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Sorry if this topic has been hashed to death - couldn't find it in the search. I'm wondering what punawebbers helco bills run (if they're on helco/on the grid). Ours has gone as high as $275!! Which is why we're changing over slowly to solar. We still average about $180/month, on the higher rate charged to un-finaled houses. We have a refrigerator & a freezer, no washer or dryer, just lights and a radio. I'd be interested in others average monthly bills.
Never mind, I found a fairly recent thread under "electric bill." But do reply if you have new info or tips.
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Our's averages over $300.00 a month. But we have a heated jaquzzi on the deck thats on all the time set to 102 degrees. It sure is nice on days like these! 
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Our HELCO bill is just under $100, we have switched most lights to LED, TV & computer monitor are LED (LED's are a big savings) have the low E Kenmore 'Trio' refrig, low E Maytag 'Neptune' washer, electric flash water heater, no dryer, no freezer.... and a big e savings, no catchment pump (we did use about 30% more electricity when we were renting a smaller house on a catchment). Mind you we are totally remodeling & have gutted the house, so we use more power tools & less kitchen tools...but even on the mainland our bills were low, & we had the Trio & Neptune there, along with low E lighting & the LED monitors...
Our bill will go ~$10 higher when we have a guest in our ohana for a month, but they can drive the electric bill much higher, if they take more than a couple of hot showers a day (one must have lived in the shower!)...
We do want to go solar, but that would be IF any of the island car dealers (HELLLOOO NISSAN & FORD) would support their electric vehicles (although I did find out the Maui Nissan dealer will support their Leaf here on island, right after I let my 2 year paid reservation lapse!)
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Maud,
That seems high, ours runs about $180 a month for 2 people in a huge house, when we have guests it goes up about $25 a person.
We have at least 3 older ceiling fans running ALL the time, we are on catchment so we run a pump, we put in solar hot water but we do use an older electric dryer, all our lights are CFLs or tubes, we run two refrigerators, one of which is an older energy hog probably costing us about $10 bucks a month. So it seems like our bill should be much higher than yours (or rather yours should be lower).
Home depot has a plug in energy tester you plug between your appliances and the wall outlet that tells you what the energy draw is. Helco might have ones they loan out. I would check your refrigerator and freezer, they can be the biggest power suckers, keeping the dust build up around the bottom front air intake on the frig helps too.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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We believe ours will run maybe $150-$175 a month. The reason I say this is because since we moved here, we have has at least three others staying with us. For almost a month we had nine and ten staying here. That includes a baby that uses cloth diapers.The other gusts were a work crew working on a house. So, we had like ten showers every day. Lots of washer and dryer use for all these people and the baby diapers. We are on catchment, so our pump was very busy. Lots of cooking, hand washing of dishes, etc, etc. The record high for that period was about $500.When it's just my wife and I we will dry using our clotheslines as much as possible.
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Jon in Keaau/HPP
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I use a small 18-gallon water heater, the small Magic Chef fridge/freezer from Home Depot, occasionally run a dehumidifier, usually run two cfl bulbs at night, computer, TV, stereo for NPR in the morning, 2-cup coffee maker, full-size range (don't use the oven), and microwave. I routinely use power tools like table saw, jointer etc...
My bill is usually about $60.00. I think the main draw for juice is the water heater and fridge in most homes, so mine are small.
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Another thing I do is plug any electrical devices I can into power-strips/surge protectors and turn them off when the devices are not in use. All wall-wart type transformers draw power even when the devices they power are off. Touch these black boxes at the outlet where they plug in and you'll feel heat. I believe many internal power supplies in devices are similar, and draw some power even when the switch is off.
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$275 a month, assuming for two people and the few appliances you mentioned seems really high. I would check around for a neighbor plugging into an outlet.[:0]
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Yup, Wal-wart transformers and tv's even coffee makers use standby power. Cordless phones, Electronic tooth brushes etc...etc... are known as (vampire) sucking power... If you got cell phones and ipad/ipods, power tools that are battery operated ... Basically anything with a battery will suck down power just to keep the battery topped off.
Best way for this? Put all your items like ipads, cell phones, tooth brushes and anything you ABSOLUTELY need charged every day on a timer. Figure out how long your items take to fully charge set the timer for 5 hours for example... The timer will go on at midnight when you got your phone and toothbrush etc...etc... on a power strip for 5 hours each night will save a lot on your bill. They even have remote control outlets that are preprogrammed to stay on for X amount of hours.
If you house is using a electric hot water, make sure you put that on a timer as well. Just remember ... Anything that is remote control or has a clock on it is most likely sucking down 2-4 watts just plugged in doing nothing... Switch all your light over to led or CFL bulbs.
One easy way to go about it, is switch to small solar setup so you can run all your lights, and charge all your 12 volt devices. There are tons of items that run straight off of 12V. So, that would/could save you 10-15 a month alone. The best way to save power in Hawaii? Get rid of your hot water heater all together and get passive solar! Easy 30-40 bucks a month in savings right there!
Anyone know if you go on vacation and throw the main breaker on the panel ... What would be the MINIMUM with charge per month with using ZERO power?
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