Lowest Electric bill EVER!!!!

[boarder42]

We used $1.97 worth of electricity a day.  YEAH!!!!

[falcondisruptor]

Nice work! 

I can't wait for my next bill to see how much our bill drops after all the changes we made.  $1.97 a day I would consider a win for us too. 

[StangStache]

Nice!

I just had a month of $2.20/day, but I cheated (we were out of town for a week).  I haven't been able to break under $2 yet.

Well done.

[boarder42]

we were in town all month gone a weekend but the weather has been cooperating

[mustachianteacher]

We just had a similar revelation!

We had solar panels installed in December, and they've been doing their job, but the true test is always August and September: the most beastly hot days of the year when it seems like the AC runs 24/7.

Last year, before the panels, we used $245 in electricity during that billing period.

This year, with an even hotter summer than last year and more AC usage, we only used $99 for the same billing period. Woo-hoo!

[boarder42]

well this was done without spending money to upgrade anything.  just good weather and turning off lights etc.  we plan to make it this entire billing cycle without running the AC or the Heat pump.  I will be interested to see how we do to see how much power goes to other devices. 

[Bob W]

Nice work!   Our bill includes like $25 of bs charges that have nothing to do with amount of usage.  "fuel efficiency surcharge"  blah,  blah,  blah.

Seems the utilities have figured out that when people use less electricity their income goes down?

[FrugalSpendthrift]

Congrats! 

I keep logging into my utility companies website, anxiously awaiting for the bill to get posted.  I can't wait to update my spreadsheet...  I know I also set a record low, just not sure by how much.

[GuitarStv]

There's a point of diminishing returns.  If we reduced our electricity usage to 0 for an entire month, we would still be charged 22$ just to have it hooked up.  Right now we average about 6$ of actual charges for electrical use.

[Bob W]

There's a point of diminishing returns.  If we reduced our electricity usage to 0 for an entire month, we would still be charged 22$ just to have it hooked up.  Right now we average about 6$ of actual charges for electrical use.

I'm guessing your no a/c and wood heat?

If I were in your case I think it is definitely time to consider the solar approach.  I'm guessing 900 for one panel and another 500 for batteries.  The math works if this is the case. 

Curious,  what exactly is it that your using $6 per month?   $2 for fridge?  Gas hot water heater? 

You're up north so I could see the need for a fridge to be pretty limited during most of the year. 

You have probably shared all this before, but would you do us a favor.   I'm dreaming of a tiny house off grid farm future with a zero water, house and ute bill!

[MrsSmitty]

Nice! I just got mine in today and it came out to $1.81/day! We haven't had the AC or heat on all month. I love this time of year.

[GuitarStv]

The 6$ number is worked out after adding in the money generated by our modest solar panel installation on the roof, and we're selling to the grid at much more than we're making.

[teen persuasion]

Just checked ours: $1.65 per day, up from $1.49 last October.  Mostly due to higher rates vs. last year.  Like others, nearly $20/ month is base fees.

[Bob W]

The 6$ number is worked out after adding in the money generated by our modest solar panel installation on the roof, and we're selling to the grid at much more than we're making.

I should have guessed that!   Would it make sense to add another panel and some batteries to completely go off grid and save the $240 per year in b.s. fees?

I'm curious because in my situation (heat pump)  I could never do this and make it pencil out.  But for my future tiny house I will have virtually no heat cost and my hot water will be solar or wood,  so our real power usage will be for some LED lights and maybe a radio and internet hook up.     

[boarder42]

39.36 of the 57.01 was directly related to usage the rest is taxes and fees.

[boarder42]

Also when i get impatient about seeing my latest bill i go to the last bill i received and subtract my current meter KWH from the old one to see where i'm on a KWH/day level.  We have decently cheap power here.  my 57.01 bill was the result of using 12.17 KWH per day in an 1800 sq ft house with a fridge and a deep freeze

[GuitarStv]

The 6$ number is worked out after adding in the money generated by our modest solar panel installation on the roof, and we're selling to the grid at much more than we're making.

I should have guessed that!   Would it make sense to add another panel and some batteries to completely go off grid and save the $240 per year in b.s. fees?

I'm curious because in my situation (heat pump)  I could never do this and make it pencil out.  But for my future tiny house I will have virtually no heat cost and my hot water will be solar or wood,  so our real power usage will be for some LED lights and maybe a radio and internet hook up.   

We buy at between 7.5 - 13.5 cents/kWh and sell at about 54 cents/kWh, so at the moment no.  As energy prices increase over time and solar panels/inverters become cheaper, I think the tipping point will be reached though.

[Cardinal12]

$0.65 per day... No A/C or Heat over the last month.

But I guess living in a 600 sq ft apartment helps :-)

[Bob W]

The 6$ number is worked out after adding in the money generated by our modest solar panel installation on the roof, and we're selling to the grid at much more than we're making.

I should have guessed that!   Would it make sense to add another panel and some batteries to completely go off grid and save the $240 per year in b.s. fees?

I'm curious because in my situation (heat pump)  I could never do this and make it pencil out.  But for my future tiny house I will have virtually no heat cost and my hot water will be solar or wood,  so our real power usage will be for some LED lights and maybe a radio and internet hook up.   

We buy at between 7.5 - 13.5 cents/kWh and sell at about 54 cents/kWh, so at the moment no.  As energy prices increase over time and solar panels/inverters become cheaper, I think the tipping point will be reached though.

Must be a special Canadian deal on the kWh spread?  Around here you can only sell back at wholesale prices. 

[MountainGal]

$1.50/day here probably due to good weather, ridding of a big ass, old school screen TV, unplugging all unnecessary items (have been doing this for several years, DH thinks I'm nuts), the Res Savers Switch AC we had installed, and using the dishwasher before bed, after peak hours.  Was $1.56/day last year.

.59/day natural gas this year vs .61 last year.

[BooksAreNerdy]

If you go completely off grid, you would not be able to sell back to the utilities. If you want to sell back, you have to be connected to the grid and thus gry power shut off during any regular outages so that the power generated by your house doesn't go up line and buzz any power workers.

[BlueMR2]

Ours should be getting lower now...  My wife's reading lamp had an IC bulb in it that we were just using until it burned out.  Well, she knocked the lampshade over the other day without noticing.  It was laying on the bulb and I smelled something burning...  Found the lampshade smoldering and melted all over the bulb.  Had to buy a new lampshade and bulb.  This time it got an LED bulb (FEIT Electric, the only brand they had in stock, and even those they only had a couple left).