Electricity

[JD]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Because when water freezes it expands; pipes will burst.

Not only that, it sort of defeats the purpose of having a hot tub!

[vtec260]

We used 900 KWH in Dec for a family of four while entertaining a few times and having X-mas lights (LED type) for 5 hours each night. I switched from Enmax to Spot Power and price seems a bit cheaper each month.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

I would say the wife does at least one or two loads of laundry a day.

I do have a fridge in the basement as well, freezer in the garage (not a heated garage), run a 1500W heater in our room about 10 hours a day and a smaller heater in our son's room as well.

What do you have in the second fridge? a 6 pack of beer? Unplug it for a month and see what happens. How old is it?

Isn't it bad to run a freezer outside in cold weather?

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

That's a lot of wasted energy. Turn off your lights when you aren't in a room. Do laundry once a week. How do you have 2 loads of laundry per day? Wear fewer clothes and wash them less often. Do a load once or twice a week. Instead of using the dryer, find a place to hang up your clothes to dry if you don't need them immediately. A lot of people have a drying rack or clothesline in the basement or storage room, etc.

Turn off the hot tub when you don't need it. Set a timer or unplug the freezer in the garage during winter nights as it's cold enough in there. As long as you don't open the lid when you are sleeping, the temperature will stay the same. Many people use their garage shelves in Calgary winter as an extra fridge that requires no power. Put computers on hibernate when not in use.

The room heaters are a big killer. You have electric heaters on for 10 hours a day??? Wear more clothes and use blankets. I grew up in a very frivolous household and my parents always taught me to turn down the heat, turn off all the lights, and just wear more clothes if I was cold.

2x 1500 watt heaters x 10 hours = 30,000 watts, or 30 kWh / day. @ Enmax 8 cents per kWh, that's $72 a month you could save by wearing a sweater. That's basically 930 kilowatt hours a month!

If you find your house is still cold, you may have insulation issues that could be resolved to improved your overall energy bill as well.

The man has 3 kids. 2 or 3 loads of laundry a week is not an option and ain't gonna happen.

[The Yen Man]

I'm thinking the new electric water heaters drain quite a lot of electricity as well. I live by myself, am out of the house from 7:30am to 8:00pm, only have one room with lights on at all times. I do two loads of laundry every two weeks, and probably have my TV, computer, and PS3 turned on for 2-3 hours a day. My power consumption is about 1,000KWH per month.

My parents live with my brother. They have the computer constantly on, my dad's in the basement listening to his hi fi all the time while my mom is upstairs cooking, while the TV is on from 5:00pm - 11:00pm. So 3 rooms in the house constantly have lights on at night until everyone goes to bed. They do 2-3 loads of laundry a week. They have a gas water heater, and they consume about 600 KWH a month. I'm not sure if their power meter is busted or what, but I guess why fix a good thing right?

[normtwofinger]

I think you seriously need a new furnace, some more insulation in your house and new windows. Having to run an electric heater for 10 hours a day is not normal. If you plan on living there long-term you need to think about doing some upgrades.

[8sPOT]

Lots of great suggestions guys, really appreciate it. Definitely cannot shut down the hot tub, as it is outdoors. I do think I have a furnace/duct/insulation problem, the house is only 3 years old and the basement and upstairs at this very moment are 14 and 17 degrees respectively, thermostat is set to 22.

Might have to try unplugging the freezer in the garage, that makes sense. The fridge in the basement is quite old is only used for beer and the odd leftovers here and there.

Only have the 1 kid as well, I'm not sure why so many loads of laundry get done here.

In the meantime I am getting Everlast to come out and check the furnace, it was inspected by Sears a year ago and the guy said it was in great shape and is sufficient to heat the house. Never hurts to get a second opinion.

Thanks again for the suggestions, I too was raised to turn down the heat, turn off the lights and dress warmer. My wife however, was not. She wants to be able to walk around half naked (bow chicka wow wow) and is 'afraid' of the dark.

[Cheese]

IF you have the time, I would think about 3-4 hours, you can do an inventory of everything you have plugged into or connected to your panel.
Look at the tags and see what their draw is in Watts or kWs and add them up. You will know very quickly where your problems are.
Id also suggest that the Hot Tub is one of your likely culprits, so that half naked wife of yours , best be using it to make up for the cost LOL.
With temp differentials like you mentioned there is no doubt you are leaking heat out of your roof, walls or outlets...or all of the above. I have mine set at 21 all winter and it is still too warm for me but great for my half naked wife, and we are in a 42 year old home.

