Power Bill

[MarkBastard]

Thanks Snow that looks good. I'll have a think about where the best place to use it would be.

Or use one of these remote controlled power boards? Or doesn't your tellie have an on/off switch on the TV itself? That generally means it doesn't use standby if you turn it off at the switch rather than the remote...

My TV has an on-off switch but it only puts it into standby. I don't think any of the newer TV's have a real on/off switch any more.

The other thing is some things like to be connected all the time. Even the IQ box when you're not recording anything can receive entitlement updates overnight. If you for example went away for a month and had the IQ fully unplugged you could come home to find your Foxtel no longer works because your Foxtel card doesn't have the new entitlements on it. You'd have to call Foxtel to get them to resend the entitlements and could have to wait an hour or so for them to come down.

Most appliances these days just seem to be designed with standby in mind.

 

[HeavyNova]

My bill is around $180 per quarter for 2 people in a small unit.

1 Fridge
1 Ferment Fridge
1 PC (on for average of 8 hours a day - in and out of 'sleep' mode)
1 CRT TV
1 Mid-powered amp (always runs with the TV max draw of 680W)
Energy saving bulbs

Gas hot water and cooktop.

I guess now that I've listed the stuff above it looks like I don't run much compared to others. I had a look last night and before the cost of power went up we were paying about $120 per quarter.

 

[donburke]

just got my first electricity bill post glycol chiller and to my surprise the bill totalled just shy of $400 for the quarter

i was a little worried it would be phenomenal, but i feel a little relaxed now

glycol chiller on 24/7
6 keg chest freezer as keezer
fermenting fridge plus computer fan

a/c, food fridge, blow dryers, tv, dvd, stereos, lighting, exhaust fans, coffee machine, microwave, baby monitor, computer etc the rest

hws & cooktop gas

 

[QldKev]

I want a $400 bill for a quarter's worth of power


oh, fark... someone just flushed the toilet.
First of power for the pump from the rainwater tank to refill the toilet.
Then for the power to run the couple of pumps in the biocycle, and then the power for the aerator in the biocycle

There goes any power saving, and somehow this is greener living :blink: :wacko:

Then I've got to pay the new crappy gillard carbon tax out of my income!


funny thing is, this new house costs nearly the same as my old place in town did.
Aircons
In town : 2
Here: 0

HWS
In town : Old school elec heating (not heat pump)
Here: Solar, and the booster has never been switched on yet, hope winter is not too cold or I may use more power



QldKev

 

[Spork]

I dream of $400 / quarter power bills...
Just got bill today - summer, no heating (Use a woodheater anyway). No Aircon in this house. $656.09. Average daily consumption 28.527473 kwh - down from 29.755319 kwh same time last year. I wasn't HB'ing this time last year, conclusive evidence that brewing saves power.

 

[Doubleplugga]

solar power. average bill 86 bucks a quarter. keg fridge always on and pool runs for 8 hours a day. it will be a bit more next time though as we used the aircon quite a bit this summer. only expecting around 240 bucks or so though so i cant really complain

 

[cam89brewer]

Our power bill averages around about $170 - $180 a quarter in a 2 bedroom unit with 1 inside fridge , I keg fridge and 1 fermenting fridge as well as a decent sized fish tank... but that's where gas hot water and heating come in I suppose... but that is only about $30 - $40 every 2 months.

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

solar power. average bill 86 bucks a quarter. keg fridge always on and pool runs for 8 hours a day. it will be a bit more next time though as we used the aircon quite a bit this summer. only expecting around 240 bucks or so though so i cant really complain

Are you serious mate? That's bloody cheap consider you have 3 fridges don't ya. might have to get solar although I don't think it's I'll get the same per unit price you got. In mean time beers on you!

 

[Doubleplugga]

yeah. forgot about the other 2 fridges!! got in early while the solar rebate was at its highest. one of the best choices we made.

