High electric bill when burning wood
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Delta-T said:
I will never know. My wife's fifteen year old cat can be off her bed, down the stairs and across the kitchen grabbing the morsel before my hand gets halfway to it.
And then slowly drag his self back back down the half like the most arthritic cripple you ever saw.
Pro DIY said:
I just realized that your 'normal' electric bill was only 500 KWH, which for me would be a God Send at about $53 a month. So adding an extra $50 with the blowers, space heater, refrigerator in a hotter house, and heat strips on pipes could easily do it. I was thinking more in line with my $320 a month budget bill
Now that's enough to make you sick! Count your blessings
Wet1 said:
Tell me about it
!! Welcome to Sunny Georgia! Two heat pumps, swimming pool, washer and dryer working to support kids.., AND the cold weather that no one believes exists in Georgia during the winter. Therefore, the installation of two pellet stoves.
tjnamtiw said:Wet1 said:
Tell me about it
Not trying to hijack the thread, but I do believe you can get a 30% rebate on solar (i.e. photovoltaic systems) without limit on total rebate amount thanks to the same legislation that gave us the stove rebates... perhaps "sunny Georgia" should be generating some power for you?
Before installing our Endeavor, during the coldest winter months our electric bill would easily hit $250 to $290. This was using 2 heat pumps and of course all the other stuff you use in a modern home. I think last year we cut that in half.
I took a look at my electric bills for the past year, and I've got something similar, but not maybe so drastic a change. I seem to do between 500kw and 600kw most of the year, but I got up to about 900kw in Jan. It was a particularly cold winter, so I suspect the water heater and the space heater in the downstairs bathroom are to blame. As for the relationship to burning, I myself have pondered the effect on my basement. I have no OAK, and an uninsulated basement with leaky windows. I wouldn't be surprised if the draft was pulling lots of cold air into the basement, where the water heater lives.
Slow1 said:tjnamtiw said:Wet1 said:
Tell me about it
Not trying to hijack the thread, but I do believe you can get a 30% rebate on solar (i.e. photovoltaic systems) without limit on total rebate amount thanks to the same legislation that gave us the stove rebates... perhaps "sunny Georgia" should be generating some power for you?
Unfortunately, the payback, if you really look into it, for a solar system is quite long at 15-20 years. Same for wind power. By the time I would have that paid off, I would be too darn old to know why those panels are on my roof!
Now, geothermal heat pumps are a VERY GOOD deal in Georgia. The Feds give you 30% tax credit with NO limit on the system and installation and Georgia gives you ANOTHER 35% tax credit! For me, though, being retired, I pay little or no Georgia tax so it wouldn't help me. You can spread the Ga. savings over 5 years but it still wouldn't help. Besides, as my luck runs, I just put in a 15 SEER heat pump last year.... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
madrone said:
You need to insulate that water heater with a blanket made for that purpose. Listen to me talk with my BILL
Wet1 said:
The welders and my pottery kiln are out in my shop, which is on another meter
:snake:
Pagey said:
That's my hope also. I have two heat pumps as well and not hearing them run all winter will be non-music to my ears. My other big expense is a son who is in love and 'NEEDS' to take a shower twice a day. I should put a switch on the hot water heater.
tjnamtiw said:Slow1 said:tjnamtiw said:Wet1 said:
Tell me about it
Not trying to hijack the thread, but I do believe you can get a 30% rebate on solar (i.e. photovoltaic systems) without limit on total rebate amount thanks to the same legislation that gave us the stove rebates... perhaps "sunny Georgia" should be generating some power for you?
Unfortunately, the payback, if you really look into it, for a solar system is quite long at 15-20 years. Same for wind power. By the time I would have that paid off, I would be too darn old to know why those panels are on my roof!
Now, geothermal heat pumps are a VERY GOOD deal in Georgia. The Feds give you 30% tax credit with NO limit on the system and installation and Georgia gives you ANOTHER 35% tax credit! For me, though, being retired, I pay little or no Georgia tax so it wouldn't help me. You can spread the Ga. savings over 5 years but it still wouldn't help. Besides, as my luck runs, I just put in a 15 SEER heat pump last year.... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
After a little surfing, I found that the cost of PV generating has come down to about $7.60 per watt or $7600 per kilowatt so if you wanted a 4 kilowatt system, it would cost you about $30,400 for the system. If you got an average of 5 hours a day of full sun over the year, you would generate 20 kwh per day or about 600 kwh per month. If your electric rate was $0.10 per kwh, then you would be saving about $60 a month or $720 a year.. Payback??? About 40 years WITHOUT THE TAX CREDIT.
Wet1 said:
Yes, you're right. The only caveat with the tax incentive is that the law says "At least half of the energy generated by the “qualifying property” must come from the sun.". What that means exactly I''m not sure. Government Speak. Barney Frank must have written that one. :vampire: How you would even go about proving that you are providing over 1//2 of the hot water from the sun would be difficult. It almost sounds like you first need a solar PV house and THEN supplement it with hot water.
Wet1 said:
Yea, I agree 100%. It's just the Washington Double Speak that confuses me. Of course, we have the IRS of all people in charge of this so that means NO ONE knows what it means. :gulp:
tjnamtiw said:
So why worry about it? Tax auditors can't measure it. It is a loophole you could drive a train through.
FWIW, going the other direction, we made about 3 changes- stopped using the oil boiler in winter (fan), stopped heating parts of the downstairs with electric space heaters, and stopped warm water hand washing (electric HWH, not very efficient, either). We cut our bill at least in half compared with last year. The past several months our electric bill ran around 70 dollars for our ~1500 sf Rambler.
blades said:
We also have the 1402 and likewise began burning last winter for the first time. Our electric bill also went up, not double, but enough that it caught our attention. It was not the plasma as we had already had that for a year without a jump in the bill (that damn thing could heat our house on their own) but I agree with the frig comment. Our insert just happens to be in the room that is directly across from the kitchen and in line with the frig. Our theory is that the heat is going directly past the frig and causing it to run alot more than normal. In the summer with the air on we still don't see the types of bills as we did this past winter. There's also the additional fans that we were running to help circulate the air around the house but those were only on a couple hours a day. Go with the Kill-A-Watt; I know we are.
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