Outragous Electricty Bill

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Well I don't know what the hell u guys are doing but as I said before I have a very large house, pool, 4 fridges, ducted air, and 2 kids and I have never had a bill over $230.

Same here SJW. We're sans pool, but I have a wife who's always too cold/hot, so the reverse-cycle runs constantly... :angry: Biggest quarterly bill ever was less than $300...
 
Bloody Dishwasher....twice a day

And for some strange reason...the Missus has to use the clothes dryer ... just because it is there..and no other reason..





















Was given a reason...... came with a solicitors letter...
 
Bloody Dishwasher....twice a day

And for some strange reason...the Missus has to use the clothes dryer ... just because it is there..and no other reason..





















Was given a reason...... came with a solicitors letter...

Cut the cord ;)
 
I just want to get this right- you`ve got a 55 square home with 60,000l. pool, ducted aircon, 4 tv`s, 4 fridges and whatever and you`ve never had a power bill over $230.00 for the quarter.
Is that right?

staggalee.

Yep + a dishwasher thats on everyday. I got the pile of bills right next to me for the past 2 years we have been here. I must say though that I have the kids and Mrs trained well with lights and stuff. The house is full of those low voltage lights that really suck up the power so we tend to use low energy lamps more around the house.
We also have gas hot water and cooking.

Steve
 
Ours it always just over the $400 mark.
4 fridges / freezers
Heaps tvs
3 computers
dish washer 1 to 2 times a day
clothes dryer - I once said for her not to use the dryer for all the clothes; response was your quite welcome to hang them out dear. She gets to use the dryer no questions now. I worked out its only about 50c a load.
Hotwater / cooking all on power.
Only master bedroom aircon
Fluro type lighting in nearly every room.
Ceiling fans, at least 2 of them run nearly all the time
3 x Exhaust fans, that 2 off them actually run most the time.
Small Fish tank
Heaps and heaps of things that sit idle in standby mode.

I actually put a large % to the computers. Mine has a GFX card that draws over 100w and a PSU 600w, and my sons GFX card is 180w also with a 600w PSU, my other sons is running a resonable GFX card/ set too.. The computer room gets really hot, with 3 computers and often 3 people in there. We have a 40w fax, 60w fan, and a 180w fan (industrial) to help cool it, even this time of the year we are finding we have to run both of the smaller fans all day. Due to different work/school arrangements most times someone is in there, so it does get a good work out.

Overall compared to some bills I think $400 isn't too bad after all.


QldKev
 
Given that your graphics card gets its feed from the power supply I wouldnt think that you can add that to consumption.

Most of the time your computer and drives are sitting idle so the power consumption wouldnt be the 660w that the psu is rated at. Im only guessing but if your psu is rated at 600w it could run 5 hard drives, and couple of burners. If all of this was running you would be using maybe 500W of it. At idle is might only be using maybe 60w. (This is all a guess).

Im going to buy one of these meters from Jaycar just to put on the wifes TV. It says 300w on the back and she turns it on when she gets up at 7am and leaves it on until midnight when she goes to bed.

My power bill is between $500 and $600 per quarter.
 
Likewise. I'm buying a couple of those usage meters. One for the AV gear, one for the PC gear. See how we go...

I still reckon the house's insulation needs an upgrade for next Winter.
 
Oh, Doktor K... You've done it again!

Maybe you should be more obvious when the p!ss you are taking?

Les, you can always tell with the good Dr - it is in every post ......

When he is being serious, he uses his other login - Daren :lol:
 
Simple solution for the clothesdryer thing. Don't plug it in.

When we moved into our current place I put the dryer on top of the upright freezer just to get it out of the way. Never bothered to plug the thing in so we've not used it all winter. SWMBO ain't so happy about it because she doesn't have the convenience of just chucking clothes in it rather than spending 10 minutes hanging the stuff on the line. I can live with that.

For those of you using an electric hotwater system two things:

1. Check that the thermostat hasn't burned out. If it has then the thing will be running 24/7 and really chew the juice.

2. Turn the thermostat down. Most are running really hot when you can really get away with running them a few degrees lower.

And as others have said 'check your bill reading matches your meter reading'. Most of the companys make a guestimate of the usage and don't do a proper reading for all bills.

gary
 
...
Perhaps I'm just paying too much per kWh? :unsure:

Phrak,
I was going to reply to Doc's post the other day, but deleted it.
Your's has got me typing again.

Your problem is not the rates - you are consuming too much!
Let me tell you, you will get a very rude shock when they install a Time Of Use meter.
I can only hope it will shock you sufficiently to make you think about what your doing to our planet.

For the record, we have no town gas in our street, so it's all electricity here.
Like you I have a stay at home wife with 2 kids under 5.
We too have ducted reverse cycle.
We also have:
1 x in-ground pool to maintain
2 x fridges
1 x 160l tucker box
1 x 700 litre keg freezer - which I will downgrade
1 x fermentation fridge, that does not run all the time
The brewery's HLT is also electric.
We have a modest range of household appliances.

Our Autumn 08 bill (March, Apr, May) was $206 for 20kWh/ day, inc. off peak hot water.
Our Winter 08 bill (June, July, Aug) was $278 for 25kWh/ day, inc. off peak hot water.
These can be improved on.

Yes, insulate where you can. I put roof bats in as soon as we bought the house. We also installed whirlybirds
We face East, so I also put canvas blinds on front & back, to reduce the load in summer.

I also built an undercover washing line to supplement the Hills Hoist to cope with the increased washing due to kids.
This means that the drier tends only to be used during extended wet weather in Winter.

I implore you (and the other heavy users, some of which seem to take some pride in their 'accomplishments') to turn your usage around.

Rgds,
Peter
 

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