I live in Nashville, TN and I have a $280 power bill! Yipes!
Unfortunately, I don't have all the specifics on my doublewide, but it's one of the smaller ones. 3 bedroom 2 bath. Question.....I do have 2 pieces of skirting that are not up in the back corner. Our laminent flooring has been like ice this last month. I do know that this certaily doesn't help the issue of the heat running as much as it has (keep it on 69)...but was wondering if there's any other places I should look? I do know that our back door is kinda broken, at the bottom. We have a rolled up towel there to keep the draft out.
Other suggestions?
$280 power bill!!
Moderators: Greg, Mark, mhrAJ333, JD
Hi & welcome. What type of water heater do you have? If it's electric make sure both elements are working. If one is bad, it will try to heat water with only one element. I have also seen a few cases where the underground wires between the meter & breaker box are "leaking" not quite shorted, but going to ground. You could contact your power company to see if they have any ideas. Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
Hi,
Welcome to the site.
Although they may seem high to you, it actually sounds fairly reasonable for alot of folks I know.
If your floors are exceptionally cold then you need to make sure that your insulation underneath the home is in place and yes the skirting needs to be in place as well.
Many times when people install laminate there seems to be some air leaks where the exterior walls and floors meet. You may need to use a candle or lighter to check for drafts in that area.
If you have the skirting with individual vents make sure those are closed.
A door not sealing well, well that is a major source of heat loss and cold air coming in. Maybe you can add weather stripping to your door casing or the door itself. Or of not a full service door then consider putting a sheet of plastic completely over it.
What kind of windows do you have? You may need to put plastic over them. Hang heavier drapes, caulking etc...
Have you checked your ducting underneath to make sure they are clean and no bends or kinks to allow for good air movement. When was the last time you had your furnace generally serviced. Have you changed your air filters in the past 30 days?
There are many threads on winterizing your home. Click on the search icon and type in winterizing...
Yanita
Welcome to the site.
Although they may seem high to you, it actually sounds fairly reasonable for alot of folks I know.
If your floors are exceptionally cold then you need to make sure that your insulation underneath the home is in place and yes the skirting needs to be in place as well.
Many times when people install laminate there seems to be some air leaks where the exterior walls and floors meet. You may need to use a candle or lighter to check for drafts in that area.
If you have the skirting with individual vents make sure those are closed.
A door not sealing well, well that is a major source of heat loss and cold air coming in. Maybe you can add weather stripping to your door casing or the door itself. Or of not a full service door then consider putting a sheet of plastic completely over it.
What kind of windows do you have? You may need to put plastic over them. Hang heavier drapes, caulking etc...
Have you checked your ducting underneath to make sure they are clean and no bends or kinks to allow for good air movement. When was the last time you had your furnace generally serviced. Have you changed your air filters in the past 30 days?
There are many threads on winterizing your home. Click on the search icon and type in winterizing...
Yanita
Last edited by Yanita on Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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Dean2
Yep,what Mr Greg said.
Also do You have elec heat? Or is Your furnace/fan running alot? have Your elec rates gone up lately? Mine seem to rise steadily.. They don't always raise the KWH rate either,sometimes they tack on delivery charges and such that,effectively,raise the rates,just more sneaky and underhanded. I always take the full amount due on the bill,the "bottom line" as it were,then divide by the KWHs used,,this gives the *true* cost per KWH..
Compare Your KWH useage to last years usage during the same months. Also a cold windy month will raise the usage.
My CoOp elec co might as well be an unregulated sack of S@^t,oh wait ,,,it is! The profit sharing from My CoOp phone/internet co far outshines the profit sharing from the elec co!! What a load of,as Dad would say,"horseshit"!!! Pardon My language pleast,,but this subject really gets Me going! LOL!! On top of all that,the co is *not* by law,required to net meter if I produce My own power!! Makes Ya just wanna go strangle the rip-off artists!! LOL,,JK,,mostly.
Dean
Also do You have elec heat? Or is Your furnace/fan running alot? have Your elec rates gone up lately? Mine seem to rise steadily.. They don't always raise the KWH rate either,sometimes they tack on delivery charges and such that,effectively,raise the rates,just more sneaky and underhanded. I always take the full amount due on the bill,the "bottom line" as it were,then divide by the KWHs used,,this gives the *true* cost per KWH..
Compare Your KWH useage to last years usage during the same months. Also a cold windy month will raise the usage.
