Posts: 1,455
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One year in October we had 10 people staying at our house. A construction work crew, and our daughter, granddaughter, and son in law. Cooking for 10. Washing clothes towels etc for 10.Showers and baths for 10. And washing and drying cloth diapers constantly. Got one bill for all of that of $500. I think when our daughter finally quits washing and drying her clothes and cooking some at our place, our bill will settle down to about $150 a month.
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Posts: 1,450
Threads: 109
Joined: Mar 2013
My bill for 4 people in 800 sq house on fullelectric is around 118 per month. I only put the hotwater heater on for about an hour a day, and airdry clothes before briefly throwing them in the dryer to get the wrinkles out. I leave computers on all day and my kids leave lights on all night, so it could probably be less. I also have a bunch of electronics on one power strip that I try to remember to turn off every night.
Posts: 566
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Yes, my bill averages $100 (run a dehumidifier at night) but jumps big when I start seasonal baking! I have solar-heated water.
He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.
He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.
Posts: 182
Threads: 35
Joined: Sep 2012
Put in a solar water heater system, and quit stressing over your electric bill. Have the electric heater as backup when the clouds hang around for a few days, or go bathe in the ocean or the public "beach" showers on the few days it won't make enough hot water. I used to shower at the Pahoa Pool every day after a couple of laps, it was a bit cold, but worth it. And saved lots of money on energy.
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So unless you are stuck with the mindset of living like you did on the mainland you will continue to over spend your hard earned money on energy, and make the rich even richer. There are alternatives [
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Disclaimer.... I own HELCO and ORMAT stock. So keep over using power, just for me please! [
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I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
Mahalo
Rick
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
Mahalo
Rick
Posts: 735
Threads: 20
Joined: May 2006
Thanks to this thread, I think I plugged an energy leak in my house. I few months ago, my bill shot up to over $200 per month. I have a conventional water heater with no solar. I recall that I set the upper thermostat higher because it wasn't turning on some years ago. After reading how low everyone's bill is I decided to check it out again. Lo and behold I discovered that there's two thermostats and two heating elements. The upper element was still working but the lower was not resulting in inefficient heating. I drained the heater and replaced the element which was corroded. I should have done this years ago. Who know how much money I could have saved. I just never bothered to check it out or read the manual which recommends not to turn the upper thermostat higher than the lower one.
Posts: 2,244
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Pahoated: Very good points, however, difficult to stomach Connie Lau of HEI making darn near $5-6 million a year. Salaries of these executives are out of control , and we pay the price of all these costs.
http://www1.salary.com/Constance-H-Lau-S...S-INC.html
The grid is so old, the public is getting grief for trying to hook up with solar, times are hard all the way around, and these people make this kind of money? Boggles my mind.
Again, very good points, however, difficult to understand the justification. Some of which may be poor planning on the State's part? It's still a bloody monopoly and we are paying the price. (Sorry) JMO.
Perhaps somemore legislation will cure the obstacles dealing with HELCO resulting in getting us a fair price per KW, along with getting off oil.
$210-220 per month here at our house (all electric), and most months, help the kids pay some of their $300+ per month(grandkids, etc.). Ugh!
Posts: 4,533
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Ours is the national debt and it is between $300-450 any particular month.
I do 3 loads of laundry a week only. But my guests are not as aware of the electric costs since one of them comes from a place where elec is 18 cents/KWH.
4-8 people here during any given billing cycle.
Pool Pump although soon to be solar pump.
Winter we use oven more than BBQ.
Very soon we are going entirely solar. I dont think we are even going to do the grid tie in but we'll see.
Going with solar hot water.
And all exterior "mood" lighting is going to be solar.
Posts: 118
Threads: 48
Joined: Jan 2008
22 PV solar panels + 2 for hot water. Run everything all the time. All electric.
We leave lights on when out + tv or radio. 2 computers all day and night.
$20.50 a month. Washer/dryer/dishwasher/microwave/stove/oven/toaster oven/
2 people. Lots of visitors. Biggest bite was the HotWater system first.
Posts: 1,450
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Joined: Mar 2013
Sue, have you by any chance done the math to see if the solar actually saves money over the long run? Like the how long do they last? If you prorated the costs over say 5 yrs of life, then how much per month are you paying for the solar setup? Do they last a really long time? What about the batteries? What about other upkeep costs? I am just wondering if the HELCO bill is at all comprable.
Posts: 1,450
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Joined: Mar 2013
I was wondering about the HELCO stock? I swear I read that they declared a dividend of .13 per share this year, when I was perusing the newspaper. What is the ticker? Maybe there is a parent company?
