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Energy Bill hike

post #1 of 23
1/1/06 at 9:07am
Thread Starter 
Our gas bill has increased by $60.00 a month! We are not using any more heat than we normally do. We use natural gas. I am curious what others are seeing in their monthly energy bills? Since we are on a fixed income, it looks like my specialty coffee craze will have to be shelved this year to compensate for this increase. Break out Mr. Coffee!
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post #2 of 23
1/1/06 at 9:56am
Ours was outrageous in the summer. We don't use gas, just electricity but the company here has hiked rates 3 times in less than a year. Our electric bill was running $350-$370 That includes the water, but that is only about $40 of the entire bill.
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post #3 of 23
1/1/06 at 10:14am
I keep warm with a steam hot water heater myself (which I don't pay for, my landlord does), but Ian's bills have been absurdly high this year! My electric has been only slightly more than it was this time last year and I also get free hot water...
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post #4 of 23
1/1/06 at 10:31am
Our bill at work was $150 more and the gas bill isn't in yet (and we know that will be high because its freezing outside).

I am suddenly glad that all utilities are included in my rent!
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post #5 of 23
1/1/06 at 10:35am
yup....heat and electric are up up up
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post #6 of 23
1/1/06 at 10:52am
We try not to use the heater that much because if the high prices. Last year we only had a space heater because the AC/heater was dead. We replaced the entire unit in the spring. Before that we spent one whole summer and the winter doing without. The winter wasn't so bad because we had the space heater and do not live in snow country. But the summer without AC was horrible. It gets very hot here, between 105 and 115 during day.

So the bills are higher here because of this
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post #7 of 23
1/1/06 at 12:08pm
It's not just the States. Our electricity rates have gone sky high, and I know that gas prices are being raised for the second time since October. They'll probably go up again, since Russia just turned off supplies to Ukraine, and much of Germany's natural gas comes via a pipeline through Ukraine.
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post #8 of 23
1/1/06 at 12:34pm
Grrr.... Yep, mine too...but I'm on the budget plan so I don't know how much it is more, and I'd rather not know
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post #9 of 23
1/1/06 at 4:42pm
Our house is all electric but we heat primarily with our woodstove.
We got our largest bill ever for November which was $195!!! normal bills are $50ish or so. December was usually our largest last yr it was $125. We know have had 10 days of above normal temps outside (low 30's) which should help.
Some of the increase can be attributed to me being home full time..
I know compared to others in our area our energy bills are low I would hate to see what the heat bill portion would be if we only had electric heat!!
We have thermostats in every room-the bedrooms rarely get those turned on.
But I have to admit when we bought our house in 1987-we keep the thermostats much lower (like 60 degrees!!) We now have the programable ones set at 65 or 62 for manual operations. You would think however that with me feeding the woodstove all day that the electric wouldn't kick on-which it really doesn't but I should toss more than one piece of firewood in the stove at one time once the temps outside dip below say 10 degrees!!
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post #10 of 23
1/1/06 at 8:45pm
yup... we went on the budget plan ... electric and gas are both up about 40% since the states keep letting energy companys raise the rates...
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post #11 of 23
1/2/06 at 12:14am
Ours has gone up as well. Last month was $135 for a 900 square foot apartment. Rediculous! Last year it was about $85 tops for the winter. I don't want to go on their budgeted plan because the way it works here is that you pay a certain amount every month based on last year's average, and then have to pay the difference in one lump sum at the end of the period (every 6 months or a year, I think). That lump sum difference scares me more than having to pay more every month.
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post #12 of 23
1/2/06 at 6:05am
I don't see or pay ours but, they aren't too bad. We haven't even had the furnace running, for over a week. With overnight lows, in the high 40s, blankets are adequate.

My parents electric bill is always $300+. They have a five-bedroom, 3-bath all-electric house. For heating/cooling, it has 2 heat pumps. The only salvation is the pool has a solar heater.

