Name:	OnTheBike -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart
Date:	2/2/2018 9:35:24 AM

Sorry, I started a new thread because this answers many questions about weather and your power bill and thought it would get lost below and I am kinda late to the party.  This attached chart shows the effect a really cold weather on you power bill, especially if you have heat pumps.  I have two.  I am at my house every weekend and the power usage goes up.  However, look at the days where the high was 30's and low was teens.  I keep temp set during week at 60 (day and night) and 70 on weekend day and 64 on weekend night.... WiFi internet 7-day thermostat.  On super cold weekday, it cost $30 - $40 per day to maintain 60 degrees in the house.  On a normal winter day it is usually let than $10.  Total bill this year $498 and last year $323. I got really cold week of Jan 1 and Jan 17,18, 19.  Heat pumps use a lot of power when it gets really cold!!!

Sorry chart is grainy.  I had to snap photo of computer screen.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart
Date:	2/2/2018 10:39:39 AM

Yep.  Feb bill's gonna be bad.  Can you post a link to this website?

Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart
Date:	2/2/2018 12:19:17 PM

almost fainted when i received mine Monday--

Name:	OnTheBike -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart
Date:	2/3/2018 10:42:43 AM

Every APCO customer can get this chart if you have the "Smart Meter" on your house...  The one that reports power usage real time without a human meter reader.  My house at the lake has one so I can see how much power was used yesterday or over a period of time by the day.  My house is Bham does not so I can only see how much power was used in a previos billing period and not by the day.  It is intersting though.  I am shocked to know that I paid almost $40 per day when the temp dropped below 30 degrees, Wed Jan 17!

Register on the APCO web site.  It actualy is a very well designed WEB site.

https://customerservice2.southerncompany.com/Login?mnuOpco=APC

Name:	OnTheBike -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart - Jan
Date:	2/3/2018 10:51:58 AM

Much cleaner screen shot using my SNIPPING Tool.

Name:	OnTheBike -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart - Feb
Date:	2/3/2018 10:52:50 AM

... and Feb so far

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart
Date:	2/3/2018 1:40:30 PM

Thanks.

Name:	Shortbus -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart
Date:	2/5/2018 9:24:20 PM

Yeeeeeeow  Bike.

What is house square footage?

Older or newer construction?

Single or double paned windows?

Name:	OnTheBike -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart
Date:	2/6/2018 9:47:30 AM

Hey Shorty, its newish construction, 3500ish sq ft (Wild A$$ Guess)

original 2 br 1 ba build in 40's/50's

New house built over and around original in late 90's

New master addition in 2009 with whole house window and door replacement (all well insulated Kolbe)

Single level, 2 heat pumps 4 ton and 2 ton, all electric, 1/3 on slab, 2/3 on pilings with crawl space

Name:	Shortbus -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart
Date:	2/6/2018 10:06:05 AM

I suspect that your air conditioning systems are not up to snuff.

The tiny little light on the thermostat that says emergency heat is the clue.

When that light comes on, you are basically turning on 6 or 7 hair dryers.

Straight glowing red wire heat is about 3 times more expensive than using a compressor to move heat.  (heat pump)

That light comes on during defrost  (unit in air conitioning (cooling) mode) for just a few minutes or

That light comes on during periods when the set temperature is more than 3 degrees below the actual temperature.

Look for long periods of that light on.  If so, time for a tune up of your A/C system(s).

My system never kicked in emergency heat at a balmy 68.

Name:	p.c. -	Reply
Subject:	Lake Martin Power Bill Chart - Feb
Date:	2/9/2018 1:52:23 PM

We have budget billing with APC and two heat pumps.  Our next months bill will increase $73.  I have never looked at the chart on the APC website, it's very comprehensive.  We kept our heat higher than usual when we were not at the lake during the coldest days to avoid any frozen pipe issues.