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 Expert
Posts: 3782
    
Location: Gainesville, TX | So my husband and I just recently moved in November. We were living in a smaller house (around 1000 square feet). Our electric bill tended to run around $100-$200 depending on the month. We moved into a large 2500 sq ft mobile home in this new area where I got a different job. I'm pretty sure we have a neighbor's dog (or maybe some wildlife) getting under our house and messing with our air conditioning and heating ducting. It's the only explanation I can think of for why my electric bill has been 400-500 the last two months. We've certainly gotten cold but not ever below 20 degrees. I was even more careful to turn out lights and not leave things running this last month. We've had someone out to look at the ducting and fix it twice. Every time we close off the one hole we have in the skirting, the dog finds a way back in under our house. What do other people's electric bills run? Is this usual for a house this size and I'm just not planning well (I'd been budgeting for around $300 every month). Help? |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | Our house is 2,200 square feet. We have dual fuel, so our propane kicks on when it's under 20 degrees. We haven't had a bad winter and our worst bill was January at $205.00.
We did install new insulation in our bedroom and replacement windows throughout the house. Our furnace is a 96% efficiency and it's about 4 years old. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | The worst our house has been this winter was $300 for the period between 12-20 and 1-20. Our average bill ranges from $150 to $200, although it has been as low as $90 when the weather is really nice. 3000 sq ft, heat pump, no furnace or any other auxiliary heat source. We have a combination of spray in foam insulation and the blow in fiber stuff.
What's bad is my barn ran over $100 for the same period. I have 1 small ceramic heater in the horse trailer and 2 heated water tubs, so I don't know why it was so high. Running 6 fans and the fridge last summer was $50 cheaper. |
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 Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | I feel your pain!! My husband and I went from living in an old farm house that only had a small wall unit a/c and heat unit. Our highest electric bill in the 6 years we lived there was like $300 during a horrible cold winter in NC. We moved to a new home with central air and heat. The house big and I would imagine it is much better insulated then the old farm house was. but our heat is propane and we are averaging $200 in electric and $200 a month in gas!! that is $400 a month for the last couple months. and we havn't had a crazy cold winter. Granted we are much more comfortable becasue in the old house even with the heat going non stop it was chilly, but still. Also we have a baby so we have been keeping the heat at 70 since he was to young to sleep with blankets....
We hope to try and convert our gas fireplace to a wood burning stove to beable to supplement with wood heat next winter.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 700
Location: Driving, Grooming, or Saddling for a Kid! | The cost per kw of electricity has went up according to my friend that works at a rural electric company |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 915
Location: SE KS | I didn't like our electric bill, so we put insulation in the attic, & did the new energy efficient windows. My house is +/- 1200sq. Our electric bill is $150., but that does include $40 for Internet. |
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | my electricity bill is any where from 350 to 600 a month...........
m |
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 Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | I am guessing some of the differences around the country has to do with what you are paying per KW. So you would need to look at how many kwh you used verses just what your bill is. Unless its someone with in the same area as you.
For my 2200 sqf. house my electic runs about $80 a month. I have electric everything including stove and dryer. When the winter hits and I have to plug in tank heaters they are about $1 a day to run for each one. I have geo thermal heat for the house and that and the central air are on their own meter so I know each month how much of my bill is for that. Air runs me about $35-50 and heat runs at the very coldest of cold January months about $150 a month. I have always heard electric heat is super expensive so if that is what you have you might want to look at an alternative for next winter. |
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 The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | The increase could be caused by so many different factors.
First, you more than doubled the size of your home. If your bill was up to $200 before, it makes sense that it could get up to $400 now.
Second, the construction of a mobile home may not be as insulated as a traditional home.
Third, your usage may be different. What do you set your heat at?
For comparison, I live in a 1700 square foot traditionally built home with a heat pump (we are in Georgia). We keep ours set at 68 during the day, 73 when we are home in the evenings, and 67 while we sleep at night. In the winter, our bill is around $150-$170.
