What's your total electric bill cost compared to your billed rate ($/kWh)?

[destrekor]

If he's got a 350 kW solar system, we're talking something much more than your usual home.

That's what I'm guessing. Definitely curious for more details though, like whether that was expense or generation credit. Or if that expense is just radically reduced from regular expenses given the local generation.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Single. 1800sqft house with radiant barrier. All electric appliances. All LED bulbs inside, 85w-equivalent bulbs in the living room (x8) and kitchen (x6), 60w-equivalent everywhere else (x18). The only times I usually have the lights on for > 5 minutes are when I'm cooking or in the bathroom

Have a Nest thermostat that shuts everything off when I leave the house, otherwise it's at a constant 76. Usage for the past week shows the compressor was running 3 to 3.25hrs a day when I'm in the office; if I'm home all day it's anywhere from 6 to 7.5

Main desktop and laptop (along with their monitors) are on anywhere from 8-16 hours a day. Laundry once per week

Austin, TX

 

[clamum]

I'm a single dude, living alone, and was billed for 1400kWh last month! lol but I'm on the extreme end, my place is 100% electric, so all cooking I do other than grilling outside requires electricity, same with clothes dryer, water heater, etc. Also furnace but right now it's still AC season (or open windows). And I make a point to try and save energy!

But seriously, I know where my power draw is: computer currently left on all the time so I can I work on things remotely; and, a server rack with two servers and various network equipment. Also, it's a 40+ year old AC and separate equally as old electric furnace. That will be replaced with a heat pump in the near future. But still, it looks like my homelab alone may account for about 250 kWh alone. lol
More often than not, my AC never gets a break in the summer, even trying to keep it to, say, 74-76F when I'm home, and about 80F when away.

Ah, I'm also an apartment liver so I don't have to pay for washer/dryer electricity since it's communal. I also don't cook much, even the microwave, cause I eat out nearly every day.

Man, sounds like your AC runs a lot even to keep your place at those temps! I've hardly had to turn mine on this summer; it just hasn't been as hot as it was last summer. I think I used my AC maybe a total of two or three days. I like to keep my place around 70 F, summer or winter. I can make do with up/down a couple degrees or so if that means not turning on heat/AC.

 

[destrekor]

Ah, I'm also an apartment liver so I don't have to pay for washer/dryer electricity since it's communal. I also don't cook much, even the microwave, cause I eat out nearly every day.

Man, sounds like your AC runs a lot even to keep your place at those temps! I've hardly had to turn mine on this summer; it just hasn't been as hot as it was last summer. I think I used my AC maybe a total of two or three days. I like to keep my place around 70 F, summer or winter. I can make do with up/down a couple degrees or so if that means not turning on heat/AC.

Yes, when it has to run, it largely runs continuously I've found. Part of it likely stems from probably needing a coolant recharge, but the other part is the fact that it's about 45 years old. lol but while it hurts now, I'm not ready for that $6000+ expense of replacing everything with a heat pump and aux electric heater.

 

[pete6032]

The electricity itself is not expensive, it's the cost to maintain the infrastructure to deliver it. I'm at about 7.5 cents per kwh. Fixed costs are about $18.

 

[destrekor]

The electricity itself is not expensive, it's the cost to maintain the infrastructure to deliver it. I'm at about 7.5 cents per kwh. Fixed costs are about $18.

So you are charged the 7.5c rate, and then a fixed $18 or so? Regardless of how much you use? Damn, the extra charges around here are about double my billed usage.

 

[pete6032]

So you are charged the 7.5c rate, and then a fixed $18 or so? Regardless of how much you use? Damn, the extra charges around here are about double my billed usage.

Yes. We can choose who we want to buy power from because the utility is deregulated. So we pay the utility company just for maintaining the utility lines and delivering the service. The actual electricity we consume is purchased from our choice of electricity wholesalers. The wholesalers agree to deliver the electricity to the utility for a negotiated rate. The 7.5 cents per kwh is collected by our utility company but it is forwarded on to the electricity wholesaler.