My new house will have AC and a gas furnace. With me at work all day, my utilities should be manageable. The furnace will be off in the daytime and I'll set the AC at a constant 80, during the hottest part of the summer.
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post #13 of 23
1/2/06 at 6:07am
We're all electric here and ours is up but not by as much as it could be. Hubby cleared the woods and spent a weekend cutting and splitting wood for the woodstove - we're using that more than normal and have actually ordered a new stove that is more efficient - the new one is good for the square foot of our entire house. This is one of the few times you can thank a tornado (from 2 years ago) for downing trees in our woods - gave us wood for about 5 winters.
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post #14 of 23
1/2/06 at 6:33am
Yep - so far it (gas) is $80 higher here than this time last year - and it was colder last year.
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post #15 of 23
1/2/06 at 7:42am
We live in an aparment - and our utility bill - for heat/electricy in December was $95...I was shocked!! Usually its about $45-$50! I know I shouldn't even be complaining cuz thats so cheap compared to the $300 + that most people are having to pay for a house, but still, for an aparment, I thought that was kinda spendy compared to what we are used to paying!!
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post #16 of 23
1/2/06 at 8:17am
I heat with propane gas and have an electric hot water heater and electric stove. I budget the gas delivery, which is $125 a month. Our electric is usually between $65 to $80 per month and we have 2 refrigerators running all the time, so that isn't too bad for the electric. I keep the house cool in the in the winter, never higher than 68 during the day, but only when we are home. At night and while away, I keep it at 64 degrees. We moved here a little over a year ago and had to pay for a fill up of the propane tank. So, that offset the actual amount of gas we use. When they budget again for the next season, it may be cheaper, because I keep the house cool. I like propane gas. It burns hotter, so the furnace heats up quicker and does not need to run as long.
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post #17 of 23
1/2/06 at 10:14am
Since I'm buying a brand-new manufactured home. my bills should be within reason. These are very well-built, with all of the latest energy-efficient appliances and insulation.

Mine can be ordered with two optional fireplaces (in the living and family rooms) but I am going to pass on these. Frankly, I don't want the hassle of cleaning out the fireplaces or the expense of having the chimney swept. Firewood is cheap here. For $10, one can get a permit to cut a full cord, in the National Forests and my dad has a chainsaw but...........
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post #18 of 23
1/2/06 at 3:57pm
It is up about $25 here for my usual 70 degrees year round. In the summer we run about 28$, in the winter usually around $50, right now it's $75. We pay $50 a month no matter what via budget plan- but there is a spot on our bill that says what the cost would have been versus what we overpaid this summer. So far everything is working out. We still have some summer overpay reserves.
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post #19 of 23
1/3/06 at 6:35pm
Last bill I got was $28.00 but I expect it to go up quite a bit this time. My heater was broken part of the last billing cycle so who knows by how much. I'm hoping it will only double. Thankfully I live in an apartment so it shouldn't go up by too much....I hope.
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post #20 of 23
1/3/06 at 7:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by esrgirl
We still have some summer overpay reserves.
That's a pretty good idea. I'd rather pay a steady bill to build up credit then to pay a bunch out for 4-5 months and then next to nothing for the other 7-8.

My only smoke is that if they're going to raise the energy bills (and last I heard before Christmas, there were talks of raising the price of water too), is to open up more jobs to $PAY$ these freakin' hikes! We haven't received a gas bill yet (that I know of) and it's making me nervous. Still though with a BF that's been unemployed since May 05, and the computer industry not paying as well as it use to, the last thing I need is higher bills.
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post #21 of 23
1/4/06 at 6:59am
Here in Arizona, we have had a very good winter. I do not use the furnace, because I get hit twice, once for electricity to run the furnance and once for the gas. I have a 14 x 52 trailer that appears to be well insulated.

I have an oil-filled radiator (DeLongi) and use the 600 watt setting. It heats up the kitchen/living room area just fine. I had to use it about 10 or 11 nights the middle to the end of December, and with just a refrigerator running also, my bill was only $36 (that includes the bribe we have to pay for being a customer, and various other bribes to state taxes, etc.)

If it gets really cold, I use the 900 watt setting and over the years I have never had to use the 1500 watt setting. The radiator is heavy so that the cats cannot knock it over and has wheels, so it can be moved where ever it is needed.

I figured that with 600 watts over 10 hours and my cost for electricity for 1 KW is .0798, that equals roughly 0.4788 cents per night. Very economic I think.
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post #22 of 23
1/4/06 at 7:07am
OUr bills were only like 75 before we had to use the heater. now it is 150 and we keep it cool in the house like 66 instead of the recommended 68 i think we might be turning it down some more...
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post #23 of 23
1/4/06 at 5:52pm
Our electric bill only went up about $30 for this month. It's $102.00 for Jan. after a very cold Dec., so that's not much higher than normal for this time of year, we are usually around $120 at the highest it gets. We do keep it rather cool though, 65 during the day and about 62-64 overnight.
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