Huge Power Bill Maybe OT

[Zach]

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and got
our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.
I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?
And how about a PC running most of the day.
These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.
But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.
I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I thought
I would ask you guys first.

Cheers,

 

[Dorfus Dippintush]

Zach wrote:

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and got
our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.
I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?
And how about a PC running most of the day.
These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.
But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.
I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I thought
I would ask you guys first.

Cheers,

Do you know how to work out the power consumption of appliances?

 

[Phil Allison]

"Zach"

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and
got our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

** They are perfectly ordinary electricity bills.

I think its strange to be billed so much.

** Time to get real.

I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?

** Yes - but less than a resistive heater when used in reverse cycle.

And how about a PC running most of the day.
These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.

** The HWS will use a fair bit - and the fridge.

But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.

** They are perfectly ordinary electricity bills.

I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

** No special reason is needed.

Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I
thought I would ask you guys first.

** Folk who have low electricity bills ( under $150 per quarter) are folk
who have live in well insulated houses, in warm climates, with gas stoves
and a gas HWS.

PLUS they spend week days away from the house and most weekends too.

IOW running up other people's power bills.




......... Phil

 

[David L. Jones]

On Oct 20, 4:32 pm, "Zach" <zac...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and got
our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

Maybe, maybe not.
It's possible that your first bill did not include the full billing
period. Wait for the next one to compare it with.

I think its strange to be billed so much.

Why? Doesn't sound too far off an ordinary bill for someone who isn't
careful with their consumption.

I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?

Yes, it does. Only use it when necessary.

And how about a PC running most of the day.

Yep, plenty there too. So those overnight bittorrent downloads ain't
exactly "free".
Notebooks use less power than desktops.

These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.

Light can use a lot too. Depends on how many, the type, and how long
you leave them on.
Electric hot water systems use a LOT.

Fridges use a lot too.

But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.

It's not all that high. I know 2 person houses who use more.

If you don't like it, there are many ways to reduce your consumption.

I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

Part of it, get out of that habit.

Dave.

 

[Poxy]

Zach wrote:

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse,
and got our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.
I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?
And how about a PC running most of the day.
These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water
system.

$365 for a quarter is about $4 a day. Depending on where you are, about 50c
of that is the daily supply charge, plus about $0.15/kWh. So that's an
average daily consumption of 23kWh.

To put kW hours into perspective, leaving your PC on 24/7, at about 250W
(this figure is *highly* variable) is 6kWh a day, or 90c.

If you want to reduce consumption, turn off your PC, set your aircon to run
a degree cooler or warmer depending on the season, turn your fridge down a
bit (stick a thermometer in there to make sure it's still cold enough) &
turn your water heater's temp down a bit.

 

[Jerry G.]

Find out what your electricity cost per kW/hr (kilowatt hour) is. At my
location it is $0.08 Cdn kW/hr.

For a 3.5 kW unit, that is working at a 50% average duty cycle, this
means that it would be equivalent to 1.75 kW/hr based on 24 hours. I
would believe that the unit would normally cycle according to its
requirement for cooling. This means that the average should be $0.14
per hour. This would be $3.36 per day. For 30 days it would cost $100.90
to run.

I would believe that with the above calculation, and when considering
lighting, refrigeration, cooking, watching TV, and whatever else that is
used in the home, I can see bills of more than $200 per month!

Turn off the air conditioning and sweat it out!!!

--

Jerry G.


"Zach" <zack69@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4719a103$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and
got
our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.
I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?
And how about a PC running most of the day.
These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.
But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.
I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a
few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I
thought
I would ask you guys first.

Cheers,

 

[Mauried]

On Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:32:23 +1000, "Zach" <zack69@hotmail.com> wrote:

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and got
our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.
I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?
And how about a PC running most of the day.
These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.
But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.
I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I thought
I would ask you guys first.

Cheers,

If its an all electric house with electric cooking, water heating and
air con then your bill of $365 is pretty average.
Most of the consumption will be the hot water heater and then the AC
if you use it a lot.
Leaving computers on all day is also a good way to soak up more
electricity.

 

[kreed]

Zach wrote:

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and got
our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.

No, its just the way we live in these times

I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?

I have a 2kw unit in the workshop, Its only run in summer
For that billing cycle an increase in power consumption of about $1 a
day is clearly noticeable. Depending on how hot it gets, how big an
area, how well sealed/insulated the room(s) are it could be double
that or more.

And how about a PC running most of the day.

