The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: 2 questions today. How cool do you keep your house during this heatwave, and how much is your typical PG&E bill every month?
Talk about it.
Thermostat is set at 82 degrees, but sometimes kick it to 80 degrees.
On average, take 1 year of payments, then divide by 12 months = about $160 monthly.
We have a 1200ft home with lots of trees around the house.
Darn cable, internet, and landline combo is a bit more than that, …. 🙁
We usually set our a/c at 74 degrees but set it to 75 degrees this week because our bill will be higher due to constant usage during the heatwave. Our bill? We have a large house and it’s way too high in the summer.
If it’s just me ceiling fan is ok except on super hot days.
AC set to 78 or 79.
Latest bill $ 278 and we have two extra freezers.
At night open house up and run far on high all night.
Have had house with temp in mid 60s, is all about cooling off building materials in your house.
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Texted other day with super competent software engineer I worked with for many years who now works at a steel mill on east coast RED state.
Said they have AC set to 72 degrees 24/7 in their 2800 sq. foot house, last power bill was $175.
For two months of water was $26
And said they’ve yet to see a homeless person ! ! !
Again that is a RED state on east coast.
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Shows big difference when a state is controlled by a super majority of DEMs.
Want lower living costs, vote DEMs out of office.
We keep our thermostat at 70° all year long. Gas is $70 every month. I paid Nashville Electric Service $276 last month, but it was a hot month.
We used to do 78 but we replaced our attic insulation, it has made a huge difference as we now set it at 76 and the AC can hold it there while cycling on and off less.
Before upgrade the AC could not get house under 80 if over 100 outside and would constantly stay on.
Our average last year was 200 but this year is 300 because it’s a hotter summer than last.
70 degrees
76 to 78 degrees and slightly less if necessary on these heatwave warnings whice have been every day for the last two weeks. Avoided going out last two days, as I feel week from the heat without even leaving the house. Don’t even want to know what my PG&E will be, but last month it hiked to over $300 from previous month $151. Time for more Ice Water.
According to my PG&E bill or report it says that I am pretty close to the most energy efficient household. For this weather I can tolerate higher heat than apparently most in this area can. Probably because I grew up where August had some 110 degree days yearly. But then I grew up in “The Great Desert”. So ideally I like to see on a hot day that the house temp is at about 72 degrees and ideally only rises to 82 by evening then starts dropping down. This will keep the bill around $100 though with the same usage before their price hikes about $65.
Have mini-weather station, watch temps… open everything up early and turn on fans …. when temps are about the same – turn off fans, close up dual pane windows, blinds and drapes where we have them. Have a gable fan in the attic but really doesn’t do much – think you’d need a whole house fan to be effective.
Opting out of your Smart Meter is cheap and for some, free.
Radiation, data collection, potentially starting fires, peak usage bills….why would anyone want one?
https://www.pge.com/en/save-energy-and-money/energy-saving-programs/smartmeter/opt-out-program.html
76° about $550 per month…. that’s just for electricity because I’m on propane out here.
House is very well insulated. Have sunshades on the outside of the windows. Owned solar panels on the roof. Powerwall battery in the garage. Had the A/C set at 70, but the wife said it was too cold. Raised it to 72. PG&E BILL, $0.
Large 2 story tri level, keep each level at 70 degrees with a 3 zone system with dual units.
Last month PGE was $1,020 for electric/$35 gas.
No, the rates and high bills don’t bother us and solar isn’t an option or even wanted.
Clayton gets hot but well worth it here.
I turn on the AC when the living room gets over 80. Turn it off at night and use ceiling fans blowing on me while sleeping. My attic fan broke down and Ace no longer sells the motor. That used to save 10 degrees in the Summer. This past Winter my PG&E bill hit $200- for the first time. I shudder to see what my next bill will be.
Super old house with single pane windows and insulation that probably dates back to the 1960s. Landlord has no interest in updating it. He put in an air conditioning system, but it’s about as efficient as turning it on with the windows open. So we just suffer. We turned it on and stuck with a $700 bill one month. I think it was 95° inside the house at 9 o’clock at night during the heat wave peak. I can’t afford to turn the air-conditioning on
My rule of thumb on hot days is to keep thermostat within 20 degrees of outside temp so a/c won’t be overworked.