My family has just moved into a doublewide. When I had power turned on I asked for an average power bill. Now that we are living here power bill more than doubled and I've noticed that the heat comes on like it should but the blower stays on for a long time after. I'm not familiar with any hvac system. Just curious of what I can do to check this out if anyone could help
It's supposed to stay running until the furnace cools down.
At any rate, having the blower run for a few minutes longer that you'd expect is not the reason your bill doubled. The power company's initial estimate was simply wrong. They expected a warmer winter.
It usually stays on until we cut the heat off and back on. It will run for hours. Nobody was living here for the month and the bill was 400 dollars. No appliances were hooked up.
Either of the other two could be the answer or partial depending on what it was the PoCo gave you as the "average".
I'll note that if you're not used to forced central heat one real cause of loss of efficiency can be severely blocked filters. If you've not checked/cleaned/changed them, better take a look and see.
The blower for the heater is controlled by two limit switches. One senses the low end, the other the high end. The burner comes on and start to heat the air. One it gets to a certain temperature, the blower starts. When the thermostat say the heat is enough, it shuts the burner off, but the fan keeps going until the heat exchanges has cooled down enough. The set point is adjustable, but before playing with it, find out what the acceptable range is.
Check the blower for other potential problems. Are filters clean? Are the registers in each room opened at least partially for good circulation? If you are not familiar with this, have a pro come and check the system and instruct you in normal care and operation.
There are many other factors with the bill and the comparison. What fuel do you heat with? Size of family as compared to the previous owner. Number of people (and the associated laundry and cooking), number of electronic devices.
I recall my paternal grandmother sitting alone in one room of her house with a 40 watt bulb and no TV. Her bill would be a lot less than anyone I know today.
I was cleaning my house and found this from an apartment I lived in many years ago
Then the limit switch is stuck...but if the heat was not running the $400 bill sounds high of course.
What was the going wage about then? Neat memory, in any case. Thanks for sharing.
When the thermostat in our triple-wide was replaced a few years ago, I had the tech turn on the option to run the fan for 90 seconds after the heat shuts off.
Does your place have a programmable thermostat?
Paul
That, BTW was a pro rated bill and not for a whole month...but still the monthly bill would have been well under $10.
That was 1968 and I don't recall the minimum wage ...but I got my first job in 1964 and was paid $1.10 an hour so by 1968 it could not have been much more.
I was at MSOE and all students from out of town under the age of 21 were required to live in the dorm. The guy who's name is on the bill had been through the Army and was a few years older. He took out the efficiency in order to give a bunch of us a place to go and drink beer and have conversations with women.
We were supposed to pay $15 a month for beer, the use of the apartment and a 1959 Ford. I only paid once and was never asked for money again.
The actual rent was $60 a month.
It's long ago been torn down and condos built. I looked up that address and saw the condo sold for half a million dollars. I bet the gas bill is twice as much now.
Not enough information. Where are you located? Is this for electric heat? Whgat was the thermostat set for? The cost for electricity varies from about 7¢ to 19¢ in this country and temperatures in the past two months have been -30 in Minnesota. In January, a $400 bill is very common in some places, high or low in others.
If it is 30 below, it may have to run constantly to maintain temperature. If you are in Florida and it is 55 outside, it should warm you quickly.
So would I. This year I have had the highest energy bills ever.
I'd pay $50 a month to have electric bills in that amount.
Hi,
400.00? Usually my utility bill is around 350.00 a month , all inclusive. This winter it jumped to ~600.00 for two months. Power and NG consumption was way up.
My 'lectric has been a bit high , water quite high because we have to keep a faucet dripping , but propane usage is way down . I've probably burned around 2 cords so far this winter ... and my pot belly is gone . Chainsaw and splitting maul will do that ! I'm currently working on the trees that I dropped to make a clearing for our new orchard . Most of that will be used next year , I don't expect that much more cold weather this year .
Check out my friend's solar barn. He has no energy bills at all...as a matter of fact he puts energy into the grid and gets payed by the power company each month
You should have asked for a low power bill. That's what I did, and I got an average power bill. Now I realize I should have asked for a very low power bill, and then I would have gotten a low one.
You also have to count the return that he didnt' geton another 150,000 investment over the last 10+ years as an expense to him. At only 5% that 2250 a year straight interest. More when you compound it.
One thing you guys haven't considered...may be he's Amish and needs to be dependent of utilities!
Cutting off with a limit switch is not as common any more. Most just use a delay timer circuit on the control board. They only use high limit switch es for safety. If the fan stays on until the power is shutoff then I'd sus pect the fan relay on the control board is getting stuck.
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