 

[destrekor]

Yes. We can choose who we want to buy power from because the utility is deregulated. So we pay the utility company just for maintaining the utility lines and delivering the service. The actual electricity we consume is purchased from our choice of electricity wholesalers. The wholesalers agree to deliver the electricity to the utility for a negotiated rate. The 7.5 cents per kwh is collected by our utility company but it is forwarded on to the electricity wholesaler.

Oh we have something similar but I'm still just with the utility company outright. When I was comparing advertised prices, my local utility had the lowest kWh price.

If you don't mind, can you break down your total cost then between your various electric utilities? So you pay about $18 to the utility company for their services, and then you pay 7.5c/kWh - and that's your entire bill?

Here's mine:

Service: 6.15c per KWH

KWH used 1,435
Customer Charge 4.00
Distribution Related Component 80.60
Cost Recovery Charges 22.33
Bypassable Generation and Transmission Related Component 88.30
Residential Distribution Credit -8.24
Residential Non-Standard Credit -8.89
Current Consumption Bill Charges 178.10
Total Charges $ 178.10

Your current PRICE TO COMPARE for generation and transmission
from Toledo Edison is listed below. In order for you to save money off
of your utility's supply charges, a supplier must offer you a price lower
than Toledo Edison's price of 6.15 cents per KWH for the same usage
that appears on the bill. To review available competitive supplier
offers, visit the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's ''Energy Choice
Ohio'' website at www.energychoice.ohio.gov.
6.15 cents per KWH

 

[Wreckem]

Base rate is .047.

For the month of August

910kWh = $44.09

Yay Texas utility rates.

That is for a 950sqft apartment which was built in 2014.

I am moving into a new construction 2767sqft two story house in mid October. Won't know for sure how much the max bill will be until next summer.

 

[pete6032]

Oh we have something similar but I'm still just with the utility company outright. When I was comparing advertised prices, my local utility had the lowest kWh price.

If you don't mind, can you break down your total cost then between your various electric utilities? So you pay about $18 to the utility company for their services, and then you pay 7.5c/kWh - and that's your entire bill?

Here's mine:

Service: 6.15c per KWH

KWH used 1,435
Customer Charge 4.00
Distribution Related Component 80.60
Cost Recovery Charges 22.33
Bypassable Generation and Transmission Related Component 88.30
Residential Distribution Credit -8.24
Residential Non-Standard Credit -8.89
Current Consumption Bill Charges 178.10
Total Charges $ 178.10

Cost of energy paid to wholesaler:
116 kwh at 7.1 cents per hour = $8.23

Costs paid to utility:
-Customer charge, metering charge, distribution charge = $16.13
-Environmental fee, zero emission fee, renewable portfolio standard, franchise cost, state tax, municipal tax = $2.18

Total = $26.54

Our utility company is owned by Excelon

 

[destrekor]

Cost of energy paid to wholesaler:
116 kwh at 7.1 cents per hour = $8.23

Costs paid to utility:
-Customer charge, metering charge, distribution charge = $16.13
-Environmental fee, zero emission fee, renewable portfolio standard, franchise cost, state tax, municipal tax = $2.18

Total = $26.54

Our utility company is owned by Excelon

Well I guess that isn't nearly as helpful as I had hoped it to be. With such low usage (116 kWh? daaaamn) distribution and related charges are likely going to scale far differently.

Also, daaaaamn.

 

[Charmonium]

New heat pump will save in all seasons compared to what these things apparently demand.

When you do the heat pump, I hope you can start a thread to walk us through the planning, options and installation. If you can remember to pm me, that would be appreciated.

I looked into it before I replaced my furnace since both that an the outdoor compressor got replaced at about the same time. The problem was that at the time which was maybe 6 or7 years ago, there wasn't a lot of competition so the prices were ridiculous. Even with the prospect of $100 oil it made more sense for me to just upgrade my furnace.

