[airstreamingypsy]

$101.00 in Florida, for the hottest month on record, is a steal.

[cjrjck]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

Haven't moved in yet, refrigerator is off, only electric I'm using in the house is A/C, thermostat set at 80. Just got a bill from SECO for $101 for 29 days. Seems high, but is it?

Be grateful you aren't serviced by Duke Energy. With the ridiculous added fuel charges and other fees and taxes, you will be paying about 16 cents a kWh. More if usage goes above 1000 kWh.

[Toymeister]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

.



I'm mainly just trying to understand how much electricity the A/C uses when set for minimal use (set at steady 80F).

As mentioned, no other electricity is being used in the house right now. Not even ghost appliances. Everything -- tv's, coffee maker, power recliners, etc., have been unplugged.

First, read and understand your bill. You are paying over a dollar a day to have the privilege of getting a bill. Every kWH used is taxed also.

Second, understand ghost load. Your doorbell, garage door openers, thermostat/HVAC, dishwasher, microwave, every GFCI device, irrigation system, tankless water heater (even if the water is off the electric is on) all have ghost loads and you most certainly left them "plugged" in. You pay for a driveway light every night.

As to the incremental cost of operating AC that's been covered already.

[mikeycereal]

Your bill is around the same (low $100s) as me during summer as when I lived in Vegas... both under 1200 sq feet. It drops down to around $60 on all other months. For both my homes it's been beneficial to leave AC running day & night at around 76-77 degrees. I only set it to 80 degrees when on a trip over a week.

The biggest energy users are anything that makes things hot or cold. That extra fridge and/or freezer in the garage is costly.TV and other gadgets only use a small %. That "turn the light off when not in the room" quote is more of a save your lightbulb life than a noticeable AC bill.

My gas started out between $30-40 for the first year. But doing bulk cooking rather than every day dropped it this month to $19.

[Lyarham]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

Haven't moved in yet, refrigerator is off, only electric I'm using in the house is A/C, thermostat set at 80. Just got a bill from SECO for $101 for 29 days. Seems high, but is it?

When we’re away we set the air to 85. Bill is about $75

[pauld315]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

Watts are a moment in time, a kilowatt hour is 1000 watts used in one hour. One hundred watts used for ten hours is also a kWH. I expressed my AC consumption dramatically to convey accuracy.

Watts are useful to see how much draw an appliance has while kWH are useful to see how much it costs. Example, my toaster is an energy hog at 1,468 watts but my kWH consumption is about a dime per month as is rarely runs.

Yesterday my AC ran for eleven hours and five minutes. The day before run time was four minutes less. But I set my AC by temp so I never consider run time.

So, according to my math (496,120,000 watts /1000 watts per KwH ) = 496,,120 KwH per month ? I don't think that is right.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by mikeycereal

My gas started out between $30-40 for the first year. But doing bulk cooking rather than every day dropped it this month to $19.

How much from the gas saving is left after using electric to reheat meals a month, or do you eat it cold?

[MrLonzo]

Originally Posted by Wondering

Your bill is very reasonable. You could have set the thermostat at 82. 2000 sq. ft. house in the summer set at 79 would be in the $160 range if you were living there.

Thank you, I will adjust the thermostat and try 82.
[BTW, if I were living there, I'm sure it would be less. I like it hot. The A/C would not be on nearly as much.]

[MrLonzo]

To reiterate for those who like to read between the lines, I'm not complaining about the SECO bill, just trying to understand what the norm is in Florida, as I'm moving from a completely different environment. My gratitude for all comments.

[ton80]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

Our AC consumes exactly 2,927 watts when it is on, likewise our fridge uses 104 watts.

Our monthly AC consumption is exactly 496,120,000 watts or 496.1 kWH. This for a 2230 sq ft concrete block home with 9' walls set to 77 degrees.

By far AC is the largest consumer of juice, however there are a number of items that consume power all the time (ghost watts) averaging 100 to 200 watts 24/7 or 73.2 to 146.4 kWH monthly.

To quote dollars to operate an appliance is somewhat misleading depending upon your utility but you can be reasonably accurate at .112 cents per kWH. So my AC costs $55.56 this month not including customer charges, taxes and other fees.

Data based upon a whole house energy monitor collecting 100,000 points of data per second for six years or 18.9 trillion points of reference.

Any questions on energy consumption in TV, ask away.

TLDR: no your bill is not high.

Toymeister,

With great respect for your abilities, I have had difficulties matching your calculations using your data. The problem seems to be what is the AC power consumption instantaneous versus average over the month.

"exactly 496,120,000 watts or 496.1 kWH" I assume you meant watt-hours for the month. If so, I can match your monthly power cost. Otherwise I get a number about double suggesting that somewhere the average daily runtime and the absolute 24 hrs per day times 30 days per month somewhere got missed or I misunderstood.

Trying to calculate the kwh starting with the AC power draw:
Assuming AC power draw is 2927 watts or 2.927 kw when operating, and assuming 11 hrs per day times 30 days per month I get 981 kwh/mo.
At $0.112 per kwh, the monthly cost would be about $110.

Going back to: 496.1 kwh consumed times $.112 per kwh = $ 55.6

I agree with your comments and analyses. I agree that the OP cost is reasonable for all of the points you mentioned, other fees, ghost loads etc. The student in me could not make the quick numbers match.

[bcsnave]

Electricity doesn't cost a thing..just ask all the folks with Electric carts that plug in at town squares or other places that are not their own and think they are not stealing fuel

[journalgirl]

Originally Posted by phylt

Anyone know if SECO has Peak or Lower elec cost structure. We may be getting an EV and would like to know for charging. TIA

Seco has a great program for Tesla owners. Monthly discount when charging during off peak hours, updated electric meter to allow ability to monitor usage in 15 min increments. I’m seeing significant savings.
Check Seco website for all the specifics.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by bcsnave

Electricity doesn't cost a thing..just ask all the folks with Electric carts that plug in at town squares or other places that are not their own and think they are not stealing fuel

Just how many are "all the folks?" I've read on ToTV that it happens but I've never seen it. And no, I haven't been looking, but I think I would have noticed the extension cords as I stepped over them.

Rough observations but my cart costs about $0.01/mile to charge and adds about seven miles for every hour of charging. That would work out to be about $0.10/hour of charging at residential rates. If someone was plugged in for the entire time music was playing at the square it would come to a little less than $0.50. Stealing is stealing but it would cost far more in labor to patrol the area than would be stolen by a single cart.

There might be a business opportunity there. Construct a "power tree" with a dozen network controlled outlets and charge users $1/hour to plug in.

NOTE: Thank you JMintzer for noticing the post I replied to had been changed.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Stealing fuel? As far as I know the 110 outlet in my garage runs through the same meter as the rest of my house. Anything that goes into my cart is metered, billed, and paid for. What is being stolen?

As for cost, my electric cart costs about $0.01/mile. My gas cart right now costs close to $0.07/mile.

Your quoted poster corrected his post...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

Haven't moved in yet, refrigerator is off, only electric I'm using in the house is A/C, thermostat set at 80. Just got a bill from SECO for $101 for 29 days. Seems high, but is it?

Since it was your first bill, are you sure it was only for 30 days? First bills can be higher or lower than normal, based on billing cycle dates...