It is winter time and I still receive high electric bill from ConEdison $91 this month.Any solutions?

Question

I dont use any equipment that consumes that much power. I have one 47 inch tv which stays on 24/7 and have 4 PCS which are used 4-6 hrs a day. I wouldnt be surpirsed if it was a summer time and I get a high electric bill, but it is winter and should be getting lower monthly bills. I hate that ConEd is ripping customers. They have monopoly in the market and do whatever they want. Is there any solutions to reduce monthly bill? There are other companies such as IDT and many others that provide service. But, is it worth switching to? Your answer is highly appreciated.

Thanks

Answer 1

Look at your ConEd bill to determine price per kilowat. Call IDT and ask them what their current cost per kilowat is. That way you are comparing apples to apples. Whichever company has the lower cost per kilowat is going to cost you less, provided your usage stays the same. Make sure you know how to read your meter and that you are checking it monthly. Does your bill say that the figures are "A" or "E"? The letter will be under each bar on the graph on your bill. 'A' means actual reading, and 'E' means estimate. ConEd tried to screw me once by continuing to charge me for "estimated" readings, when my "actual" readings were much lower. They refunded me! As for doing your part, are you shutting down the computers every night? That alone could save you around $20 a month. Open your fridge, what is the temperature dial set at? You can safely lower it to between 2 and 3 without compromising the quality of your food. A 47" TV uses a lot of electricity, so get into the habit of turning it OFF after you use it! If it's on for background noise, try using your radio or a clock radio instead. Also get into the habit of reaching for the lightswitch to turn lights OFF after you leave each room. Do your research on different companies' cost per kilowat, and do your part to turn off electrical things after you use them. :)

Answer 2

With no offense at all I suggest you do some comparing country wide.

My ex, now living in a house I used to own part of, 2000 sq. ft. in Central FL, pays an occasional winter bill near $500 for a month. I'd say you're fortunate.

I'm familiar with CE and others, and your feelings aren't unique.

The two power drains you suggest are minimal, but you don't state whether of not you have or use a refrigerator, oven/stove, heat/ac, water heater, which I assume you must.

One issue might also be WHO is actually allowed to be a provider. Utility companies and areas they serve aren't exactly structured like land line phone companies, or TV service providers.

One might also consider the greater monopoly, IE: Corporations and governments that control the access to Fossil Fuels, much like the Diamond industry controls it's stock.

I have to believe millions of people here would gladly trade your bill for theirs.

Steven Wolf

Answer 3

I live in Chicago. My bill was 85 bucks a month in winter.

My refridgerator broke down. I went and bought a new one. Guess what??? My bill went down to 60 bucks a month. I took a look just why. The old Amana had a .38 horsepower motor on it and this new fridge has only .20 horsepower electric motor on it. Then I had this Freezer. It had a .30 Horsepower motor on it. I gave that thing away. My electric bill then dropped to 49 bucks a month.

I didnt change my light bulbs to those new flourscent ones yet. I plan to do that too.

Another thing. A gas furnace has about a 1/2 horsepower motor on it.

Motors and heaters suck up electric like mad. Things like cell phone chargers and and a few lights here and there arent the culprit causing your high charge for electric its those motors.

Fran from Chicago.

Answer 4

Now I didn't know that leaving a cell phone charger plugged in all the time used much electricity, Yanswers has taught me something. That being said 91 isn't high for an electric bill I'd give anything for a 91 dollar bill summer OR winter. we have gas and electric and neither run as low as 91 in the winter. Only advice I can give is if you aren't using it shut it off. Your not watching TV 24/7 shut it off honey

Answer 5

Try changing all of your incandescant light bulbs to Compact Flourescant Lights, or CFL's. I use 13 watt CFL's, & they give off the same amount of light as a 60 watt light bulb. That means that you save 47 watts per hour per bulb. Plus if you buy good ones, the CFL's last longer than most incandescants do.
The only drawback if that you cannot use CFL's with a dimmer, so if you have a lamp that is controlled by a dimmer you either have to keep using incandescant bulbs in it, or get rid of the dimmer.

That would be a great place to start. Another way to save is to look for the "Energy Star" label on that 47" TV, & all of those computers plus all other electrical appliances that you now have.
If you have older appliances that don't have that "Energy Star" label, replace them with new products that have that label, or at least cut down on the use of those older appliances until you CAN afford to replace them.

Watch out for little energy sucking appliances such as cellphone chargers. I mean all of those little transformer units, & adapters that we tend to leave plugged in to the wall outlet even when we aren't using them. Each of those things can use up about 15 to 20 watts of electricity in an hour. I recommend that you get a power bar with a master switch on it, & plug as many of those AC adapter units that you have into the same power bar, So you can switch them off when they aren't in use.
Do the same thing for your computer(s), & all of its external periferals such as printers etc. After you shut down the computer, switch off the power bar as well. Because the power supplies in these things keep on running as long as you have them plugged in. If you use a UPS for your computer(s) then switch of the master on the UPS after you shut down the computer.

You are right to shop around for a utility that has the best rate. I live in Ontario Canada, & Ontario Hydro is the only electrical utility available to us. Our only alternative is to find a way to generate our own electricity, & for most people here that just isn't an option.

If you do all of that, I am sure you will see a reduction in your energy bill in the next month or two. :)

Answer 6

Your bill should show you usage by month. Compare this month to July and see how they compare. Rates may have changed but your usage should have gone down. Do you have window units or central air? Live up north or in the south?
Sit in the house and turn everything off and listen. Is the frig running all the time. If you have a house with a basement, is there a sump pump running all the time. Find the meter and see how fast it's going around. Turn off everything you can and check it. Do a little detective work and look for an electric motor that's running. Is the iron on?

Answer 7

Do you have central air conditioning? Some models have heaters to keep the oil out of the compressor cylinder. Turn it off at the service switch outside, or the 220V circuit breaker in your panel. In late spring turn it back on about 24 hours before use, in case the heater needs to remove any oil as designed.

Answer 8

wanna dodge dropping money & time purchase 130 V lightbulbs because the avg voltage is round 120 volts, utilizing 1 hundred thirty V bulbs signifies that the lightbulb is in user-friendly words at about ninety one% of that's rated ability, and for this reason will very last more than an 120V bulb operating at one hundred% (in case you actually wanna make a lightbulb very last for years, get double the wattage mandatory, and placed a diode in sequence with the lightbulb - IOW, in case you want one hundred watts, get a 2 hundred watt bulb, get a three amp three hundred V silicon diode, and placed the diode on the basic swap, that is how - take between the wires off of the swap, placed the diode on the swap the position the cord become, now use a cord nut to connect the different end of the diode to the got rid of cord - executed now you've a one hundred watt output because the diode cuts the voltage in 1/2 - and a bulb operating at 50% will very last for years *__* )

Answer 9

I have heard that much power is waisted by leaving items plugged in. Do you have any cell phone chargers or other wall chargers you leave plugged in at all times? That wastes more energy than you'd think.

Answer 10

Turn the heat down,turn off lights when your not in the room,Use only one PC. Good luck!