I was looking into an closed loop system - I think that's the right term. You have one open loop that pulls in ground water and discharges back to the ground and that feeds a closed loop that powers the exchanger. That way you keep your closed loop nice and clean with no sediment or other potential contaminants.

But just to drill the well for the open loop was crazy expensive. I sort of wish the price of oil would go back up so that those systems would start to be more competitive and you would get some price competition.

 

[pete6032]

Well I guess that isn't nearly as helpful as I had hoped it to be. With such low usage (116 kWh? daaaamn) distribution and related charges are likely going to scale far differently.

Also, daaaaamn.

I live by myself and I'm not home very much and do not have central A/C. Also washer/dryer are shared with my building so those aren't in the electric bill. I'd rather pay the cost of energy to wash and dry versus having to pay $1.25 per load for washing and drying.

 

[destrekor]

When you do the heat pump, I hope you can start a thread to walk us through the planning, options and installation. If you can remember to pm me, that would be appreciated.

I looked into it before I replaced my furnace since both that an the outdoor compressor got replaced at about the same time. The problem was that at the time which was maybe 6 or7 years ago, there wasn't a lot of competition so the prices were ridiculous. Even with the prospect of $100 oil it made more sense for me to just upgrade my furnace.

I was looking into an closed loop system - I think that's the right term. You have one open loop that pulls in ground water and discharges back to the ground and that feeds a closed loop that powers the exchanger. That way you keep your closed loop nice and clean with no sediment or other potential contaminants.

But just to drill the well for the open loop was crazy expensive. I sort of wish the price of oil would go back up so that those systems would start to be more competitive and you would get some price competition.

The ground type is a geothermal heat pump. By far the best type in terms of energy use, but also the most expensive, much of it in the dig itself. But the type I'll be aiming for is essentially an external compressor unit, like central air conditioning, but in this instance it is rigged so that the refrigerant can flow both forward and backward. In the summer it behaves like an AC system, and in the winter it runs in reverse, and takes whatever heat energy is available outside and transfers it inside by sending heated coolant to the radiator inside. In cold enough climates, if you don't go geothermal, you will typically need an aux furnace of some kind for when the air gets frigid. I've heard some modern units can keep themselves frost-free through colder temperatures than before. But even then, the average in Ohio is above freezing, and the occasional (sometimes overstaying their welcome) cold snap is still only a small amount of time in the grand scheme of our winters. Unless we continue to get winters where the polar vortex breaks down and goes crazy, that's not fun around here. That's some cold shit. A little aux electric furnace is nice, but the major savings comes when such a closed loop coolant system require far less energy than what amounts to a giant toaster coil utilizing pure resistive heating.

 

[Chaotic42]

My power company doesn't seem to tell me what my rate is supposed to be, but I was charged a base of $134.55 for 1,113 kWh, giving me a rate of $0.120889488/kWh. I then had various fees, bringing the total to $163.68 for an effective rate of $0.147061995/kWh.

I'm in a third-floor two bedroom apartment.

Edit: I just got my latest bill online.

$200.75 for 2,705kWh base = $0.0742144177. With fees it's $228.50 giving me $0.0844731978/kWh.

 

[Fir]

Wait, what? You had a utility bill of $6k? ?! Or was that what you were paid due to your generation?

The last bill was approx 6k which is about 4k lower than the summer averages. We missed the big months of June and July. The days getting shorter and clouds are hampering production but the savings is still fairly significant.

 

[zCypher]

Current bill cycle is

944 kWh at $0.02569/kWh = $25.10 of actual usage billed.

Then $85 of bullshit for a total of $110.16 for all electricity-related charges. This is a total of $50-$60 more than normal because I have two mining rigs running 24/7, they've "earned" >$600 over the same period of time.

Overall utilities $238 including electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater treatment, drainage, garbage pickup, taxes. This is for a regular size townhouse (basement, main floor and upstairs) in Edmonton. It sounds reasonable compared to what I see some people paying, but it still seems like a lot.