My CoOp elec co might as well be an unregulated sack of S@^t,oh wait ,,,it is! The profit sharing from My CoOp phone/internet co far outshines the profit sharing from the elec co!! What a load of,as Dad would say,"horseshit"!!! Pardon My language pleast,,but this subject really gets Me going! LOL!! On top of all that,the co is *not* by law,required to net meter if I produce My own power!! Makes Ya just wanna go strangle the rip-off artists!! LOL,,JK,,mostly.
Dean
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mitunes75
Hi there Greg....unfortunately, I'm not mechanically inclined...so I was wondering how I would know if a heating element is bad or not? We bought the new water heater 4 thanksgivings ago. Is that too old?Greg wrote:Hi & welcome. What type of water heater do you have? If it's electric make sure both elements are working. If one is bad, it will try to heat water with only one element. I have also seen a few cases where the underground wires between the meter & breaker box are "leaking" not quite shorted, but going to ground. You could contact your power company to see if they have any ideas. Greg
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mitunes75
I think what I will do tomorrow is crawl underneatch the place....umph - hope I fit 
and see if any of the air ducts are damaged, have holes, or not connected 100%. My boss has a house-house that has about 2000 more sq ft than my home does and his power bill was only $200.
and see if any of the air ducts are damaged, have holes, or not connected 100%. My boss has a house-house that has about 2000 more sq ft than my home does and his power bill was only $200.Hi,
Your leaky door, possible disconnect of ducting or damage from critters, will make all the difference in the world on your electric.
If I was to compare electric bills with my neighbors, which we have this is what it looked like...
A much newer doublewide than mine, although all new doors and windows, same as mine. New heat pump, and underbelly and skirting completely in tack...there November bill...374.93
A stick built house, new gas furnace, good windows, doors etc...there November bill...218.06
My electric bill, new doors, windows, maintained gas/electric good unit, Hubby runs power tools and welders excessively during vaca...my November bill...114.37
As for your furnace functioning properly we ask that all heating questions get posted in the HVAC forums. Our tech over there is a pro in the field! Please note the posting tips before posting there.
As Dean says, electric rates have risen considerably, or at least mine has, but with proper winterization of this home, I find that bill has not really increased as much as I thought it would.
As for your ducts, that is a good place to start. If you have hard ducting you can start at one end of your home (inside), place a small hand held mirror down inside, go to the next vent and place a small flashlight, go back to the mirror and see what you can see inside the duct.
Yanita
Your leaky door, possible disconnect of ducting or damage from critters, will make all the difference in the world on your electric.
If I was to compare electric bills with my neighbors, which we have this is what it looked like...
A much newer doublewide than mine, although all new doors and windows, same as mine. New heat pump, and underbelly and skirting completely in tack...there November bill...374.93
A stick built house, new gas furnace, good windows, doors etc...there November bill...218.06
My electric bill, new doors, windows, maintained gas/electric good unit, Hubby runs power tools and welders excessively during vaca...my November bill...114.37
As for your furnace functioning properly we ask that all heating questions get posted in the HVAC forums. Our tech over there is a pro in the field! Please note the posting tips before posting there.
As Dean says, electric rates have risen considerably, or at least mine has, but with proper winterization of this home, I find that bill has not really increased as much as I thought it would.
As for your ducts, that is a good place to start. If you have hard ducting you can start at one end of your home (inside), place a small hand held mirror down inside, go to the next vent and place a small flashlight, go back to the mirror and see what you can see inside the duct.
Yanita
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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Brenda OH reregister
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:47 pm
Another place ducts get disconnected is, they pull off the flooring, and drop into the underbelly, leaving a gap between the flooring and the duct, and the heated air goes into the underbelly.
also, if you have central air, check that there is not an air return grate that needs to be covered for the winter. or any of its hoses etc that have fallen off and are open to the outside air.
if you have window units still in the windows, it may be worth the hassle to remove them, it is very hard to seal the gaps around them if you let them in the windows all winter..
hope you find a few upgrades you can do. some folks add the insulation sheets to exterior wall outlets and light switches if they feel cold coming in around them...
Brenda (OH)
also, if you have central air, check that there is not an air return grate that needs to be covered for the winter. or any of its hoses etc that have fallen off and are open to the outside air.
if you have window units still in the windows, it may be worth the hassle to remove them, it is very hard to seal the gaps around them if you let them in the windows all winter..
hope you find a few upgrades you can do. some folks add the insulation sheets to exterior wall outlets and light switches if they feel cold coming in around them...
