Electricity Bill Hacking Question

[jnw]

I compared March's electric bill this year compared to March last year, I used like 200 kwh less this past March vs. March of last year, yet the bill for the month was almost the same as previous year.  I did a llittle calculations, they don't disclose the rates clearly (which I think should be illegal), but last year they were effectively charging about 10 cents per kilowatt hour for the electricity and now all of a sudden it's 14 cents per KWH.. THat's a 40% increase in one year, using less electricity even.  That's sickening.

Anyways I just learned about their Time of Day savings program where they charge two different rates, image attached below.

From 7pm at night to 2pm they next day they only charge 3.73 cents per kwh hour.   And the hours from 2PM to 7PM are charged at 18 cents.

70% of my electric bill summer is from the air conditioner.

I am at home all day and I can't tolerate the heat at all due to health reasons, but have stood up to 78F weather inside, although it was uncomfortable.. I can't go up past 78F. 

Is there any way I can do some sort of hack to stay cool using energy from earlier in the day?  I could set the house to 60F a couple hours before 2PM and let it build up .. and then crank the AC full blast again at 7PM.    Or maybe is tehre some way I can charge up some sort of battery and run a small bedroom ac off a battery for 5 hours?   

I could set up timers so the refrigerator and chest freezer goes off at 2Pm and turns on at 7PM.  Make sure to only use washer and dishwasher off peak.    Try to keep as many things off as possible form 2PM to 7PM.. blacking out at much as possible :)

I'd really like to somehow save $500-$1000 on my yearly electric bill .. this would do it if I could manage not to turn on that energy sucking AC from 2Pm to 7PM.  Right now I pay $147 per month (Average Monthly Payment).

[jnw]

I am mostly in the living room during this time of day (2PM to 7PM), right under a ceiling fan.. Perhaps with that running full blast I can tolerate the crazy hot weather for 5 horus each day I am not sure.

[innkeeper77]

Yes! Using your house as a thermal battery is not only cheaper, they are trying to encourage this with time of use plans. Technology Connections- a guy on youtube- has multiple videos about this sort of thing. I'd try to improve insulation and air sealing, then see if you can use mainly off peak electricity, ideally getting it cool enough so that it only gets up to 78 after 7 PM.

I'd love this electric plan personally.... we use a ton of off peak electricity with a plug in vehicle.

However, though you CAN run an AC off of batteries... it will never be cost effective in this case. The electricity needed by an AC unit means you would need a massive expensive battery (Not only will it run down a smaller battery quickly, the watts needed for an AC means even if you were ok with that, you would overload the current rating of a small battery) , and you would lose money when factoring in eventual battery replacements. The only way a secondary AC unit could work is if you were in a dry climate and you used some sort of evaporative cooler- but this will increase humidity and will only work in certain situations (you would also need to OPEN a window for this)

[ixtap]

I didn't notice where you might be, but if it cools off at night, it can make a difference to open the windows all night and close the windows and shades as the sun rises. Especially if it cools off to lower than you would set the AC.

[jnw]

This electricity bill is so depressing.. a 40% increase.  You know I've done a lot to improve the bill by lowering usage everywhere I can.  Only to be insulted by a 40% increase in electricity rate, nullifying my accomplishments.  So unfair.

I am about to just give up and keep my AC at a comfortable 73F all day and let them take advantage of me.   They are gonna continue to be evil with the rates I see now so I probably should focus my energy on other ways to save like I have been.  I still have been saving like 60% of my income despite the crazy electric bill.   All this does it piss me off thinking about the increase  .. not good for my mental health lol.  I cursed at the bill and electric company every step of the way calculating it.   They win.  I can't stand a hot room .. it will just make me think about them all the time.

So tempted to in a few years after this mortgage is paid off to DIY install like 20 x 400 watt solar panels on my roof and give them a finger with net metering.  But I imagine they probably want to cripple the net metering right after I get that going.  They've complained about net metering, wanting to charge a surcharge.. which I don't understand because they are subsizidign weatherization improvements to low income people, because the city's population is growing and they dont' want to have to build a new power plant.

