I got two Trane package units installed on my roof with some duct work. After getting 6 bids it wasn’t the cheapest, nor was it anywhere near the most expensive. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess you’re comparing apples to oranges.
I believe he factored in 2% per year. Currently it’s been 3 years since the last increase (~5%) and it was two years since the one before that (~4%)
Agree with tossing incandescent bulbs, especially if you are cooling… 100W incandescent is giving off 80W (?) of heat which your HVAC has to remove that heat.
Fluorescent for areas where the light is on a long time. LED where you have rapid on/off cycles (like closet lights) as fluorescent bulbs will die quickly.
Put the PC to sleep (via settings) when it’s not used LOTS of heat your HVAC hase to remove from your house.
Insulate. Check attic insulation and also air leaks, like the attic door.
Weigh cost of a higher SEER HVAC unit vs life expectancy of your existing HVAC.
If your hot water heater never runs out of hot water, consider reducing the temperature as low as possible but not to where you do run out of hot water. The lower temperature differential between the surroundings and the water means more efficiency.
Hot steamy showers means the HVAC will reduce temperature that the air is warmed AND more importantly - condense the water vapor into a liquid. The less water vapor in your home means less energy wasted when humid air hits your evaporator. Conversion of water from gas to a liquid is pretty high in energy costs.
Inefficiencies in plumbing - like 3/4" pipe or long runs means that once you finally got hot water running out the faucet…when you shut it off… there’s all that hot water behind the faucet that will cool down… as most pipe runs thru uninsulated areas, there’s more heat your HVAC has to remove. Consider 1/2" PEX straight runs will get you hot water faster, and there will be less hot water left in the pipe when you turn off the water.
Heat control window film. Heat control curtains.
Ensure hot humid air from clothes dryers is vented outside and not inside.
Get a solar lease. I know of two companies off the top of my head- Solar City and Sunpower- that will put solar panels on your roof for free while signing you up for a long-term deal to sell you the power. Apparently people’s bills can drop pretty dramatically.
I don’t know what companies do this in your area. Maybe the same ones, maybe different ones, maybe nobody for all I know.
I lived in Miami 1994-8 and lowered the electric bills significantly in several of the houses I shared (in one case, from $300 to 30), mostly by:
Hand-washing isn’t particularly energy-efficient, specially if you’re heating the water or using a pump. It’s definitely not water-efficient. But the dishwasher works better if used properly (yes, I know that seems obvious): it’s more efficient to empty/rinse dishes right after you’re done using them (if needed, there’s no need to rinse everything) than to do it after things have had time to dry up.
I live on Guam and during a “hot” month it isn’t uncommon to see a $2k+ electric bill. Yes, you read that right, two-thousand plus dollars. Reason number 2,000 that guam sucks. It is a 4 bedroom condo but…$2k?? That’s a mortgage payment!
Stop doing your washing once a week and switch to once every 10 days. We all likely own enough clothes to do so, after all. Shifting from 4 times monthly, to 3, easy peasy!
Get a laundry line to dry clothes, indoors or out. You can always run them through your dryer for 5 minutes to get the crunchy out, if need be. Still a big savings, even if you don’t do so for everything, consider it for the easy things like sheets!
(Complaint about high electric bills while running a dryer in a house with central air screams first world problem, yes?)
I’m in Phoenix. I am on “equalizer” payments with my electric, and I pay $140/mo. I don’t turn the AC off in the summer, but we will bump it up to 85 if we’ll be gone for any significant period. My a/c turned 20 years old this year and we are nursing it along - I don’t want to stress it by asking it to cool down a 110 degree house. It is a 3 ton rooftop a/c and I’m not looking forward to spending $5,000 to replace it. We only go as low as 80 degrees when we’re home. My house is 1300 square feet and I think it helps that I’m not trying to cool a McMansion.
We pretty much don’t use ANY hot water in the summer, as the water that comes out of the tap is blazing hot anyway. In fact, I have to fill pitchers at night and put them in the fridge so we’ll have cold drinking water for the next day. If you are lucky, you can get a cool shower first thing in the morning.
I hang everything to dry year round.
Ceiling fans are the key to comfort. All of our beds have a fan above, and there are two in the living room. I also have a heavy duty floor fan that I run if I’m not sitting under one of the other fans.
Wanted to add: I do a lot of crock pot cooking in the summer too. It uses very little electric and doesn’t heat up the house. I severely limit my oven use from June-September.
shit, I’ve never even lived in a 4-bedroom house.
I live in a 2 bedroom apartment, about 800 sq ft. My electric bill sometimes only runs $20-30 a month in winter (I have gas heating) but my total utilities constantly hover around $80-110 in between gas and electric.
However I have fluorescent lighting in all my light fixtures, and a very low energy TV (it says it should only cost $10/yr to run it). Those two things saved me maybe $10-20/month. So not a huge number, but it is still something and it adds up. since it is an apartment I’m not going to get the fridge or any major utilities replaced.
That means that instead of doing 1 load of light, and 1 load of heavy weekly, or, say, running the washer and dryer eight loads a month, I’m doing 1 1/2 loads of light and 1 1/2 loads of heavy every week and a half, or, say, running the washer and dryer for twelve loads a month.
If you have an electric water heater, you can install a water heater timer. When I was working, I had it set to come on an hour before I got up and go off when I left for work. It came on again from 6-8 PM.
I never lacked for hot water even if I took an extra shower in the evening. The timer has an override switch so I can turn it on for the dishwasher or many loads of laundry.