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | I had considered some of these things when budgeting. The home is not that old (about ten years). It does have electric heat. We keep the house around 70 degrees. A handy guy I knows thinks it might be the washer because if you touch it wrong it will zap you. He thinks there is some type of short or energy leak there cause the electric charge buildup that might be to blame. |
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  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | mruggles - 2015-02-12 8:48 AM my electricity bill is any where from 350 to 600 a month...........
m
Mine is too but that's for the whole place, automatic heated watertanks and our heat is hot water with an electric boiler. In the seasons when its nice that we aren't running the heat or air it can get to under $300 |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | We are in a late 1980's house. It needs new windows as the drafts could literally blow your hair back. LOL. Everything is electric; dryer, water heater, stove, heat, etc. We have a wood burning stove that we use for our heating tho and have never turned on the electric baseboard heaters. During the summer, electric is approx $30-40 on average. This winter, we reached our highest bill at $180. And that seemed absurd. But seeing what you all are paying, I won't complain. This is even with a water de-icer in the horse water, chicken water and an electric fence box. |
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Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | We are in a late 1980's house. It needs new windows as the drafts could literally blow your hair back. LOL. Everything is electric; dryer, water heater, stove, heat, etc. We have a wood burning stove that we use for our heating tho and have never turned on the electric baseboard heaters. During the summer, electric is approx $30-40 on average. This winter, we reached our highest bill at $180. And that seemed absurd. But seeing what you all are paying, I won't complain. This is even with a water de-icer in the horse water, chicken water and an electric fence box. |
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Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | We are in a late 1980's house. It needs new windows as the drafts could literally blow your hair back. LOL. Everything is electric; dryer, water heater, stove, heat, etc. We have a wood burning stove that we use for our heating tho and have never turned on the electric baseboard heaters. During the summer, electric is approx $30-40 on average. This winter, we reached our highest bill at $180. And that seemed absurd. But seeing what you all are paying, I won't complain. This is even with a water de-icer in the horse water, chicken water and an electric fence box. |
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 Special Somebody
Posts: 3951
Location: Finally horseback again.... | Not only the price of kw, but a mobile homes are not insulated the way a stick built home will be. Your windows are not as high efficient and your doors on a mobile will leak air like crazy and most mobiles will have a max of a R19 bat in the ceiling where most homes are at R30.That in combination with the duct work being under the home, exposed to extreme temperature changes reaks havoc on a HVAC unit. And to top it off, the unit size they install with a mobile will not be as large most times as they should be.
I lived in an 1800 square foot mobile for 13 years, my electric bill would run 350-500 plus every month.
We built a new home three years ago that is 1800 sq feet, my highest bill is 150!!
I made sure we had energy efficient windows, caulked and sealed every crack, and insulated the heck out of the walls and attic. It pays off.
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Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | We are in a late 1980's house. It needs new windows as the drafts could literally blow your hair back. LOL. Everything is electric; dryer, water heater, stove, heat, etc. We have a wood burning stove that we use for our heating tho and have never turned on the electric baseboard heaters. During the summer, electric is approx $30-40 on average. This winter, we reached our highest bill at $180. And that seemed absurd. But seeing what you all are paying, I won't complain. This is even with a water de-icer in the horse water, chicken water and an electric fence box. |
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Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | BINGO, darlin, we heard ya the first 20 times. LOL |
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Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | We are in a late 1980's house. It needs new windows as the drafts could literally blow your hair back. LOL. Everything is electric; dryer, water heater, stove, heat, etc. We have a wood burning stove that we use for our heating tho and have never turned on the electric baseboard heaters. During the summer, electric is approx $30-40 on average. This winter, we reached our highest bill at $180. And that seemed absurd. But seeing what you all are paying, I won't complain. This is even with a water de-icer in the horse water, chicken water and an electric fence box. |
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Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | 
Sorry about that. It wasn't working....so I kept clicking..... |
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Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| i run about 87.00 per month in summer 47 to 60.00 i have propane heat you could not give me a heat pump useless hate them
propane went thru about 150gals @1.99 in 5 weeks but we are having a mild winter my house is 2600 built 1977 but i have new windows except for 2
concrete floors keep it set @68 when i get cold i get in front of electric firplace. i am in a wheelchair so i get cold at night
my rental house #@ 5800 sq it runs them electric 300 to 500 a month the farm run about 200 and it 5800 too but the roof in inslated r40 walls r 30
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The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | vjls - 2015-02-12 11:36 AM i run about 87.00 per month in summer 47 to 60.00 i have propane heat you could not give me a heat pump useless hate them
propane went thru about 150gals @1.99 in 5 weeks but we are having a mild winter my house is 2600 built 1977 but i have new windows except for 2
concrete floors keep it set @68 when i get cold i get in front of electric firplace. i am in a wheelchair so i get cold at night
my rental house #@ 5800 sq it runs them electric 300 to 500 a month the farm run about 200 and it 5800 too but the roof in inslated r40 walls r 30
5800 square feet? |
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 A very grounded girl
Posts: 5052
Location: Moving soon..... | 1,800 sq ft - $150 or less per month. Our water heater and central heat is propane. Everything else is electric. |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| Three 4 Luck - 2015-02-12 8:28 AM
The worst our house has been this winter was $300 for the period between 12-20 and 1-20. Our average bill ranges from $150 to $200, although it has been as low as $90 when the weather is really nice. 3000 sq ft, heat pump, no furnace or any other auxiliary heat source. We have a combination of spray in foam insulation and the blow in fiber stuff.
