Posted: 1/14/2014 6:16:06 AM EDT
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I am in need of some advice as I am at wits end with my electric bill.
I have a 1600 sq/ft two story house in Spotsylvania county (Rappahannock Elec). The whole house is on electric which includes the HVAC set at 70 except 67 at night, water heater and well pump. The last two months I have had $450 and $500 electric bills. I was assuming that the high electric bill was coming from a malfunction with my heat pump, so I called a HVAC guy to come look at it. The issue was that the thermostat was not sending a signal to the heat pump so the only thing operating was the emergency heat. I changed out the thermostat and the heat pump kicked on. I was expecting that to be the fix and a lower payment but was shocked when I received my $500 bill last night. During last the 30 day bill period I was using emergency heat for 10 days, gone 10 days with temp set at 62 degrees and had the heat pump fixed last 10 days set at 70. Additionally I have calculated the usage this last 5 days and have used roughly 550kwh which will give me another $450 bill if not fixed. Can anyone give me advice of what I should look for and what your typical usage is with the same parameters? Thanks |
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2800 sq ft not including the finished basement in Stafford (Dominion).
We're all eletrical as well on two heat pumps. We got hit by a $250 bill last month (50 more than the month before which was 50 more than the month before that) we think also based on a ton of Aux usage and I had the heat on 68 most of the time. We went and got Nests for both units. It's set on 62 when we're not there, and is set up for max-savings, so it runs the Aux as little as possible. We turn it up to between 65 and 68 when we get home, but only where we need it (downstairs) On my downstairs unit (most used) we're averaging about 7 hours of use daily when I ignore the two really cold days we had last week where I ran the units for 15 hours and cranked it up to 70 to keep the pipes happy. Our upstairs unit is running about 3 hours on average (ignoring those two cold days). I'd start setting your thermostat lower, and a lot lower when you're not at home. Also, Rappahannock does energy audits, if that might help. |
We had the same problem with a high bill. We had two of the "talking thermostats" that do not show if emergency or auxiliary heat are on. We had a guy come out here and he said to replace the whole system so we told him to go pack sand. We had the home warranty people come out and they replaced the thermostat. Still a high bill so we called out another HVAC guy and he told us the other guys put on the wrong thermostat and hooked it up so the A/C would run when the heat would come on.
So my advice to you is: - Check to make sure everything is hooked up correctly...A/C and heat - Put up the clear window film - Walk around exterior and interior of house to check for gaps near windows/doors - Install the under the door pads - See what other people in your neighborhood with similar size houses pay - If you do turn the heat super low make sure you turn the heat up slowly in order not to use the emergency heat - Try the Rappahannock Electric budget plan |
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Quoted:
Also, Rappahannock does energy audits, if that might help. Quoted:
Also, Rappahannock does energy audits, if that might help. I already requested an energy audit from them so hopefully they can help. Quoted:
- Check to make sure everything is hooked up correctly...A/C and heat- Will Do - Put up the clear window film - Walk around exterior and interior of house to check for gaps near windows/doors- In the process of adding weather striping - Install the under the door pads- check - See what other people in your neighborhood with similar size houses pay- Already checked, all my neighbors have older houses with wood stoves. - If you do turn the heat super low make sure you turn the heat up slowly in order not to use the emergency heat. - Try the Rappahannock Electric budget plan |
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http://www.theenergydetective.com/
Co-worker has one of these. Amazing amount of data you can pull from it. |
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First of all, set your thermostat at 65 to 67 degrees and leave it there. If you get a little chilly, put on a sweater. That doesn't cost you anything.
Secondly, changing the inside temp setting twice a day isn't saving you money. It's costing you. When your heat pump has to raise the inside temp from 67 to 70, it has to work harder, and that's money down the drain. When my wife and I were younger, we kept our house at 63 degrees in the winter. We keep it at 67 now. We use an electric blanket at night, and are never uncomfortable. Like I said above, when we get a bit chilly, we put on a sweater. Why give all that money to Dominion Power when there are so many guns out there to buy? |
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Received a call from the energy auditor yesterday. He says I am using 5-8 kwh even though my heat pump is rated at using 3 kwh. Which means that the emergency heat has to kick on which uses up to 8 kwh. I have lowered my thermostat to 67 and we'll see what that does. He is supposed to call me back next week and give me a breakdown of daily use.
I guess I should look for a supplemental heat source. Anyone have any experience with vent-less pellet stove. Quoted:
Check electric water heaters for cracked elements. They can 'leak' a decent amount of power. Replaced the elements couple months ago. But it is 11 years old so I am probably going to replace it this year. |
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Quoted:
Secondly, changing the inside temp setting twice a day isn't saving you money. It's costing you. When your heat pump has to raise the inside temp from 67 to 70, it has to work harder, and that's money down the drain. I've been told that this is a myth so long as your house is properly insulated and you're not turning it down like 10 degrees. Example: https://www.nspower.ca/en/home/for-my-home/save-energy/myths-revealed.aspx Based on what I saw on the days where I left the temp constant vs when I turned it down, my units run for a longer total period of time than if I turn it down when I'm gone or asleep and turn it back up. |
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Rent a FLIR and walk the inside and outside of your house to see where warm air is getting out or cold air is getting in.
You might also consider blowing some more insulation into your attic to help slow heat loss |