Help me identify why my Electric bill is nucking futs

I moved out of my last house in Sept. of last year.  This is what my usage looked like the year before.  1400sq ft ranch, ~1300 sq ft basement.  A/C, Hot Water, Appliances are all electric.  A you can see, 1000kwhr is pretty much worst case.

Duke said:

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I assume you are using a decently efficient heat pump for HVAC?

If so, is your water heater electric?  That's a near-constant load.

 

Both heat pumps are new--one last year, and one just this month.  Usage for July 24 is probably a bit off on the high side since the old unit was literally running 24/7 before it got replaced.  Water heaters are electric tank-type, also of fairly recent vintage.  Water temp is set down to 120, I believe.  

Looks like we pay $0.14/KwH, billing cycle ends in a few days. Estimated bill is $280. Whereas 6 years ago that was more like $170. 

1815sq ft house that we have trouble keeping the our "offices" on the opposite side of the house cool (and warm in the winter) because they sit on the opposite of side of where the HVAC is located in the garage. And that's with some vents blocked with magnetic covers to help force more air to that side of the house. 

I'm paying for comfort. And willing to keep doing so.

The R60 attic insulation wasn't as great a benefit as I hoped. The new electric induction stove is berkeleying awesome so I'll keep it. We air fry a LOT too and those use some juice. 

Huh, so PA actually does have something going for it. If I'm reading it right, total cost is about 14 cents per kwh. 

What I find interesting is this year I've been running the AC at a lower temp (from 77 during the day and 74 at night to 75 during the day and 70 at night), and we've had a prolonged period of hot humid weather, but compared to last year, we're using less electricity overall. Not a lot, but some.

How much of the house do your really need to cool at night?  Could you put a small window or mini split in the bedroom(s) where you need to get to 66 at night?

fwiw I used to need it cold to sleep.  I slowly increased temps and got used to sleeping in warmer temps and now 74 doesn't bother me.  (Nor does 60 in winter)

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I think thru an online calculator I figured out that we use 21 kwh or something like that a month.

I heat with wood, propane appliances. The only caveat is in summer I run the generator at night for super coolness as I berkeleying hate the heat and must sleep in an icebox

prodarwin said:

How much of the house do your really need to cool at night?  Could you put a small window or mini split in the bedroom(s) where you need to get to 66 at night?

 

fwiw I used to need it cold to sleep.  I slowly increased temps and got used to sleeping in warmer temps and now 74 doesn't bother me.  (Nor does 60 in winter)

Not a bad idea. Localize the cool.

The current place is a brick ranch with a basement and super leaky. Code minimum cooling. Will replace the HVAC when it expires, using a high efficiency heat pump.

The house I would like to build someday is about 1,200 SF + full basement. Then a 28x40 shed with a rental apartment upstairs. 

I don't need passivhaus standard because that's borderline ridiculous but targeting  efficiency similar to https://www.prettygoodhouse.org/ 

In reply to RevRico :

I'm so jealous of your guy's low rates. They jacked our rates again, and changed the structure. No more pretending they have a lower base rate that quickly jumps up to higher tiers. Now we just start from a high tier. Tier 1 now starts at $.43 per kWh, and that "lower" rate is only for the first 300 kWh's. Then it goes to $.53. My bill last month was over $1000, and the weather was pretty mild. This month has hit 100 degrees for almost 2 weeks straight. Not looking forward to next month's bill, need to hurry up the solar install. 

prodarwin said:

How much of the house do your really need to cool at night?  Could you put a small window or mini split in the bedroom(s) where you need to get to 66 at night?

 

fwiw I used to need it cold to sleep.  I slowly increased temps and got used to sleeping in warmer temps and now 74 doesn't bother me.  (Nor does 60 in winter)

In our specific case, part of the reason we keep it so cold overnight is for the thermal mass against the heat of the summer here in Oklahoma. Back of the house is all brick, faces directly south, no shade and no space to add any insulation between the ceiling and the roof (more than there already is, that is). Our plan for next year is to buy some tall trees/shrubs to plant in the back to help keep the sun off the bricks and hopefully prevent them from gaining as much heat and putting heat rejection film on the windows. 

So even when if we get the house down to 67-68 over night, by 6pm the house will be up around 76-77 which I don't find comfortable inside. And that's with the AC running nonstop from around 10am until around 1am. It's 1:20am right now and the AC is on. 

Fresh filters, we have the HVAC system professionally maintained twice per year, etc. 

Most of my west facing windows now have solar screens that I made using window screen frame kits and bulk screen from Amazon (but it can be purchased at big box stores).  Definitely helped as things were starting to warm up this spring.  Solar films on the window glass surface can, I've heard, cause heat to build on the glass surface and cause problems with double-pane windows.  

I leave the thermostat set to 78 or 79, unless I'm having guests over, and I keep a couple ceiling fans running.  I don't relate to wanting to run the thermostat in the 60's for cooling in the summer.  Last electric bill was $125.

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

We only have to west facing windows and along with the roof on that side are completely shaded by two large trees. Nearly 80 degrees in the house sounds miserable. 

Thanks for the tip on the window film, I'll look into that.