[NorCal]

I've been working heavily on home efficiency over the past few years.  My utility is switching to TOU rates sometime soon, so I've been looking at this as well.  My electricity rates are roughly inline with yours, so some of my assumptions would likely apply to you.  Here are my recommendations:

1. Setting your AC lower during non-peak hours and letting the temp drift higher in peak hours is a great strategy.

2. I recommend buying a home energy monitor. The Emporia is good if you have a single electrical panel (no sub-panels) and the Sense is better if you have sub-panels.  It is incredibly useful to understand exactly what is using power at any given time.  This helped me track down some energy hogs and to really understand where I should spend my time on efficiency.  It will also help you understand what you should avoid using during peak hours, and what has a minimal impact.  I found some surprises in my house.

3.  The highest ROI investment I've made is a ceiling fan in the bedroom.  This allows me to open the windows in the evening during the summer and turn off the AC.  This makes a huge difference if your climate has cool evenings.

4. I'm having a whole-house fan installed in a few weeks.  While it's too early to tell, I guesstimate that this will have financial returns of 5-7% before energy price inflation.  This is a combination of energy savings and shifting usage to non-peak times.  It will also help cool my upstairs, which can stay uncomfortably hot.

[Rob_bob]

Water misting in a fan or swamp cooler might help you.

[CrustyBadger]

If you live in a humid environment, you may be able to reduce the need for A/C to feel comfortable by using a dehumidifier just in one room, perhaps coupled with a small fan.  I understand that a dehumidifier and a fan use much less electricity than an air conditioner does, even just a small window unit.

My husband has a neurological condition making him very sensitive to heat and humidity.  There are all sorts of clothes and devices out there geared towards people with these types of conditions.  The basic idea is to use ice packs or cooling gel cushions and cool the body core (or wrists, back of the neck).  If they use removable ice packs, you could freeze them and keep them in a small chest cooler during the day. 

There are cooling vest, torso coolers, etc available for sale, or I am sure you can find instructions for DIY versions.   

https://www.polarproducts.com/polarshop/pc/Cooling-for-Multiple-Sclerosis-and-Other-Heat-Intolerant-Conditions-c442.htm

[Cadman]

I would avoid putting refrigerators and freezers on timers. Even when powered continuously, both will run only when required anyhow so there's no real savings to be had. In fact, once they come back online, they may actually use more power trying to recover down to the desired temp.

Today's fridges exacerbate the issue since they are generally built with undersized compressors which aren't designed for repeated 'heavy loading', so you may end up killing the fridge prematurely. Then there's the bacterial growth consideration.

Freezers (deep freeze, non-frost-free types) fair a bit better, but the temp cycling will introduce ice crystals into meat and ice cream, and lead to freezer burn. If you ever wonder why some brands, like Sub-Zero, command so much more money for a combination fridge, it's because of their dual compressors; the freezer units behave like a deep freeze without a defrost timer. Sadly, many mainstream brands have adopted the 'looks' of such high end fridges, charge similar (sky high) pricing, and offer nothing more than your average refrigeration system.

[Papa bear]

Can you shop around for lower rates?  There are probably 25 different energy suppliers that would offer you fixed rates over 6-24 months. 


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[nereo]

This electricity bill is so depressing.. a 40% increase.  You know I've done a lot to improve the bill by lowering usage everywhere I can.  Only to be insulted by a 40% increase in electricity rate, nullifying my accomplishments.  So unfair.

Your efforts haven’t been nullified.  Had you not done all the usage reductions your current electricity bill would have been almost double what it was from last March - which is exactly where many consumers in your area are experiencing right now.  So your efforts actually saved a lot of money (more money, in fact, than had you done them last year).

As for the cost of electricity going up - yeah, it stings, particularly for higher kw users. But it’s expected given the costs of everything from labor to fossil fuels, all of which make generating power more expensive.

