Author Topic: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)  (Read 2419 times)

Grande

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Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« on: April 03, 2018, 05:39:02 PM »
Looking to lower my $90-100/ month bill. I  am in Western Mass and use Eversource. Supply charge is 9.9 cents per kWh. It was 8.0 cents in January.  I use high efficiency bulbs LED bulbs, etc. Looks like I have been averaging 530 kWh/month for past 12 months. I don't feel my use use is excessive.  Any in Massachusetts with thoughts on who to use for supply? Does my use sound high? We are a family of four with two small kids (2 and 4 years of age) and live in a 1280 sq foot house?

Thanks

Cranky

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2018, 06:06:45 PM »
Does that include heat? Hot water? Stove? Clothes dryer?

Grande

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2018, 06:15:51 PM »
Oil furnace which does hot water too, electric stove, electric dryer.

MMMarbleheader

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2018, 06:38:59 PM »
Have you had a mass save energy audit?

They will replace all your light bulbs.

I live in eastern ma and use about 200kw. Gas for every appliance possible and steam heat which doesn't use electricity aside from the starter. When I had forced hot water I was surprised how much electricity it used but I woul start with the mass save audit.

Do you have a well pump?
« Last Edit: April 03, 2018, 06:40:37 PM by MMMarbleheader »

Harper

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2018, 06:39:20 PM »
I'm in CT (not Eversource) and we have cheaper electricity after 8pm and all day Sat and Sun.  I hold all my laundry and dishwashing for these cheaper times (we even set a timer to run the pool on these cheaper times during the season) so I would see if that is possible.

There's a thing called a Kill-a-Watt where you can test your appliances, etc.  They have them at our public library so you can just borrow it and check things out.

I know that our electricity went up when we plugged in the older backup refrigerator downstairs.  Do you have anything like that or a chest freezer that you don't need.

We have our large tv/etc on a surge protector and shut that down when we go to bed at night so there's no phantom draw.  Check for other drains like that.

Could you hang your clothes?  I don't hang all my clothes but I do hang some stuff on a few clotheslines I have in my basement.

We have LEDs which you said you already have.  Do you keep the outside lights on in front of your house when not necessary.  It's really pretty but I'm shocked by the number of people that do this when they are clearly home.

Our bill is ~100 a month for roughly the same size house (higher in summer).  Maybe ask friends or neighbors what theirs are averaging?  But I think this is all relative -- I think you probably have room for improvement as do most including us.

good luck!

Grande

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2018, 07:11:07 PM »
Thanks for the replies. I did the MassSave Audit about 9 years ago. They allowed me purchase of new oil system at 0% interest over 7 years. I grew up in eastern Mass and aware that there's gas offered. We do have a small upright freezer in basement. I hand about half the laundry.

RelaxedGal

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2018, 07:13:35 PM »
Do another MassSave audit - you can do it every 2 years.

Grande

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2018, 07:15:28 PM »
Do another MassSave audit - you can do it every 2 years.

What do you think I would get out of it?

Bettis

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #8 on: April 04, 2018, 08:13:50 AM »
I'm in Mass too.  I think the only thing you might get out of another audit is the 75% off of insulation if you need it.  Maybe some of the air sealing stuff too which I believe is done free during the audit.  It's been a while since I had mine.

SimpleCycle

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #9 on: April 04, 2018, 08:39:01 AM »
Have you had a mass save energy audit?

They will replace all your light bulbs.

I live in eastern ma and use about 200kw. Gas for every appliance possible and steam heat which doesn't use electricity aside from the starter. When I had forced hot water I was surprised how much electricity it used but I woul start with the mass save audit.

Do you have a well pump?

Do you have air conditioning?  That's insanely low usage to me.

OP, we use about 450 kwh per month for a similar size house and family, but we have a gas dryer.  We do use the air conditioning quite liberally though.

We did install a smart thermostat, which saved us about $30 in air conditioning costs over the summer.  It was $200 but we got $150 of rebates from our utilities so it should pay for itself in 2 years.

bandalbumsong

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2018, 11:49:08 AM »
We use 300 kwh/month for a 1100 sq ft space, gas stove/water, electric dryer and heat pump (with gas backup). Your usage seems pretty reasonable to me. Especially if you're cooking often or spending a lot of time indoors with the kids.

I second the suggestion for the MassSave audit if you can manage it. MassSave qualifies you for rebates on energy efficiency appliances which might be worth it if you were near end of life for your fridge or anything like that. Other than insulation, air sealing, energy efficient appliances, programmable thermostat, LED bulbs, it might be worth checking if your dryer vent is clean and using dryer balls (I've found those cut our dryer times tremendously).

MMMarbleheader

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2018, 01:16:47 PM »
Have you had a mass save energy audit?

They will replace all your light bulbs.

I live in eastern ma and use about 200kw. Gas for every appliance possible and steam heat which doesn't use electricity aside from the starter. When I had forced hot water I was surprised how much electricity it used but I woul start with the mass save audit.

Do you have a well pump?

Do you have air conditioning?  That's insanely low usage to me.

OP, we use about 450 kwh per month for a similar size house and family, but we have a gas dryer.  We do use the air conditioning quite liberally though.

We did install a smart thermostat, which saved us about $30 in air conditioning costs over the summer.  It was $200 but we got $150 of rebates from our utilities so it should pay for itself in 2 years.

That was winter usage. Summer was between 250 and 300 but we only have 3 window ac's in the bedrooms.

I never got this low at my old house. Big differences are stove, dryer, and no hw pump. That was prbably 100kw

slappy

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2018, 01:27:23 PM »
I'm in NH, so this might not be helpful, but we use 375-425 most of the year. June, July and August, we use 500-510. We don't have AC, but we run window fans at night and some during the day. We also have a SAHP with two young children.

We have Eversource as well, and it looks like our supplier rate is 11.25 cents per KwH.
« Last Edit: April 04, 2018, 01:29:33 PM by slappy »

slappy

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Re: Lowering my electrical bill (Massachusetts)
« Reply #13 on: April 04, 2018, 01:46:18 PM »
Also, this point inspired me to look into changing suppliers. Eversource actually has a link to registered suppliers on their site. Again, it might not be helpful for you, but maybe they have the same link when you log in. It's on the left side when you log in under the billing and payments drop down and it says choose a supplier.

http://www.puc.nh.gov/consumer/Residential%20Suppliers.html

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!