Brenda (OH)
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archangele
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:07 am
- Location: Florida
Hi,
I have some experience in this area. I had a 2000 vintage 'quad wide' made by Fleetwood and that house ran me as much as $200 a month to heat in the winters in North Florida! I kept the temperature around 66 degrees and still, the bills were large. As you said, people with larger site built homes had bills of half what mine was. Well, a year ago, this house ended up catching fire. It was a total loss. Oh, this was a 'repo' I had purchased. when it was around 2 years old.
After the insurance and mortgage companies finally go their acts together, I purchased a new (2007) FLeetwood double wide. This one I ordered with oprional double pane vinyl clad windows, an insulation upgrade, a heat pump type HVAC system, and had the usual sliding glass door deleted and replaced with a couple double hung insulated windows. My energy usage is only a little less, but now I can keep my house at 71 degrees in the winter and down to 74 in the summer, where as my old house was under 66 in the winter and close to 80 in the summer and actually cost 10% or so more per month for electricity.
In Florida, our homes have the airconditioning ducts in the ceiling as opposed to the floor, where I see them in other parts of the country. I do have a neighbor with an older double wide and their duct work is under the home. They replaced theirs, which was this flexible vinyl crap, with insulated steel ducting. This helped them a lot. Their bill did not drop much, maybe 5%, but their house is a LOT more comfortable. If they would have kept their house as cold in winter as they used to have to with the old ducts, they would probably be paying around 30% less on their electric bill.
My suggestions are to upgrade your duct work if it is the plastic flexable type. Add insulation in the ceiling area if possible. Seal up your windows with calking anywhere they leak, Fix that back door.
put in insulation under the floor and then staple or glue up a sheet of plastic over the new floor insulation, and have your HVAC system tuned up. If it is an older system, think about upgrading it to one with a higher EER rating ( like a new heat pump system). It costs some serious cash, but you can bet the farm that energy is only going to keep going up in price. Oh, a sliding glass door might as well be an open window. I don't understand why, in these 'green' leaning times, they still manufacture so many homes with these idiotic doors. This is the number one source of thermal leakage from both the large glass area and the lousy sealing of these doors even after only a year of use.
I have some experience in this area. I had a 2000 vintage 'quad wide' made by Fleetwood and that house ran me as much as $200 a month to heat in the winters in North Florida! I kept the temperature around 66 degrees and still, the bills were large. As you said, people with larger site built homes had bills of half what mine was. Well, a year ago, this house ended up catching fire. It was a total loss. Oh, this was a 'repo' I had purchased. when it was around 2 years old.
After the insurance and mortgage companies finally go their acts together, I purchased a new (2007) FLeetwood double wide. This one I ordered with oprional double pane vinyl clad windows, an insulation upgrade, a heat pump type HVAC system, and had the usual sliding glass door deleted and replaced with a couple double hung insulated windows. My energy usage is only a little less, but now I can keep my house at 71 degrees in the winter and down to 74 in the summer, where as my old house was under 66 in the winter and close to 80 in the summer and actually cost 10% or so more per month for electricity.
In Florida, our homes have the airconditioning ducts in the ceiling as opposed to the floor, where I see them in other parts of the country. I do have a neighbor with an older double wide and their duct work is under the home. They replaced theirs, which was this flexible vinyl crap, with insulated steel ducting. This helped them a lot. Their bill did not drop much, maybe 5%, but their house is a LOT more comfortable. If they would have kept their house as cold in winter as they used to have to with the old ducts, they would probably be paying around 30% less on their electric bill.
My suggestions are to upgrade your duct work if it is the plastic flexable type. Add insulation in the ceiling area if possible. Seal up your windows with calking anywhere they leak, Fix that back door.
put in insulation under the floor and then staple or glue up a sheet of plastic over the new floor insulation, and have your HVAC system tuned up. If it is an older system, think about upgrading it to one with a higher EER rating ( like a new heat pump system). It costs some serious cash, but you can bet the farm that energy is only going to keep going up in price. Oh, a sliding glass door might as well be an open window. I don't understand why, in these 'green' leaning times, they still manufacture so many homes with these idiotic doors. This is the number one source of thermal leakage from both the large glass area and the lousy sealing of these doors even after only a year of use.
Did you know there's a 25% additional charge for a TVA adjustment? The cost varies, depending on how much your bill is to start with.
We have a 2,200 sq ft double wide and our latest bill was $300. $55 of that was for the TVA power cost adjustment. Our house is all electric, and we have a heat pump. Because we've had these recent cold snaps (we are in south central Ky btw, so our weather is about the same as yours), our emergency backup heat has been running a lot.
We are on a block foundation and are well insulated and we still got slammed with a $300 bill. Our normal average is around $150, and that's keeping it totally comfortable all the time.