I had a physics professor go through the “cost” of residential-rate electricity, specifically focusing on how much work (as defined by moving a mass a given distance) and comparing to other forms of work.  Bottom line is electricity remains dirt cheap given what you can do with it.  Electricity would be cheap if it were 50˘/kw*h (which is about what it is in hawai’ii).  What we are experiencing is price0-anchoring - we have an idea that electricity should be just a few cents, reliable and constant.

[Roadrunner53]

Just my two cent worth here but I have a whole house fan and it can be wonderful but during certain times of the year not so much. In the spring, we have tons of pollen and to use that fan would bring in all that pollen and we would be sneezing our heads off and it also brings in outside dust. In the summer, when it is humid, the fan is worthless and only bring in more heat and humidity. Maybe if you have cool mornings or evenings it would help. In the fall, we have a similar problem as spring with all the leaves falling it creates lots of dust particles from the fallen leaves and debris. Once the leaves have fallen down and picked up the fall temps are perfect to use the fan but then winter comes shortly after that and you don't use it. The whole house fan is great when there is no humidity and no pollen. It can freeze you out of the house!

[NorCal]

Just my two cent worth here but I have a whole house fan and it can be wonderful but during certain times of the year not so much. In the spring, we have tons of pollen and to use that fan would bring in all that pollen and we would be sneezing our heads off and it also brings in outside dust. In the summer, when it is humid, the fan is worthless and only bring in more heat and humidity. Maybe if you have cool mornings or evenings it would help. In the fall, we have a similar problem as spring with all the leaves falling it creates lots of dust particles from the fallen leaves and debris. Once the leaves have fallen down and picked up the fall temps are perfect to use the fan but then winter comes shortly after that and you don't use it.

Good to know.  Here in Denver, pollen isn't a massive problem, but August is just termed "fire season".  We also have a lot of air quality alerts, but this is mostly a mid-day thing (ozone).  Colorado is also completely unfamiliar with this "humidity" thing you speak of.  I'm guessing it will get used maybe 50-75% of summer nights, so it's certainly not a full AC replacement.  There are certainly some climates they work in, and others they are less valuable in.

[sonofsven]

I live in a mild climate, but I have a ten foot deep covered porch running the length of my house on the south side that effectively blocks the sun. On a hot summer day it can be easily 10-15* cooler in the house than on the porch.
I read somewhere, (here I think?), about a plan for a simple solar install that was only for running an AC unit. I don't know the feasibility of such a plan.

[brellis1vt]

If possible only cool the room you are in and keep it closed off.  Please note you need to understand where the thermostat is in relation to this room.  Insulation has a really high ROI and sealing up leaks.  Make sure your attic is properly venting.  I have to keep my attic windows (covered in screens) open all summer and put a fan in the attic due to poor roof installation by the previous owner.  When it is really hot cook outside or microwave.  Use the dryer as little as possible.

[Roadrunner53]

I would make sure I had some kind of drapes that repel the sun from heating up your main area that you spend the most time in.

I also saw two crazy ideas on YouTube. I don't know if this would work but I would try as an experiment.

1. This person had a bowl containing plastic soda bottles filled with frozen water and the bottles were immersed upright in ice in the bowl. The fan was blowing over the bottles and the ice in the bowl. You could have spare bottles frozen for when the first set thaws out.

2. Another person hooked frozen water filled soda bottles on the fan and the fan would blow air over the frozen bottles.

With both ideas, you could probably use ice packs and rotate them out as they melt.

Pretty off the wall ideas but it might work if your area was small and maybe used several fans blowing over the ice.

Another idea that relates to what CrustyBadger mentioned is ice filled items you can wear. Mr. Roadrunner has a specialized neck bandana that he soaks in cold water and wears around his neck. It helps keep him cool while mowing. I have seen vests that you can buy that have ice packs you can slide into pockets inside the vests that are close to your chest and back. You could probably make one yourself cheaper.