 

[donburke]

we recently renovated and this was our first full cycle of being in the home

lighting was changed to led downlights, at 8w each there is a saving

i set the a/c to 25 and use the economode, insulation helped here

the kegking kegerator has gone and replaced with the chesty, is there a saving here ?

i reckon the food fridge is the least efficient, being opened 100 times a day

and i read on this forum that a glycol chiller is expensive to run, what a load of hogwash

 

[alfadog]

wow, and I complained when my power bill went to $180 after 3 months with the BM. I have just hardwired the gas to my keg fridge so that I do not have to open the fridge door 4-5 times a night, so I am hoping that this will save me some power.

Computer fans are on the way to be installed in my fridges to help the power bill too.

 

[geoffd]

Hi Stowaway 2a+1c definitely less than 300a qtr, havent read all the responses so you might have got some of these replies already.

700 seems excessive
a couple of things spring to mind - 5 people lots of washing (especially if it's on a fairly hot setting) so maybe 400 is reasonable.

Clothes dryer if you use one, probably the most intensive unit in the house.
Dishwashers can be expensive too, I've never seen the sense in them as you need to clean the heavy stuff off by hand anyway.
Electric cooker v gas would distort the bill a fair bit, cooking with lids on significantly reduces energy required on the hobs.
also had a neighbour whose hot water system thermostat bust & it was keeping the water on boil, they were paying $900, & the stingy landlord refused to fix, they ended up leaving, I'd personally have lodged a claim as well. maybe check your boiler isnt set too high, though most run on gas so it's not likely your problem.
Have you any sparky mates that can help you investigate? seems to me you have either a faulty equipment or you are the most unecofreindly person ever or dont use gas?

Perhaps you should dress your family in hobo gear & collect some wood & huddle round an oil barrel., dont forget the mittens need to be fingerless.

 

[hando]

we saved at least $200 per quarter by running the washing machine and dishwasher only after 10pm when power goes to off-peak rates.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Perhaps you should dress your family in hobo gear & collect some wood & huddle round an oil barrel., dont forget the mittens need to be fingerless.

This is what a lot of people do, its reality not fantasy.
Problem is I am very comfortable in my high energy using mansion to give a ****.
Not true, we are going solar and going to brew energy efficiently when possible.
Nev

 

[Fish13]

i almost died this quarter! from 186 to 356! although i did have the oven on for a 36hours at 50 degree's and the aircon on everyday... my mates on the other hand was $7.... solar credits bastard.


Nev you must get the meter to get the solar plugged back into the grid.

 

[booargy]

Nev you must get the meter to get the solar plugged back into the grid.

or buy a chinese grid tie inverter and plug the solar panels into a socket outlet. Just don't produce more than you use otherwise it looks like you are stealing power. h34r:

 

[alfadog]

we saved at least $200 per quarter by running the washing machine and dishwasher only after 10pm when power goes to off-peak rates.

Hando,

Unfortunately we in SEQ have to have a dedicated circuit to get off peak rates. While appliances can be run on off peak tariffs it is a PITA to set up.

 

[mikk]

My latest quarterly bill was $400, which is the most it's ever been. Still, not too bad considering the 50L Braumeister has been getting a flogging, & the 6 fridges to run.

And air-con on quite often, workshop lights on all the time etc. i guess i can't complain too much compared to the other massive bills posted on this thread, & those bills would have increased markedly since those posts were made, i imagine, do to the electricity prices going up quite steeply.

 

[ianh]

My latest quarterly bill is $541 and that is after a $105 pensioner discount for the two of us, used 25 KWH per day with no heating or cooling.

Tasmania should have the cheapest electricity prices as the vast majority is produced by hydro, but because of incompetence/admin and no competition we have the dearest.

When we have finished complaining about electricity costs, we can start on how much our water bill has gone up and continues to do so.

 

[Fish13]

wa's price has gone up by 60% since the liberals have come in. All becuase of the increase in the amount of fifo workers increasing the average wage but the worst thing is synergy still posted a massive profit and the ceo got a huge fugging pay rise too.... work that out and they say they lose money on it with out the increase and the governemnt back up. the hardship cases for paying the bill has gone up too.. But the increase had to be done to pay for the solar powers being fitted to houses the say....