Littleton/Xcel monthly electrical summer bill

[00tec]

I dont open windows often, we just run the AC. Even when we aren't home, a 65" TV is constantly on during the day to keep the parrot entertained (need to get her a smaller one). We keep the ac at 72 degrees. 1600sq ft. Our electric bill has never been over $160. Different company though.

[VDW]

My MIL came across some estimator site that said they?d be paying a $600 electric bill. I personally can not recall a month where we busted $200. She probably found some site that was run by windowfans, LLC.

Just wanted to confirm that the costs up that way weren?t stupid.

That?s ridiculous. Depending on current energy prices, but in the last 15 years, I don?t think I?ve ever topped a little over $250 in a month....and I?ve recently taken to adding an additional in room air conditioner for my bedroom.

[Irving]

I dont open windows often, we just run the AC. Even when we aren't home, a 65" TV is constantly on during the day to keep the parrot entertained (need to get her a smaller one). We keep the ac at 72 degrees. 1600sq ft. Our electric bill has never been over $160. Different company though.

Can you push the parrot cage in front of a real window for free?

[00tec]

Oh, and get a decent thermostat. Today's smart thermostats can manage AC much better than older ones. The nest, for example, will let the fan run for a few minutes after the compressor kicks off. The evaporator is cold for a while after the compressor is done. Letting the fan run for a while utilizes that cold rather than letting it go to waste.

[Great-Kazoo]

My parents-in-law are thinking about getting A/C finally (?!).

They are trying to figure out what that will do to their electrical bill.

Here?s some stats:

Area: Littleton
Provider: Xcel
House: early 80?s construction, no vaulted ceilings; ~2100sqft
Current non-A/C summer electrical bill: ~$95

So, folks in that area with Xcel electricity and A/C, what?s your average monthly electric bill in the summer?

thanks!

Xcel offers budget billing. They average your bill for (6) or 12 months. Then set a fixed rate per month, doesn't matter income level, or use to. .

[Great-Kazoo]

My buddy in Houston has a two story with 2A/C units. He lives in the house by himself. While his electric bill is a ridiculous $400/mo in the summer, that's still far from $600.

Not in AZ it isn't One thing AZ is proud of, besides the Grand Canyon and great off road drives. Is APS, the central and north central, electric company. You get a house that's all electric, water heater, furnace, stove, drier and run ac in warmer months. That $600 is an average..

'

[Irving]

I itemized my utility bills per month for two separate years once after GilpinGuy called me out on something, and found that I was paying under $500/yr for electric. Most my appliances are gas though.

[Great-Kazoo]

I itemized my utility bills per month for two separate years once after GilpinGuy called me out on something, and found that I was paying under $500/yr for electric. Most my appliances are gas though.

what's your square footage. house siding composition, shaded or not?

[Irving]

Doesn't matter, I don't have A/C and my big appliances are gas. I was just giving reference for why I thought $400/mo was outrageous.

[Martinjmpr]

We have a 2800 SF house in the Columbine/Littleton area (about 650 SF below ground.) Ours is a tri-level with a basement (so four levels total) with vaulted ceilings.

We have a whole house fan and we just installed AC last year. I was worried about the same thing (super-high electric bills.)

I don't track KwH usage but I keep track of my bills on Quicken.

For 2018 (Hot summer, pre-AC, most likely with lots of house fan usage) bills for Jun - Jul - Aug were $83 $80 $81

For 2019 (Hot summer, using AC and House fan alternately) bills for Jun - Jul - Aug were : $77 $117 $142

So as you can see, even during the hottest month, the delta between AC and No AC was ~$65 a month or less.

Or to put it another way, a little over $2/day.

I don't know about you, but I'm happy to pay $2/day to not be miserable in my own house.

To summarize: AC was totally worth it. Even my wife who was a little skeptical about the expense (about $5400 with a $600 rebate from Xcel dropping it to a little under $5k) told me last year how nice it was to have AC in the house on those hot days.

We spend most of our time in the family room, which is in the lowest level of the main house (not the basement) and it stayed nice and cool there. Even my office, which is on the West side of the house on the 2nd floor stayed tolerable and once I got a vent cover that would redirect the AC into the middle of the room (instead of up the walls) and put in a small floor fan to circulate it, it became perfectly comfortable even on the hottest days.

The only room now that gets uncomfortably hot is the wife's "office" (really more like an oversized walk-in closet) which is the bedroom on the SW side of our south-facing house. That has a corner window that gets a lot of direct sunlight and it does get very warm during the day. But we almost never use it for anything. Our bedroom is on the SE side of the house and does get warm but if we turn off the AC after dark and run the house fan with the windows open it cools off very quickly.