Are Summer ConEd Bills Always This Nasty?
We moved recently from a small apartment in a large building to a larger apartment in a small building. We have central A/C, tall ceilings, and, I’m guessing, not a lot of insulation. Our electricity bill last month was $290! Does that sound right? We never paid more than $100 in our smaller place–but that…
We moved recently from a small apartment in a large building to a larger apartment in a small building. We have central A/C, tall ceilings, and, I’m guessing, not a lot of insulation. Our electricity bill last month was $290! Does that sound right? We never paid more than $100 in our smaller place–but that was with one window mounted unit only. Sweat equity…
I use an average of 100 kwh a month in an 800-square-foot apartment with a lot of windows, and my monthly ConEd bills are always under $100, even though a few years ago I took the option for wind-power (which raised my electric bill by $15 a month). Here’s how that happens:
I live in a ratty old tenement co-op that I partially renovated. I replaced my windows with high-performance argon-filled tilt-and-turn windows. My computer is on a power-strip (though not the Time-Warner cable box, which does take 10 mintues to reboot). I installed a high-performance mini-split. I don’t have a TV set, I don’t leave lights on, I use a box fan, and I don’t use my electric oven unless I am doing something like roasting a turkey. If the apartment is hot I shut all my windows and blast the minisplit for an hour or so to cool the place down, then I turn it off and open the windows. I’d like to replace the refrigerator, but there’s no sense in doing that wihtout renovating the entire kitchen, which doesn’t really need it.
Of course, it helps that tenement walls are thick, my ceilings are high and I have cross ventilation.
My overall rate per KwH went from ~21 cents to ~27 cents back in April. Did everyone else have that jump?
MR, how did you get ConEd to change your rate? Isn’t the rate just the same for everyone no matter what?
This is why we nead more NUCLEAR.
“Do tower fans use as much electricity as window units?”
You mean a/cs? Of course not. Fans are typically 100-200 watts, window a/cs 600-1200 (figure one-tenth the btu rating).
Triplex with 4 window units mostly kept at 76deg: July was 890kW.
I doubt a cable box uses more than 100w, which would be $12/month. Every bit counts, of course, but central ac is the killer.
Why would keeping liquids reduce refrig load? It’s a static system and would take more energy to initially cool the liquids even if there’s some kind of buffering issue? Explain,
Go flat rate…
Not as much as a bite, and you know what you are going to pay with no surprizes, until the yaerly adjustments.
Do tower fans use as much electricity as window units? My housemate is bitching about the power bill for last month 200.00 versus the month before of 130.00.Evidentally I’m suppose to not dry my hair,use the fan or the A/C and walking around with a lit candle.
For the record I only use the a/c at night to sleep comfortably,while using the fan during the day to circulate leftover cool air from the a/c. Or when noise outside my window make it impossible to keep it open.She can forget about me walking around with a wet head or not watching Netflix on the PC.I work from home most of the time.
I’m with DIBS on this one, and that’s why I haven’t used A/C in three years (that and my guilt at contributing to global warming). I have ceiling fans, a box fan, and spend a lot of time in other air conditioned places.
The post about putting the cable box on a power strip is interesting. I had tried that, but the Time Warner cable boxes reboot when unplugged and at least mine take a good ten minutes to go through their “Mystro” reboot, which I find unbearably annoying. They also reboot often, which is an entirely different story about the poor cable service from TWC.
power prices in nyc are going up – they had to decomission an older plant this spring and nothing new is being built here.