As someone else has noted here, this would pull the same power (about
$1 a day), and as computers advance (and have seen PC power supplies
up to 1kw come on the market!!) this will only get worse !

These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.
But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.
I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

It wouldn't be much less if one person was there. 2 people in the

same room only need one light on, one TV on etc. to cook meal for 2
doesnt use much more electricity (cooking) than one. Air con wouldnt
use much more power to cool for one extra person, and should use the
same (or less) to heat. The one thing that wouldn't change is the
cost of the hot water needed for the extra person's shower.

Aircon would definitely make a difference if run all day.

Hot water system (if its on off-peak) shouldn't be too bad, but if its
on regular tariff it would be a disaster ! (depends on how much hot
water you use, and how long you have showers). If its off-peak it
should be shown as a separate charge on your bill, so check it
carefully.

2 people in 2 separate houses/flats would have to use nearly double
the power of one couple in 1 house/flat.

Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I thought
I would ask you guys first.

Cheers,

 

[Trevor Wilson]

"kreed" <kenreed1999@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1192925402.598284.4520@e34g2000pro.googlegroups.com...

Zach wrote:
Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and
got
our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.

No, its just the way we live in these times

I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?

I have a 2kw unit in the workshop, Its only run in summer
For that billing cycle an increase in power consumption of about $1 a
day is clearly noticeable. Depending on how hot it gets, how big an
area, how well sealed/insulated the room(s) are it could be double
that or more.

And how about a PC running most of the day.

As someone else has noted here, this would pull the same power (about
$1 a day), and as computers advance (and have seen PC power supplies
up to 1kw come on the market!!) this will only get worse !

**Not necessarily. Computer power supplies are rarely called upon to provide
a fraction of their rated power. It's more about marketing to morons. In
fact, my Core 2 Duo runs significantly cooler (ie: Consumes less power) than
my old P4/3Ghz. Hard drives run cooler and fewer are required. Unless you
are a gamer, or running Vista, a cool running video card is all you need. In
fact, by far the best type of computer is a laptop. They're optimised for
low power consumption.

Trevor Wilson

 

[Suzy]

"Zach" <zack69@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4719a103$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and
got our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.
I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?
And how about a PC running most of the day.
These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.
But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.
I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I
thought I would ask you guys first.

Cheers,
Prob too late. I've been away at weekend quaffing curry. In my opinion it's

the airconditioner and hot water causing the grief. The rest are a very
light load.

 

[Jerry G.]

A computer will only use what it needs. The power supply has to be very
strong to take the intense burst demands, and short term demands from
the processor and drives.

At our client's locations we do power monitoring. They have some servers
that are running multiple drive arrays with dual power supplies. These
computers have total power supply ratings of up to 1 kW each. When
there is little activity, they are running at about 100 to 150 Watts
each.
When there is a peak of usage, then the power demand surges very high
for a number of seconds. When one of these servers gets busy for a few
minutes, then it can pull over 650 Watts. This is with a multiple drive
array. Over a 24 hour period the average power consumption is about 200
Watts.

My home computer, which is rather large, pulls about 40 to 60 Watts at
idle. It can serge to over 300 Watts for a few minutes when I make it
get busy. My computer has 3 hard drives in it. Over a busy 24 hour
period, the average power consumption is about 120 Watts.

Incandescent light bulbs are hard on power consumption. This is the
reason for shutting off the lights when leaving the room. Their power
consumption is very straight forward.

I am against the new compact fluorescent lamps, because of the
environmental hazards associated with their disposal. The chemicals used
in these lamps are very toxic. When they are disposed of, these
chemicals are going in to the land fills, and will eventually end up in
the soil and in to the water table. I agree about the positive side
where these lamps save a lot of energy. But, the environmental problem
from their disposal is more of a problem.

--

Jerry G.


"kreed" <kenreed1999@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1192925402.598284.4520@e34g2000pro.googlegroups.com...

Zach wrote:

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse,
and got
our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

I think its strange to be billed so much.

No, its just the way we live in these times

I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?

I have a 2kw unit in the workshop, Its only run in summer
For that billing cycle an increase in power consumption of about $1 a
day is clearly noticeable. Depending on how hot it gets, how big an
area, how well sealed/insulated the room(s) are it could be double
that or more.

And how about a PC running most of the day.

As someone else has noted here, this would pull the same power (about
$1 a day), and as computers advance (and have seen PC power supplies
up to 1kw come on the market!!) this will only get worse !

These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water
system.
But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.
I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a
few
months ago, could this be the reason ?

