Does anyone penny pinch house AC/Heat?

[ZX9RCAM]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[MTA]

Im renovating my old house that has had some walls without insulation in them. Smaller house about 1400 sq feet, all electric heat, dryer and oven. I also have replaced all of the windows and put in a new hvac system. My summer thermostat is set at 68, my winter thermostat is between 70-72.

The highest the bill gets is about $200 a month in the summer. Honestly, ill live with the bill rather than sweat my nuts off.

 

[MarkTheNewf]

I also have replaced all of the windows and put in a new hvac system. My summer thermostat is set at 68, my winter thermostat is between 70-72.

I'm in my second home and I've found that a buttload of attic insulation and good windows goes a long way in Texas! Oh, and one of them attic tents that seals over the attic access makes big difference as well.

 

[skfullgun]

-68 in the winter. 65 for sleeping.
-78 in the summer and I run a window unit in the bedroom to cool it down while sleeping.
I have two electric meters - main house and guest house.
I've never paid more than $175 combined and I'm all electric.
I'm comfortable. But we didn't have A/C till I was in fifth-grade, and that was a big window unit in the main part of the house.
It's all relative.
We didn't have a/c at school till I was in high school.

 

[Axxe55]

-68 in the winter. 65 for sleeping.
-78 in the summer and I run a window unit in the bedroom to cool it down while sleeping.
I have two electric meters - main house and guest house.
I've never paid more than $175 combined and I'm all electric.
I'm comfortable. But we didn't have A/C till I was in fifth-grade, and that was a big window unit in the main part of the house.
It's all relative.
We didn't have a/c at school till I was in high school.

The school I graduated from, several of the original school buildings were built in the 1940's. In 1979 and 1980, when they built the new high school, I did get to there my senior year. It was the first building to have A/C in it. I can remember much of jr. high and high school during summer having the windows open, and fans for cooling.

My grandmother didn't have A/C until the early 1980's. My grandfather used those "swamp coolers" for cooling during the summer.

 

[MTA]

We didn't have a/c at school till I was in high school.

This is exactly why i dont mind paying for it now. We had AC in our house but we were only allowed to use it 2-3 times a summer growing up bc my old man said it was too expensive

 

[Axxe55]

This is exactly why i dont mind paying for it now. We had AC in our house but we were only allowed to use it 2-3 times a summer growing up bc my old man said it was too expensive

My father was willing to spend the money for A/C when we first moved to the farm and he bought a brand new mobile home. He worked a lot of shift work, so there were many times when he worked nights and slept during the day. In a tin can, you definitely want A/C!

That was also our first experience with heating other than gas heaters, or a wood stove in the house. I don't like it because it dries out my sinus' to the point I have a hard time breathing. I much rather throw an extra blanket on the bed at night if I get cold.

 

[Texasjack]

First thing to check if you're A/C bills are high is the insulation. Every house I owned had a few "holidays" in the attic where the builder didn't cover every area with insulation. (Maybe they saved a few bucks, but most likely the installers were just lazy.) My neighbor complained about his bills and I suggested he check his attic. He called me and said to come over and see what he found. The entire attic looked like it was covered in pink shag carpeting. The previous owner had trouble with coons getting into the attic and he took a long time to get them out. They pissed and crapped everywhere. Instead of replacing the insulation, he pulled off the top layer and threw it out. We also found an office area that was difficult to get to and had never had insulation. A few hours with a rented insulation blower and you could hang meat in that house.

Another thing to look at is the age of your A/C unit. When I replaced the 20+ year old original A/C, my bills plummeted. Newer systems use a lot less electricity. They also added another return, which helped the air flow greatly.

 

[Bozz10mm]

. The problem is the wife! She likes to use the thermostat to control her body temperature. I like to use clothes, or lack of and fans to control my body temperature.

Ha ha, same here. The wife has a very narrow comfort zone. And it changes depending on time of day.

 

[Fishkiller]

Our electricity is rarely over $100, our total utility bill, gas electric, water sewer, garbage etc. is about $180 in the winter and $250 in the summer. The summer bill is mostly due to watering the grass. House is set at 68 in winter and 71 in summer, It is just me and the wife in a 1600 sq. ft. house. All utilities except gas are supplied by the city, our rates are really low.

 

[Texas45]

My place is about 1500sf house
Built in 75 so insulation is OK but not like new homes now. S Central Texas so humid and hot mostly here.
2 people both work
2 dogs both lay around all day inside.
Auto programable thermostat
Set to 80 in summer (day) and 76 evenings (after5)
Winter set on 73 when home drops to 60 during work hours and at night.
My house is 100gas so no elec heat.
My utility allows you after at least 1yr of service to “average” your bill so you pay same all yr. me 162/mo.

Every yr the reevaluate and it adjusts
Mine has stayed close to 160-170 mo for several yrs now.

We they reevaluate I usually get 1 to 1 1/2 mo with NO pymnt.

The auto stat and no one home during day helps.

All elec homes rape you as well
Electricity is the most inefficient way to produce heat and hot water.
If you can do it gas appliances/heat FTW.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[striker55]

Winter 70° during the day, sometimes by evening I'm feeling chilly might bump it up to 72° which feels warm. Night it's set to 60° put blankets on. We are retired so we spend most of our time in the house. Summer 78° I like it warm. I have a WiFi thermostat that learns how long it takes to warm up or cool down so if you want the temp to be 70° when you get up at 5am it comes on to make it the right temp at 5.

 

[Brains]

We haven't done a summer in the new house yet, but so far the cost seems inline with the last - which means this house is hopefully a bit more efficient (3000 ft. vs 4400 ft., plus adding a pool). Not that the old one was terrible, but the money is about the same for the same heat/cool settings and the homes are similar in age (about 10 years). The biggest difference is probably the 2x6 walls vs 2x4.

We use programmable thermostats (Ecobee) and basically just let 'em run. Nobody fiddles with settings.

 

[oldag]

65 winter 58 overnight), 78 summer

Fall, Winter: $70 bill pretty common, maybe $130 if we get a long cold snap.
Summer $100 mostly, $170 (Aug)

Water bill is worse than electric bill.

 

[striker55]

65 winter 58 overnight), 78 summer

Fall, Winter: $70 bill pretty common, maybe $130 if we get a long cold snap.
Summer $100 mostly, $170 (Aug)

Water bill is worse than electric bill.

Same here water bill is higher.

 

[dsgrey]

68 is a heater setting.
75 is a cooling setting.

I did 68 & 78 for many years since that's what my parents did before me. Now the kids are gone and we downsized from a large house, it's 70 and 75 but I'm getting older and the heat goes up to 71 or 72 sometimes.

 

[Darkpriest667]

65 winter 58 overnight), 78 summer

Fall, Winter: $70 bill pretty common, maybe $130 if we get a long cold snap.
Summer $100 mostly, $170 (Aug)

Water bill is worse than electric bill.

Jesus 58 overnight can you see your breath when you're sleeping WOW LOL

 

[oldag]

Jesus 58 overnight can you see your breath when you're sleeping WOW LOL

Always liked sleeping in the cold. Makes better half stay closer as well.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Jesus 58 overnight can you see your breath when you're sleeping WOW LOL

I personally don't see much when I'm sleeping....

 

[Jack Ryan]

Geothermal is awesome. 70 degrees year round and it STAYS 70. What ever you set it on, it stays that.