Power bill YIKES!

[marthachick]

All electric in NC. I was off work and at home for 1 week before Christmas, DH was off the week after and at home a lot, I was at home sick a few weeks later (still on this bill) and we had Christmas baking and lights and had a light in the well cover. We had some nights as low as 4 degrees. Our bill doubled from the previous month. But we stayed warm!

I bought a nest 3 months ago and it’s done wonders to our power bill. Our bills are much lower than last year at this time.

What is a nest?

ETA: Google is my friend! Looking it up now!

 

[firefly_ris]

I would love to get Nest but I'd need to buy 3 of them, it's a bit of an investment right now! I guess I could just start with one and see how it goes from there.

 

[lifesavacation]

I would love to get Nest but I'd need to buy 3 of them, it's a bit of an investment right now! I guess I could just start with one and see how it goes from there.

We just have one for downstairs. I have another thermostat upstairs that I'd like to replace with nest. I wanted to make sure it would save us money before I invested in another one.

 

[lifesavacation]

All electric in NC. I was off work and at home for 1 week before Christmas, DH was off the week after and at home a lot, I was at home sick a few weeks later (still on this bill) and we had Christmas baking and lights and had a light in the well cover. We had some nights as low as 4 degrees. Our bill doubled from the previous month. But we stayed warm!



What is a nest?

ETA: Google is my friend! Looking it up now!

Nest is a smart thermostat. It's like a programmable thermostat with more features and capability. It learns your schedule and has motion detection so it knows when you are home. So if you want your house to be at 70 when you're home, it learns when that time is, takes into account the outside weather and how fast your house heats up, and then turns your heat or air on at the appropriate time.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Ours was under $300, I know that does not sound good, but I was relieved when I saw it. Some people have bills that are double or triple that.

 

[firefly_ris]

We just have one for downstairs. I have another thermostat upstairs that I'd like to replace with nest. I wanted to make sure it would save us money before I invested in another one.

I might give that a whirl and get one just for the one most active zone (the living room/kitchen/office) and see how it goes, then get one for the other 2 zones over time. Good to know it has helped you.

 

[Jennasis]

$600.

That is not a typo. Old house hemorrhages heat and neither the homes in NC nor the heating systems are designed to handle the massive nosedives temps took for several days last month. So....yeah. And the house wasn't even warm for much of that (57 on the days we hit single digits).

 

[RangerPooh]

DH just paid our power bill and it was $1000!!!!!! Older home, insulation that sucks. Single pain windows where a second has been placed over it, still trapping air between. True our heater did have to work overtime with multiple days were the temps were below freezing. This is when I wish we had a newer home.

 

[lifesavacation]

DH just paid our power bill and it was $1000!!!!!! Older home, insulation that sucks. Single pain windows where a second has been placed over it, still trapping air between. True our heater did have to work overtime with multiple days were the temps were below freezing. This is when I wish we had a newer home.

Wow! That's horrible.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We are on the budget and pay $170/month, but our actual for January was $268 - that is about the highest we have had. Our house is well insulated, has good windows, and we heat most of our first floor with the fireplace, but those single digit days still kept the heat pump running more than usual. Luckily it only went into Auxilary mode a few times that I noticed.

 

[RangerPooh]

Wow! That's horrible.

It was never that high when we lived in the PNW or Michigan and had snowy winters. 40+ year old homes here in the South were not designed for weather.

Sadly it was a double whammy as DD#2 had racked up a $1000 phone bill for exceeding data limits

 

[lynxstch]

update to my original answer to this thread. After getting a $272 power bill for December, they came and read the meter this month. I just got a bill for January, for $9.83. I think they overestimated last month's just a tad? lol!