[Sibley]

Also check for energy vampires. The tv, game consoles, sound systems, etc never actually turn off. Ever. They'll use less power, but they're in standby mode. I have 2 power strips behind the tv area for everything - internet, phone, wifi, tv, ps3, etc. I rearranged them so that all the stuff I don't want to turn off is on one, and everything I use less often is on the other. Then I just unplug the one. Will it save a huge amount? Probably not, but it'll be something. There's a couple other spots in the house where I can do similar, just need to actually do it.

Then there's the classic stuff - turn off the lights, close the door, turn the heat down and the a/c up (warmer).

[Runrooster]

So tempted to in a few years after this mortgage is paid off to DIY install like 20 x 400 watt solar panels on my roof and give them a finger with net metering.  But I imagine they probably want to cripple the net metering right after I get that going.  They've complained about net metering, wanting to charge a surcharge.. which I don't understand because they are subsizidign weatherization improvements to low income people, because the city's population is growing and they dont' want to have to build a new power plant.

We have solar power through Solar City.  We didn't pay for the panels, we basically leased them the roof and they let us buy electricity at 7c a Kw.  I don't think the deals are as good as when we signed up (2017?) but the point is that you don't have to pay up front so you don't have to wait until your mortgage is paid off.  I think we sell electricity to the power company in the summer and buy it in the winter, but the goal was a net zero.  Since then we've installed (electric powered) geothermal and bought an EV Tesla, so we may be buying electricity more than selling it.

[BlueHouse]

Can you describe your home environment a bit more?

Depending on your setup, you could:

- Close off rooms and close AC vents
- Add solar shades / thermal drapes to windows (even a tension rod with a sheet hanging over it, place a few inches inside a doorway can trap heat if it's coming in.
- Do you have any cross-ventilation? 
- Add a trellis and climbing vine to exterior walls to shade the house
- Set up an umbrella outdoors near window/roof
- Gel packs on lap/behind back while sitting (i carry one in my purse in the summer and no one knows I'm cooling down while my purse is on my lap)
- Ceiling fans and sleeveless tops.
- Batch cook meals only once/week using crockpot or instant pot.  (minimize use of oven & stove in summer)
- Do you use a car and park in attached garage?  Cut down number of trips so the car isn't heating up the house.
- increase your body's efficiency -- walk outside in the heat/sun/humidity right before you're going to shower anyway.  Bodies acclimate to environment.

ETA:  Sorry -- just re-read the OP and noticed the health issues.  Don't walk outside in heat if you can't adjust!  :)

 I guess, I would add to treat your efforts as a real game -- not a war.  The electric company is not against you, individually.  Game it to try to improve against your neighbors and your own history. Then every improvement will feel like a win.  There's a reason why "getting hot" is a metaphor for anger.  Your own attitude about this might be making you feel hotter than you are.  Also, it's great that you've identified the dual rate system.  the vast majority of people have no idea, so you're winning already! 

[bacchi]

I read somewhere, (here I think?), about a plan for a simple solar install that was only for running an AC unit. I don't know the feasibility of such a plan.

A friend has a panel and small battery (+ a "reverse" UPS) that runs that U shaped window unit that can be bought at Costco or elsewhere (Midea brand). It doesn't have the usual start-up spike that most window units have.

The AC is in the bedroom, which allows the rest of the house to be warmer.

[Paper Chaser]

What is the color and exterior material of the house? Is there anything inexpensive that could be done to shade the South and/or West facing walls of the house? Plants, shade canopies, etc? Keeping as much sun off the house as possible will help keep it cooler.

There are tons of ways to design and build homes for better efficiency but if we're concerned about a few bucks on the electric bill, then spending a bunch of time and money on efficiency upgrades might not make financial sense.

[lhamo]

When we lived in Beijing we had a high floor condo with floor to ceiling, poorly insulated west facing windows in the living room.  I very quickly learned that -- with some time to adjust our bodies expectations and lots of appropriate beverages -- we could live with the AC set to 28-30C (roughly 83-86F) in the summer and the heat set to 16-18 C in the winter.   Our electricity bills probably would have been 4x what they were if we had insisted on the temps being a steady 23C/73-74F.

Just experiment with nudging things up 1 degree/every week or two.