Cps Shocker!!!! (San Antonio, Howe, Anton: new house, neighborhood, living)

[TexasWeatherman]

Originally Posted by Paka

Is it just me, or is anyone else in need of CPR after getting their CPS bill this month????

I guess the REAL kicker is Rob is gone, so no one at home all day long...set the thermostats to 80 for the entire day, do bring it down to 73 when we are home in the evenings, less laundry and the bill this month was $283!!!!! DANG!!!!!! ...

Try upping the thermostat to 76-78 and turning on your ceiling fans. Anyone who keeps the thermostat at 73 shouldn't be complaining about their electric bill. That's CHILLY for us Texans!

[carlitasway]

Originally Posted by rd2007

nah, mine was more than last May, but nowhere near double. I have adjusted my thermostat so it warms up earlier and cools off later. I keep mine at 74 starting at 9:00 AM, that lasts until 7:30 PM where it goes down to 73, then 72 at 9:30 PM and 71 at 11:00 PM. I can't stand hot (obviously) and am willing to pay for comfort. Dogs like it that way too, except for the chihuahua, but he sleeps under the blanket.

I'm the same way. I can't sleep if I'm hot. I can handle hot during the day but not at night when I'm trying to sleep.

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by Paka

Is it just me, or is anyone else in need of CPR after getting their CPS bill this month????

I guess the REAL kicker is Rob is gone, so no one at home all day long...set the thermostats to 80 for the entire day, do bring it down to 73 when we are home in the evenings, less laundry and the bill this month was $283!!!!! DANG!!!!!! We have had bills that high before, and for 3000+ sq ft I suppose that is ok, but that was WITH kids, home, running things, laundry, etc.

There was a point we thought we had planned well for retirement, but with gas and electric bills, maybe we will not be as comfortable as we thought we might. Besides, it may be better to go to work just for the A/C and heating we won't be able to afford!!!

Bring it down to 73 degrees? What do you have in the house? Polar Bears? We keep ours set at 78 and use ceiling fans. Our bill was high ($157) and we have all brick 2100 SF house. Bricks are great for upkeep but do retain heat longer. BTW, the increased fees were will not go into affect until September. Of course, it will still be HOT!

[hello13685]

My bill was $47 for a 900 sq. ft. apartment. It's on the top floor of a WEST facing apartment, so can get blazing hot. I turn the A/C off completely when I'm away from home for more than a couple of hours, and keep it at 82 degrees when I'm home. The A/C runs all night to compensate for the heat that the building absorbs in the afternoons.

Your bills would frighten me terribly. I'm feeling better and better about not being in the housing market yet. For the kind of house I'd want, I would get SLAMMED with a horrible bill.

[Paka]

Originally Posted by noplacelikeWA

I haven't received our current bill yet but I'm not expecting anything major. We have a 3000sq ft home built in 1996, it's 4 sides brick with some siding on the upper half on 3 sides. We keep our thermostat set at 78 day and nite and use fans when needed. In 2 years our bill was $198 once only and usually only goes over $100 in the summer. I think it is mostly due to A/C units but honestly you have to consider many other sources of energy hogs. In our home we have all new engergy star appliances, use the special bulbs everywhere and there is a strict turn it off when not in use rule for the entire house. We are family of seven and only my DH showers everyday, the rest of us rotate and shower 3 times a week. We only do FULL loads of laundry about 6-7 a week and the dishwasher gets run nightly. We keep our blinds closed most of the time and we have trees shading our house both in front and back. Oh and and our home faces SW, I think this helps greatly because we never get full sun on any one side. (This is also why we can't use solar lighting anywhere in our yard.) If and when we get a cool evening I usually run around the house opening windows on all sides to release the stale warm air that tends to build up these days.

Our usage acutally went down...but CPS states that your bill will be 31% HIGHER on average for the same amount of use...so it is not that we USED more, we infact used LESS...just that they are charging you 31% MORE for what you do use!!!

[Paka]

Originally Posted by the_dimwit

Paka,

I'd highly recommend the radiant barrier for the roof. We just moved into an "energy star" house, which has the barrier and some other things (better insulation, energy efficient AC, etc.). Our electric bill has been 180.00 or so (just got the bill last night). We keep our AC at 76 (both up and down zones) but will adjust downwards if needed. So far, the house is cool and comfortable.

--Dim

Guess I am going to have to look into that for sure...what is your Sq Ft???

[goodmanm]

We just got ours, $250 for a 3100sq ft house. I wasn't able to view the usage but it's definitely more than last year. Of course last year was pretty wet overall so it would be more I guess.

We wouldn't normally see that amount until July.

[mojokitty]

Originally Posted by the_dimwit

Paka,

I'd highly recommend the radiant barrier for the roof. We just moved into an "energy star" house, which has the barrier and some other things (better insulation, energy efficient AC, etc.). Our electric bill has been 180.00 or so (just got the bill last night). We keep our AC at 76 (both up and down zones) but will adjust downwards if needed. So far, the house is cool and comfortable.

--Dim

Dim, we have an energy efficient home too raidient barrier, better insulation, with EE appliances...our bill is $300!!! We keep our AC set at 78, 80 during the day. I don't get it! They say, on our bill, that we used double the amount of energy from last month? I remember, it was hot last month...we kept our AC at the same amount. Double the usage is just unbelievable!

[mojokitty]

Did anyone else see the news report last night saying a guy got a $1300 bill? They are wondering if there is some sort of mistake with the CPS bills this month. CPS is saying this particular man used WAY more energy than he ever has before (I mean we're talking 4-5 times more). He had an electrician look at his bill and he said if their family would have used that much electricity, they would have blown every circuit in their home. I think something smells fishy to me!

[the_dimwit]

Originally Posted by Paka

Guess I am going to have to look into that for sure...what is your Sq Ft???

Our house is just a smidge above 3,000 sq ft. Two stories, brick/stone front, brick/hardi-plank sides, and hardi-plank back. West/East facing (front of house gets slammed with full sun for much of the mid-late afternoon).

--Dim