I got one like that too - at least she pays it.

Heating the place is nothing compared to cooling it down.

We have the type of billing where it is the same every month - $170/month - year round.

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Jim

...........oh, yes, the old "balanced billing" trick by the power company.

Sure, you can pay $170. per month.

But, we keep track of your actual usage, and, if you decide to cool your house down to 70 degrees and use $500. per month in the warmer months, we'll be sending you an additional bill at the end of the 12 month "balanced billing period" to "even up the account".

Just the opposite for me. Everything in my condo's electric. The highest bill was last Feb. at around $150. Last month was about $55. I set the temperature and forget it. It costs too much to re-cool every time after I've been out for several hours. I also keep four ceiling fans on "low" 24 hours a day to help with the circulation. It also helps that I've got a lot of trees around and someone lives above me.

I also have flourescent bulbs in many of the light fixtures. A buddy of mine today told me that using just one of those bulbs saves about 500 lbs of coal a year.

__________________

Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

Damn....I pay about $65 in winter ans at most $175 in summer in the hottest month.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

...........but you heat with gas, correct?

yes...that is true...gas stove and water heater....electric oven.

My case is liveing in a low area with lots of trees....the winter winds do't roar past my house....and the trees shade it a large part of the day in the summer.

Since the neighbors I speak of live on top the hill and have far less shade than I do...but keep their house the same temp I do....

Trees do wonders when properly placed in keeping summer electric bills low for A/C is the point I was making. My MAX is $175 without Bill averaging is my point.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I will definitely be going to Home depot tomorrow to remedy that situation. Is that job a DIY'er?

I do have a pool which adds a few bucks here and there, like 30.00 per month, but I'm quite sure it's the kids. The wife is culpable as well.

After I notified her of the bill, she was shocked and promised to only wash clothes 3 times a week as opposed to daily. I shot you not. I can wear the same clothes(clean of course) every day of the week.

I don't mind her so much as the lazy asses!

__________________
Enough about me, how are you doing?

It's a DIY. However, you need to be sure of how the system works before heading off to HD. Some thermostats are heating/cooling thermostats with 4 or 5 wires. Some thermostats are cooling only thermostats with three wires.

If you had the literature on the present thermostat, it would be very helpful in selecting a replacement.

Make sure that you find one with the digital locking feature.

You could, of course, fix the problem using the ghetto approach. HD sells a locking cover for the existing thermostat. It looks like you have put the thermostat in a little "jail cell". Funny as hell. But, it gets the job done. Nobody can mess with the controls.

Don't have the literature, but it is heating and cooling. I'll pull it off the wall and check it out.

__________________
Enough about me, how are you doing?

I feel guilty I didn't get the basement finished before July. I suck at home improvement projects. As it stands I'll have a nice cool basement family room to relax in sometime around January.

We have trees all along the south side of the house. A little 6000BTU window unit cools downstairs pretty well. The upstairs is hot but we don't really use it (the gym, otherwise known as where we store the exercise equipment we don't use )

Just count the number of wires connected to it. They are color coded, typically. The new thermostat will tell you the connection points for the various colors.

If they are not color coded (installed by a dork), you are in for some serious investigation to determine which wire goes where.

Also, if they are not color coded, DO NOT remove the wires from the thermostat without first getting the instructions for the present thermostat. If you do, you are FUBAR.

I only see red and yellow. Is that normal?

__________________
Enough about me, how are you doing?

No white, green or Black? But several red and yellows?

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

My gas and electric bills are combined. It's cheaper to cool this joint than it is to heat it. Since I have a home office, it's all deductible, too. Okay...not all, but some.

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1989 300 SEL that mostly works, but needs TLC

If it's a heating/cooling thermostat, you need more than two wires. A minimum of four, and possibly five. So, there must be more than one red and/or more than one yellow.

This is what I was afraid of (a dork installed it). You can't change that thermostat via the colors. You will need to know the terminals of the thermostat, and what they do, before you can switch to another thermostat.

It's not overly difficult, but, it's one step above DIY at this point. Sort of like defusing a bomb. Can't remove the wrong wire.

The documentation on the existing thermostat would be very beneficial at this point.