This may not be entirely accurate but gives you a good idea on load hogs.
http://www.blachlylane.coop/customer_service/tips.php

[Matata]

Tell your wife that electricity in alberta produces is green house gas intensive (coal) and maintaining her standard of comfort is killing the planet, or something like that. Your issue seems primarily about space heating, so either your system is running inefficiently or you have a number of thermal gaps in your home.

Have you changed your air filters since moving in? They should be changed every 6 months and keeping the same ones for 3 years is going to kill your efficiency. That 14-17 degree difference is crazy, you may have to get your ducts cleaned. Vacuuming the radiator behind your fridge can also help.

Check the insulation in your addict or any other place you could find air gaps or gaps in insulation, especially man-made ones (kids leaving doors/windows open).

[mrkajz44]

Just turn down the hot tub like 10 degrees F when you don't use it. When you do, crank it back up, it takes about an hour. It will show some big savings

[Pinner]

That hot tub is probably costing you $100 a month, sounds like your furnace thermostat is hooped, $50 will get you a fancy one.

How much are you guys paying for electricity in Calgary ?

BC Hydro rate is .06270 and about 5% of my bill is at .08780, peak hrs I guess.

[8sPOT]

Will have to try going over everything plugged into the panel. When the electrician hooked up the hot tub it shifted all the breakers up two spots so I should re-label everything anyways.

I am pretty good with the furnace filter, changed it every 3 or 4 months.

If the whole house was a consistent 21 degrees or so this wouldn't bother me so much.

I'm locked in with Enmax at $0.07, which is pretty reasonable. Will maybe look into turning down the hot tub as well, we only use it 2 or 3 times a week so I can see the potential savings there.

I have never checked the attic before, that would explain a lot if it isn't properly insulated.

Was also thinking of picking up one of those thermal readers to measure heat loss, anyone use them before?

Thanks again everybody.

[burn_this_city]

Is your home still under warranty?? If so I'd be calling the builder to sort out the HVAC issues which sound pretty serious.

[calumniate]

Do you plug in all your cars at night via block heaters? I hear those can be killer, probably not as bad as those space heaters though.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Pinner

That hot tub is probably costing you $100 a month.

If it's at all modern, it isn't. I have a hot tub that I leave cranked down to about 93F when I'm not in it and my power bills are often less than $100 for the entire month.

It's those heaters. You're using 2300kWh and 900kWh of that are your electric heaters.

Turn those off and your bill drops by 40%. Done and done.

[You Need a Thneed]

Electric heaters eat power like crazy, that and if there is any kind of electric heaet for the hot tub, that adds up to your high bill right there.

I laugh at those magazine ads that ask if your gas bill is really high,and tells you you can save money by getting an electric heater. Sure, you'll save $20-30 a month in gas, but you'll pay $70-100 more on your electric bill.

[8sPOT]

Yeah I figured those heaters were a big cost, have to figure out the main issue first though. Is my furnace pooched? Thermostat? Duct work dirty? Something isn't right, and unfortunately I am no longer under warranty either.

I never thought to insulate the basment ceiling when I developed the basement, I bet that trap a lot of the heat down there. I put in a drop ceiling so it is still possible if I wanted to take the time to do it.

Friends of ours have almost the exact same home without the walkout basement, and their basement is almost too warm!

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

If it's at all modern, it isn't. I have a hot tub that I leave cranked down to about 93F when I'm not in it and my power bills are often less than $100 for the entire month.

I just went by this from BC Hydro's site. I would think winter would be at least double summer costs, so thats how I came up with $100 per mo. winter time.

It's a lot cheaper to turn up a gas furnace than running electric space heaters, plus they're a major fire hazard.




https://www.bchydro.com/etc/medialib...as_hottubs.pdf

[MrSector9]

Temp difference is hard to control with forced air as there is so many variables in construction and the rooms/levels themselves. At the same time that is a huge difference in temps, that would be like where I live and it has an unfinished/uninsulated basement

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Electric heaters eat power like crazy, that and if there is any kind of electric heaet for the hot tub, that adds up to your high bill right there.

I laugh at those magazine ads that ask if your gas bill is really high,and tells you you can save money by getting an electric heater. Sure, you'll save $20-30 a month in gas, but you'll pay $70-100 more on your electric bill.

Yup, given the choice, I would rather have a gas water heater over my current electic one. They say it's more environmentally friendly with the electric, but at the end of the day, I'm probably paying $30-$50 more a month because of it.

I mean, really, how much more environmental is it? Last time I checked, Alberta still burns coal to generate the electricity.