How many kWhs do you use in a month?

Question

How many kWhs do you use in a month?

Answer 1

Your bill is on the high side. It is because of the following.



Everything is electric.



Water and house heating with electric is costly. It take allot of energy to heat water and the same is true for electric heat.



Your fridge if it is old will also consume a large portion of the bill. Any unit older than 1993 consumes allot of watts.



some tips



You do not own the unit I assume so there are few things that you can do. However you are paying for the energy so spending a couple of dollars for some improvements can help.



There is a film you can buy from home depot that will seal the windows. It is applied like plastic wrap and then a hair dryer is used to seal it.



Caulk around window frames to seal the frame to the drywall.



Caulk any other areas that cold air can come in from



Check weather stripping around doors and repair or replace.



Set the thermostat on your fridge to a sensible setting cold enough to freeze and keep food cold but no more than that.



Cfl bulbs and turn lights off



set the thermostat for the heat at 68 use a blanket at your favorite spots



do not heat the house during times you are not there buy a programmable thermostat if needed



set water heater at 120.



Take shorter showers or take baths



I have a family of four and 1600 square foot four bedroom house I use 330 kwh. I also have a gas water and gas heat. and use about 20 therms for water and another 10- 14 when I heat the house.

I have a teenage daughter that takes very long showers



1 therm is equal to about 30 kwh my use of 20 therms for water is equal to about 600 kwh



heat would equal about 300 to 420 kwh



80 to 110 per month



gas is less costly per unit so the bill is still low







San Diego CA

Answer 2

600 Kwh Per Month

Answer 3

I run a 75 unit condo in St Thomas VI , so I have years worth of electric consumption to look at....we obviously don't have a heating bill (!) but people do run their A/Cs all year round.......1200 kWh a month, for a 1br is a little on the high side, but believable..

Answer 4

You may find this a little interesting, as far as comparing energy use and bills.



The average Nashville house uses about 15600kwh.(2007) Compare that to environmentalist/film maker Al Gores house that uses ***191,000 kwh !!! His 10,000 sq. ft mansion is said to use 20 times the national average of an american house!!!! And that's in the south not the north



The George and Laura Bush house by comparison---Their 4000 sq ft house (2007) A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The 67 degree water heats the house in the winter cools it in the summer. The system uses ***No fossil fuels like oil or natural gas !! LOL and it only uses 25% of electricity of a conventional unit!! Waste water from showers sinks and the roof is collected and stored for irrigation.



Sometimes thing are not really like we are led to believe, huh.





Thanks for asking, Randy

Answer 5

Depends on things like how well insulated your place is, and the time of year. You probably use more heating in winter than summer for example!





Our average use last year was 825kWh gas and 240kWh electricity per month, so total of 1065kWh/month. We didn't occupy the house for 2 months over summer, when our gas use would probably have been less, and the mean temperature in our area was this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham#Climate



This was a 5 person house, don't know how many sq ft!







We were reasonably conscientious and made an effort to save energy - our use is below the UK average.

Answer 6

My place is pretty small...I use 120-600 kws per month. I don't have all the electric appliances you have.

Answer 7

It depends on where you live. Some places like New York and California charge about 16 cents per Kilowatt/hour. Places like I live (central Washington) charge 3.3 cents per Kilowatt/hour. Just shut all your lights and especially your computer off when you're not at home.

Answer 8

Your bill is entirely too high, but 1200 kWh @ $175.00 is about 14.5c per kWh, so it's not a billing error. If you want to reduce costs, you will have to reduce consumption.



I would make the following suggestions to lower your electrical bill:



1. Replace Incandescent lights with CFLs. You can find them at your local hardware store. They are less than $5 a bulb and will easily pay for themselves in a month.

2. Turn down your hot water heater. Take off the front panel to your water heater and turn it down to around 150 degrees F. Be sure to disconnect the electrical panel first, for safety.

3. Only run your dishwasher on a full load.

4. If you have a programmable thermostat, program it to turn down low when the apartment is vacant.

5. Be sure to turn off lights and other electrical equipment when not in use.

6. Turn down the settings on your refrigerator and/or keep your fridge well stocked so it has to cycle less to maintain a cool temperature.



Electrical (and gas) bills tend to go up over the holidays, naturally. Another factor is where you live. If you live in a very hot or cold climate, climate control (heat and AC) are going to be more expensive than a more mild climate.



I hope this helps! Happy savings :)