes pumping water from the well.  Gas I don't have, but maybe $100/year for heating oil as backup to wood stove & solar.  Trash collection adds about $12/month.  Even add in $30/month for internet, and about $7/month for cell phone, and I'm still under $100 for all utilities.

jrhampt

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2013, 10:38:37 AM »
Hmm...I'm at avg $150/mo including electric, gas, and water.  Add another $75 for cell and internet, so your bill is pretty badass, James!

lauren_knows

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2013, 10:47:33 AM »
Nicely told, BTW. I was rooting for the guy up until the punchline.

Haha, definitely nicely told. I was starting to get worried that $175 was considered "absolutely insane".  Our electric bill has gone up 30% or more since our son was born, because there is now someone at our house 24/7 now, and we do more laundry.  We're getting an "energy audit" done though, next week, and hopefully get some pointers as to how to plug our house up well.

The Money Monk

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #15 on: February 26, 2013, 09:23:28 PM »

You can feel bad again :-)  In my case, that $40 is electric, which includes pumping water from the well.  Gas I don't have, but maybe $100/year for heating oil as backup to wood stove & solar.  Trash collection adds about $12/month.  Even add in $30/month for internet, and about $7/month for cell phone, and I'm still under $100 for all utilities.

Ha, thanks.

Alachua county / GRU is just ridiculous. my utility bill is over $60 in fees before I do ANYTHING. I'm not talking about taxes, just fees and base 'customer' charges (WTF?)

My utilities bill would be $60.50 a month even if I didn't use a drop of water, a watt of electricity, or a single puff of gas. Freaking ridiculous...

noob515

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #16 on: February 27, 2013, 02:08:05 PM »
Nicely told, BTW. I was rooting for the guy up until the punchline.

I was starting to get worried that $175 was considered "absolutely insane". 

Me too!  Lol.  (Fwiw, my whole house is electric: heat, a/c, water heater, stove/oven, etc.). 

One of the houses I lived in as a kid was over 5000 sq ft - I'll have to ask my mom what the utility bills were like.  I'm a little horrified to think of what they were paying for electric and gas.  $1400 is just INSANE.

mm31

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #17 on: February 27, 2013, 04:38:34 PM »
My bill was $194 in january. My windows are insulated, I keep it around 68F  max, 60F during the day, I wear more clothes. It just won't go down. Winters are just hard on me in WI

kudy

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #18 on: February 27, 2013, 09:51:46 PM »
Quote
I did however find out that their son likes fresh air  so they leave his bedroom window open all winter to make sure he gets it.   To compensate for the heat loss they have multiple space heaters in his room running 24/7 the entire heating season.   Their electric bill is roughly $1000 a month.

One of my previous roommates "liked fresh air" and throughout the winter would crank the electric baseboard heater (located directly under the window) to it's max, and then open the window all the way. I eventually turned her heat off at the breaker box and started placing a draft dodger at the base of her door. She still didn't really get the message.

DebtDerp

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Re: Who has a $175 electric bill?
« Reply #19 on: February 27, 2013, 11:01:19 PM »
My goal is to have an electric bill under $10 this summer. Last summer I got down to $14 in July. Disclaimer: I live alone in a 600 sq. ft. apartment, mild climate, I work outside the home over 60 hours per week, and I spend little time at my place on the weekends. As it turns out, if you don't actually do anything in your apartment except eat and sleep you don't need much electricity.

My highest bill ever at this place was $55 last winter. This winter I did better and my highest bill has only been $38. I know I'm lucky. My parents live out in the country in a 4,000 square foot house that is all electric and can spend upwards of $500 in the winter for electricity.