my first PG&E Bill...

[MonKei]

soo happy valentine's day!!! 188 dollars, thank you!

DEARLORD!!! so my gf and I didnt really like that one too much, 75 of it was electricity, and 123 of it was gas (heating/stove/oven/water).. 2 br house and just the two of us living here.. gulp.. time to change the way we do things (I get to keep the tank tho ;))
I figure I need to get a more powerful heater for the tank anyway, the one thats on it doesnt keep up with the ~17 gals of water (i think that its a 50w) even with the previous setting of 65-70 on the house thermostat (avg 67)... so I figure a 100-150w heater will keep up with the house being a bit colder, and not need to run as much... on a side note, did a 3 gal water change today, corals were looking much better than they were last night...wahoo! go away algae go away!!!
-thayer

[Reefugee]

Thayer -

I wish my PG&E bill was THAT cheap. My last bill was around $350! The raised foundation on the house makes the floor really cold. I have been wondering if it would make a difference if I crawled under the house and installed a layer of insulator.

BTW - on your heater, you're btter off going with multiple small one rather than one large one. It gives you redundancy if one should fail. And if one should get stuck, it will take it longer to heat up the tank.


Minh

[Jacob D]

Damn man, you energy bill is as much as mine and you only have that little tiny tank ;) It's one of the 'hidden costs' of reefing I guess. Not really hidden but one that none of us wants to think about anyway.

For some energy saving tips check out the July newsletter on our website, you have to log in first to see it. (Most of the tips are for summer time, but they some still apply). One thing I noticed that helped is switching all the lightbulbs in our house to compact flourescent. They cost a lot up front but are very cheap to run and last forever. Also a programmable thermostat for heater/ac is a must have.

[MrMonkeyFingers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6754444#post6754444 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mn95616
I wish my PG&E bill was THAT cheap. My last bill was around $350! The raised foundation on the house makes the floor really cold. I have been wondering if it would make a difference if I crawled under the house and installed a layer of insulator.


A friend of mine did that and it did help, I had the same problem with my old house as well but it's a PAIN IN THE CORNHOLE to lay on your back under the house stapling that stuff up there. Even with the insulation that is completely wrapped up you still get itchy and WEAR goggles!!!

[cyclebrkr]

Yeah, i wonder what my bill will look like with the new tank when it's up and running. Hopefully it won't be too much more than the 100 gal. Maybe I'll wait until the price gouging stops for this winter and then set it up. Hurricane Katrina allows for all kinds of excuses huh? Just blame it all on mother nature! Hey!, the ice caps are melting in Antarctica....raise the price of toilet paper!!!

[Jesus]

Mine was a whopping $500. Between the tank and the pool and the cold spell. Life goes on. Part of the hobby, we are in PG&E's
mercy.


jesus

[cyclebrkr]

Wow! i shouldn't feel so bad at $240. Funny though...I used the same amount of gas and elec. and my bill almost doubled. I guess the commercials were right. The good thing is that I'm way below last years usage, so I'll get the rebate in April......WhooHooo!!!

[MrMonkeyFingers]

it might be time to start investing in those windmills they have up on the altamont! Put one of those suckers in your backyard just to get enough juice to run your tank!

[MonKei]

:-D its a true story, i've just always lived on campus where all utils are included in the price of housing.. so never really had to deal with util bills before... well we've changed out a lot of our lights to CF, and since the majority of the bill was gas, I suspect a lot of it was for heating/hot water heater... so i've turned down the hot water heater from 140 to 130, and we're gunna cut back on the heating of the house, especially since we've in the past just left the heat on all day.. (bad idea..) anywhoo..
thanks for the tip minh! i think that I've got aditional heater around somewhere, if not, I've got a friend that keeps "aggressive fresh water fish" wink wink nudge nudge... he's got a heater laying around that I think I could beg and sniffle to get :-D

[want2reef]

Wow, I feel guilty(almost). :)

My bill was only $190.

[TaubBaer]

I think I need to get the sun solar mounted on the roof to run the electric system! And steal the next door's natural gas.

[rulesmith]

Yeah, I am a little scared. Our worst bill this year was $700, it normally runs around $500 year round, and this is all before the big tank goes live.

We have been looking for ways to conserve, and we like our on demand hot water heater. Never runs out of hot water and does not waste gas just keeping water hot, just in case you need it.

I am starting to seriouly consider solar.

[cyclebrkr]

Wow! Your the perfect candidate for solar! When i hear stories like that, i know I'm doing a good job conserving.

[cyclebrkr]

Where did you find your hot water heater? I've been looking into that set up also.

[want2reef]

They have them at Home Depot.