We have a 2,200 sq ft double wide and our latest bill was $300. $55 of that was for the TVA power cost adjustment. Our house is all electric, and we have a heat pump. Because we've had these recent cold snaps (we are in south central Ky btw, so our weather is about the same as yours), our emergency backup heat has been running a lot.
We are on a block foundation and are well insulated and we still got slammed with a $300 bill. Our normal average is around $150, and that's keeping it totally comfortable all the time.
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Dean2
what is "TVA"? Is that tantamount to what My elec co calls "delivery charge"?
My bill states;
Access-$27.25/monthly
Delivery- $ .05130 per KWH
Energy- $ .06100 per KWH
During nicer weather like Spring and Fall,I pay more for access than KWHs used!! Now that is a big fat load of rip-off crap,and,if crap like that doesn't promote folks going off grid then I spose nuthin will..All I need is the right oportunity/deal and I'm gonna do it,even if it costs Me more in the beginning,I don't care,somebody *has to* object somehow!
The 2 bottom charges added together per KWH isn't too bad,,but then,,add the rotten access charge to the mix and the per KWH *true* cost doesn't look so good,,and,,that's from an electric CoOp!! They claim "non-profit",but,I did some work on one of the CoOp's bigwig's house,,His *very* nice house with His/Hers Harleys,big boat,brand new SUVs,4 car garage,big lot accross from a golf course,and,the inside of house very high dollar,,yeah right,its a non-profit outfit alright,,and My butt never stinks either!!..
My bill states;
Access-$27.25/monthly
Delivery- $ .05130 per KWH
Energy- $ .06100 per KWH
During nicer weather like Spring and Fall,I pay more for access than KWHs used!! Now that is a big fat load of rip-off crap,and,if crap like that doesn't promote folks going off grid then I spose nuthin will..All I need is the right oportunity/deal and I'm gonna do it,even if it costs Me more in the beginning,I don't care,somebody *has to* object somehow!
The 2 bottom charges added together per KWH isn't too bad,,but then,,add the rotten access charge to the mix and the per KWH *true* cost doesn't look so good,,and,,that's from an electric CoOp!! They claim "non-profit",but,I did some work on one of the CoOp's bigwig's house,,His *very* nice house with His/Hers Harleys,big boat,brand new SUVs,4 car garage,big lot accross from a golf course,and,the inside of house very high dollar,,yeah right,its a non-profit outfit alright,,and My butt never stinks either!!..
TVA is the Tennessee Valley Authority. Tennessee and several surrounding states get their power from them.
To best explain the new cost, I copied and pasted this from a newspaper article.
"TVA electricity rates will jump another 20 percent in October, a move Tennessee Valley Authority officials say is necessary to absorb more than $2 billion of increased costs for coal, natural gas and purchased power in the next year."
They got hit, so we got blasted. An extra $55 a month doesn't seem like much to some I guess, but that's week or more of groceries for me and my husband. We aren't hurting financially, but the extra charges still hack me off. Having said that, our governor took a 10% pay cut, and that's going to trickle down to us. My husband works for State Police, so we're going to really feel it.
Believe me, if we had the means to get off the grid and on to alternative power, we'd already be there. I share your frustration with 'the powers that be'. I seriously doubt it will ever be affordable for the average person to get off the grid and onto alternative energy, the higher ups have too much to lose if we become more self sufficient.
To best explain the new cost, I copied and pasted this from a newspaper article.
"TVA electricity rates will jump another 20 percent in October, a move Tennessee Valley Authority officials say is necessary to absorb more than $2 billion of increased costs for coal, natural gas and purchased power in the next year."
They got hit, so we got blasted. An extra $55 a month doesn't seem like much to some I guess, but that's week or more of groceries for me and my husband. We aren't hurting financially, but the extra charges still hack me off. Having said that, our governor took a 10% pay cut, and that's going to trickle down to us. My husband works for State Police, so we're going to really feel it.
Believe me, if we had the means to get off the grid and on to alternative power, we'd already be there. I share your frustration with 'the powers that be'. I seriously doubt it will ever be affordable for the average person to get off the grid and onto alternative energy, the higher ups have too much to lose if we become more self sufficient.
Hi,
I am going to lock this down now. I believe it has been answered in regards to what to do to help conserve energy.
If there are more questions or comments please start a new thread in the Off Topic forum.
Yanita
I am going to lock this down now. I believe it has been answered in regards to what to do to help conserve energy.
If there are more questions or comments please start a new thread in the Off Topic forum.
Yanita
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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