Shopping for electricity
 

Here in TX the power companies are unregulated so there are a lot of them.

One of them is offering weekends free (Sat/Sun) and free nights all week (10p-6a) both at $.139 kw/h. I think I am more interested in the free nights over the free weekends as we both work on the weekends so there would not be any benifit that we can see.

So I am trying to do the math to see if it pays. The other option is to go with a regular rate of 8.5 kWh.


This is what I figured and I wanted to see if my math was right.

I just took my last bill which was from 5/1-5/31. I used 1714 kWh. That boils down to 2.37 kWh per hr. At 16 hrs a day (8 hrs free) that is 37.9 kWh a day or 1137 for the month which at 13.9 kWh would be about $158.

If I go with the lower rate which is 8.5 I am coming up with $145 a month.

So given the variances of power usage from day to day and nights verses days it seems to me like there is not to much of a difference. The lower rate only locks me in to a 1 yr contract. The higher rate locks me into a 2 yr contract.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I think you should look at ways to reduce your electric consumption. My last billing period I used 211 kWh in 33 days. That's 6.4 kWh per day. Ok, so I was away for two weeks during that billing period. The previous month I used 12.7 kWh per day. How are you using so much juice?

I agree.

I use about 11.5 in the nine months without a/c and about 13.0 in June/July/August.

No electric used for heat and hot water, however, which might be the reason of the much higher consumption.

As for which is the better deal, you also need to consider what times of day you're using more or less power. If, as I suspect, you're running air conditioning, your usage during the day is probably going to be considerably higher than at night. My company offers breakdowns of usage versus time on hourly, weekly, and daily bases. I know that I use slightly more power on weekends, since I'm more likely to be home, and that my daily power use peaks around the time I get up and around the time I get home.

OK. I am in TX. It is hot. It's only hot, its humid. Humidity was 60% and about 95 degrees. Right now at 9 pm it's 91 degrees and 42% humidity. We live in a 1500 sq ft house with a pool. AC is at 74 during the day and 72 at night. Lights are off when not in use. The house is old (built in 68) but we have lots of shade. We conserve as much as we can. There is no one here in the DFW area who can use only 300 kWh a month unless they do not use AC. That will not happen.

Water and heat are gas. I guess I should not say that it's not even the peak of the summer here. Last Aug we used 2,600 kWh. Texas is a lovely place.:puke:

definitely more during the day. Hot and the A/C works harder. I just based my calculations on averages. Took the last bill and averaged it out.

Do you cook with an electric stove or oven ? (and at what time)
Do you use an electric dryer ? (and at what time).

my house uses about 1100kW-h a month, I blame my SAHM and 3 children :)

I havent looked at the wattage for the dryer, but its a 2 phase 220v 50A outlet so I'm sure it pulls some juice.
ok - CR says (Untitled Document) says 3400w - and for me one load takes about 45 mins to dry - 2.5kW-h per load

4500w for an electric stove - thats 2kW-h ($.17) just to cook dinner once (?)



I'm thinking that if you look at their times (when does "nighttime" and "weekend" rates start and end, then figure in where do you most of your cooking and drying - that'll help you see which plan is better for you.

Doesn't one of these services advertise more wind/solar/green power ? normally someone tries to play that card...

-John

My utility has all sorts of plans for various usage. I've tried them all, off peak, on peak, peekaboo, weekends, nights, days, special presidential inauguration day rates, Kwanzaa rates, you name it. I'll be damned if I see any difference in my bill. They just want to make you feel good about taking it in the pants.

Cook top and oven are gas. Dryer is elec. Nothing other than sleeping happens from 10p-6a. Weekends are hit and miss. I usually work weekends. Wife works every other Sat. Nothing much happens on the weekend that does not happen during the week.

I have a similar bill in a 1200 sq ft house, all electric no gas. Its TX, wiz no A/C you become roast pretty quick.

I expect you know about the powertochoose.org website?

I don't like gimmicky offers and have always rejected such things out of hand. Go with the lowest locked in rate offer. A 24 month contract seems awfully long to get 8.5cents, but then again that's not a bad rate so why not.

Your consumption does seem pretty high. I used 1061KWh from 5/8 to 6/7 this year and my house is larger than yours. Also have a pool.

Redneck saving idea. Assuming its only the wife and yourself, use a window unit to cool the bedroom at night, switch off the central air from 10PM-6AM. Read the meter to determine how many KWh you use overnight to estimate the savings and hence payback time.

I think we use quite a bit more, maybe on the scale of ~2000kwH/monthly . More so in the summer, maybe 3000-4000kwH..

That is my DO LIST numero uno for next month.

People don't get what it's like in Tx in the summer, anymore than Fairbanks in the Winter. My relatives are all Okies. They claim the only thing wrong with OK is July and Aug (I disagree, I think chiggers and ticks factor in there too). My folks were the only smart ones of the bunch, they moved to Calif as soon as they were able. Life has been good for us kids and the folks too.

I cool and cook with electricity and heat water and the house with gas.

I work from home and am here 24/7/365, and I have a kid. I used 350 KwHr elect and 10 therms of gas this month. Still looking to reduce it. Twisty bulbs everywhere. 1700' house.

Means absolutely nothing, my house ain't in Tx.

PS: for all you Texans (I'm one too BTW, was born there), did you know that if you sliced Alaska in half, that instead of being the second largest state in the Union, that Texas would fall to number 3?