What's bad is my barn ran over $100 for the same period. I have 1 small ceramic heater in the horse trailer and 2 heated water tubs, so I don't know why it was so high. Running 6 fans and the fridge last summer was $50 cheaper.
I'm guessing the heated water tubs. My barn bill last month was $130, that's just for 2 tank heaters and lights. - Crazy, dumb expensive! |
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Regular
Posts: 70
| I agree, it's the tank heaters that really raise the electric bills in the winter. My brother-in-law is an electrician, and he said the heaters are like the equivalent of running a hairdryer nonstop. We run 3 tank heaters, the barn, the shop, and the house on electric. House is off-peak though, that helps, radiant floor heat with a brick thermal-storage unit furnace. We're averaging $500/month. In the summer we average around $200.
However, my ~900 sq ft office (built in 2012, should be efficient!) is 100% electric, running over $200/month! That's ridiculous!
Edited by HorseyGirl 2015-02-12 11:42 AM
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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| To the OP. Have someone come and look for a short....we had one in the ground and had to dig up the wire from pole to house. Apparently digging posts for the small porch had nicked it and we were pouring electricity into the ground.
As for tank heaters, I nested one Rubbermaid tank inside a second. Tanks are sitting inside the doors of the barn. And then I put the two tank heaters and one heated water bucket on timers. I check tanks twice daily while doing chores and adjust times when they are on. When temps are in the 20s, they only need to be on about 3 hours twice a day. It's going below zero tonight so they will be on about 6 hours over night. If it's a nice sunny day, I may skip the heat time all together. It has greatly reduced the electric bill in the barn. Also, when I plug in the semi block heater, I will put that on a timer also. It really only needs to run a minimum of 2 to 3 hours before you intend to start the engine, not all night, even in the coldest weather.
I know some say that there are thermostats on the tank heaters, but not on the 3 different types I am using. I started this because one of hubby's horses would not drink enough water out of the heated water bucket. It would get almost warm enough to bathe in. so I put it on a timer and didn't take long for me to try it on the tank heaters I am all about saving money so that I can pay my vet bills! lol. |
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 I hate cooking and cleaning
Posts: 3314
Location: Jersey Girl | In the summer when the window A/C units are running our bill is usually about $130. My son moved out a few weeks ago so our bill went from $65 to $49. |
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 The Purple Princess
Posts: 2226
Location: Charlestown, IN | CYA Ranch - 2015-02-12 10:36 AM mruggles - 2015-02-12 8:48 AM my electricity bill is any where from 350 to 600 a month...........
m Mine is too but that's for the whole place, automatic heated watertanks and our heat is hot water with an electric boiler. In the seasons when its nice that we aren't running the heat or air it can get to under $300
I'm in this category for the winter months. We had a mild November/December so the bill was around $200.. January & February's have been $350+/ea. It's COLD right now so I dread seeing the next bill.. Last year I think our largest was $615..... We did have a very cold winter last year though... |
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Electric bills