It wouldn't be much less if one person was there. 2 people in the

same room only need one light on, one TV on etc. to cook meal for 2
doesnt use much more electricity (cooking) than one. Air con wouldnt
use much more power to cool for one extra person, and should use the
same (or less) to heat. The one thing that wouldn't change is the
cost of the hot water needed for the extra person's shower.

Aircon would definitely make a difference if run all day.

Hot water system (if its on off-peak) shouldn't be too bad, but if its
on regular tariff it would be a disaster ! (depends on how much hot
water you use, and how long you have showers). If its off-peak it
should be shown as a separate charge on your bill, so check it
carefully.

2 people in 2 separate houses/flats would have to use nearly double
the power of one couple in 1 house/flat.

Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I
thought
I would ask you guys first.

Cheers,

 

[Phil Allison]

"Jerry G." = Another Annoying Bloody TOP POSTER !!

Incandescent light bulbs are hard on power consumption.

** In ordinary domestic use, they are responsible or no more than 10% of
the electricity bill.

This is the
reason for shutting off the lights when leaving the room. Their power
consumption is very straight forward.

** Plus they can be very easily dimmed, do not care what the ambient temp
is, come on instantly, operate safely in all manner of lamp fittings, die
safely and present no pollution hazards if broken or dumped in land fills.

Shame about those damn CFLs.

I am against the new compact fluorescent lamps, because of the
environmental hazards associated with their disposal. The chemicals used
in these lamps are very toxic. When they are disposed of, these
chemicals are going in to the land fills, and will eventually end up in
the soil and in to the water table.

** Safe disposal is possible of course - but would end up costing around
$1 to $2 per lamp to carry out, even with massive quantities ( not
including re-cycling the mercury content which would make the disposal cost
even higher ).

I agree about the positive side where these lamps save a lot of energy.

** Significant savings in electricity costs exist only for commercial users
of CFLs ( they get to save on air- con costs as well) - which is what
the damn things are designed for in the first place.

But, the environmental problem from their disposal is more of a problem.

** In domestic use, there will be virtually no reduction in coal
consumption by changing to all CFLs.

For those living in Tasmania, where all power is hydro and night times are
cold - compulsory domestic use of CFLs would be a pathetic joke.




........ Phil

 

[mark krawczuk]

hey , now if your average power bill was say , for arguments sake 200 a
quarter , then suddenly it jumped to 400 a quarter, then this definately is
not a perfectly normal elec bill.
maybe the loosers that go around punching the numbers in their hand held
machine thingy , read ya meter wrong or punched the wrong numbers in it?


"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:5ntnmpFk9rprU1@mid.individual.net...

"Zach"

Sorry maybe off topic here, but we recently moved into a townhouse, and
got our second Electricity Bill, and it was a whopper.
The first quarter was $220, this one was $365.
There was a huge increase in my consuption.

** They are perfectly ordinary electricity bills.

I think its strange to be billed so much.

** Time to get real.

I wanted to know does a Air Conditioner 3.5 KW use heaps of power ?

** Yes - but less than a resistive heater when used in reverse cycle.

And how about a PC running most of the day.
These are my 2 concerns, the rest is just lights, and hot water system.

** The HWS will use a fair bit - and the fridge.

But its just 2 of us living here, why so high.

** They are perfectly ordinary electricity bills.

I know my wife had the Aircon going most of the day when it was cold a
few months ago, could this be the reason ?


** No special reason is needed.


Anyway before I call Energex or Origin on Monday to question this, I
thought I would ask you guys first.


** Folk who have low electricity bills ( under $150 per quarter) are folk
who have live in well insulated houses, in warm climates, with gas stoves
and a gas HWS.

PLUS they spend week days away from the house and most weekends too.

IOW running up other people's power bills.




........ Phil

 

[David L. Jones]

On Dec 24, 2:35 am, "mark krawczuk" <krawc...@adam.com.au> wrote:

hey , now if your average power bill was say , for arguments sake 200 a
quarter , then suddenly it jumped to 400 a quarter, then this definately is
not a perfectly normal elec bill.
maybe the loosers that go around punching the numbers in their hand held
machine thingy , read ya meter wrong or punched the wrong numbers in it?

Much more likely that the OP simply didn't get charged for the full
period on the first bill. You can only compare full quarter bills,
i.e. the second and third bills, not the first and the second as the
OP did.

BTW, you are not winning yourself any friends or respect by calling
people with perfectly respectable jobs "losers".

Dave.