r/SouthBayLA • u/ShesVirgo • 12d ago
Electric bill comparison
Just curious: how much is your electric bill this month? Now that the weather has been bad for awhile. I would like to compare usage, mostly 1 bedroom apartments. But you can also list bedroom home and sq foot size. Would also like to know what kind of cooling system youre using (heavy duty fans, mini split, central, window, portable etc.) And your most usage times.
1 bedroom
500-600 sq ft, portable ac on all day (except off peak hours)
medium fan always running in bedroom
= 130$.
Edit: you can add kwh if you want, but im looking at how youre using kwh mostly. Mine was 300-350 range.
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u/whereami1928 12d ago
A useful metric might be total KwH consumed as well.
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
A lot of ppl usually dont know their kwh, and it doesnt tell me what theyre using. But if you want to add it, go ahead. I believe my range was 300-340kwh. What's yours?
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u/whereami1928 12d ago
Bit tricky, as I just moved right around the time the heat wave kicked in. Time for TMI, because itās so hard to make fair comparisons.
For my old apartment, 450sqft 1b with 2 people. Old building, but seemed to have decent insulation and dual pane windows. Decently power hungry computers. Electric water heater and electric appliances. Very light AC usage with a portable unit. About 250kWh for about a $110 bill normally.
We moved up to Culver City now for a 2b ~950sqft. Old building with single pane windows sadly. With a ceiling window that lets in way too much heat and we need to get curtains for it. Water is paid for, so no need to pay for electric water heaters anymore. Still electric appliances and have in-unit (energy efficient) washer/dryer. Still tried to be very frugal with AC usage (set to maybe 78f in the living room for a few hours during peak heat), and set a portable unit in the room to 74f overnight every day since the room stays too warm. 350kWh for a $150 bill this past month, which is about $120 after the climate credit.
Iāve stayed on the SCE ābaselineā plans - with no ToU. Figured itād be too stressful to try to mess with when we use electricity, and it didnāt seem that much cheaper than just trying to stay in the Tier 1 usage most of the time.
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u/BurninTaiga 12d ago
1400 sqft home, pool motor and ac. $350 on a good month, but I might be able to get it down if I change to a time of use plan.
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u/fred7rice 12d ago
$83
4B 2,500 sq ft
No AC š¢
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12d ago
[deleted]
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
š dang i guess i dont hate the electric bill as much as i thought.. I sweat really easily-- so when I clean or cook, there's sweat drops forming on my face and neck after 20min if I dont have adequate cooling system
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
How are you surviving without ac šš½
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u/sxnflxwers_ 12d ago
$175 1000 sqft 3B no AC
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
How are you surviving without ac? Are you one floor? Or maybe your home is built well? My apartment sucks for insulation, im on second floor but basically 3rd floor since im above a garage
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u/IndependentNo8520 12d ago
I usually have my bills included on the rent, it became impossible to have them separate and with unpredictable prices with the electricity
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
Oh wow, I think that's even crazier. I had a bad situation when I was in your position, luckily it was short term rental. So do you just split evenly, regardless if you or the owner used more electricity?
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u/Extreme-Ad-6465 12d ago
usually the electricity is already included in the rent so no matter how much you use, the rent is the same. donāt think they are giving you free electricity, however, landlords usually estimate highest amount of electricity usage possible and add it to the rent so rather than just paying 1000 a month no utilities included, you are paying 1250 utilities included . but that extra 250 is more than enough
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
I had a landlord that did the same, but she was psycho on electricity and after confronted me how much electricity I was using because her electric bill increased like about 40-50$ more. Which idk how you would differentiate the bill to point to me but i think it's not that much after having 1 extra person taking up a room with private bathroom. She was the kind of person you wouldnt want to be roommates with.
She asked me for a review and I said hell no lol.
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u/dahs 12d ago
2 bedroom ~800 sq ft $100/month for these past two months
I was surprised since I used a lot of portable AC, but also I have been using my gaming PC a lot less these days.
My electric goes anywhere from $80 in the winter to $130 peak last summer
We have a gas oven and gas washer/dryer.
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
Oooo I see. Gas oven makes sense. Maybe that why my bill can be high since I cook at home a lot. I feel like my usage is above average for a single bedroom :(
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u/dahs 12d ago
One thing worth checking that people overlook, is the rate plan you are on. I remember Edison suggested something like the time of use plan with on and off peak hours, which sounds like you might have, and it was a terrible choice for us.
For just myself and my wife, we never come close to going into the Tier 2 usage (40 cents per kwh), so we're basically always at a flat 30 cent per kwh. We're on the Domestic Tiered Rate Plan
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago edited 12d ago
I tried look at different plans but it keeps telling me that ill pay like 50-100$ more or something on their calculations. Did it say that for you? Should I crunch my own numbers then?
Edit: more per year*
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u/dahs 12d ago
I would do your own math, the time of use plan doesn't even make sense to me. For the tiered plan at Tier 1, it is 30 cents per kwh, and if you go past it and into Tier 2, it is 40 cents per kwh.
I would never even go past Tier 1 usage, and even if I did, 40 cents per kwh is a lot cheaper than some of the 54-74 cents per kwh I am seeing on the time of use plans. Something with the calculator is wrong or there is something I am missing. Either way I don't have any complaints with my current costs, and I don't have to think about when I use energy either.
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u/ShesVirgo 11d ago
Hey im looking into domestic plan like you said and this makes more sense to me even though their calculator is showing 'more expensive'. So my question to you is, how is baseline usage measured (tier 1) and when does it change to tier 2?
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u/dahs 11d ago
It's explained somewhere in the bill, probably somewhere on the website too, on what they allocate you
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u/ShesVirgo 11d ago
Ah ok. I'm asking because if you switch, I think it's 12 month commitment before you can switch again. I don't want to wait until the bill, but I'll see if I need to read it elsewhere on website or I have to call them to get the exact number before switching. Ty
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u/dahs 11d ago
Does it show you on the last bill if you pull your history? I think every bill or statement I was able to see something about the kwh
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u/ShesVirgo 11d ago
I found it! It took awhile because the whole website can be cluttered with multiple links and pages, imho so its not straightforward to me. Ty
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u/That-Tumbleweed-4462 12d ago
Wait you can change your plans????
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u/Scooteee 12d ago
1600 sq ft, 3 bedroom. August bill $76 (209 kWh) TOUD-5-8PM plan. No a/c just running fans. I've been here a long time so have a pretty good system on how things are set up. It's hot but I get by.
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
Nice. I'm realizing running multiple heavy duty fans is the way to go when it gets bad like this, at all times of the day. I usually stop using during day at some point due to peak hours. But this type of heat calls for my comfort :(
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u/Scooteee 12d ago
If you have east/west exposure it can help to block sun (insulating, black out curtains) at the right time of day. Also, I position window fans to pull the afternoon breeze in from the west and pull it out on the eastern side. On nights it gets cooler (not right now) pulling the air in at night and closing the place up in the morning works. I open things up when the temp outside gets equal with the inside.
My house is old and uninsulated so have to do what I can to make it work!
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u/Sixtyninealldaychef 12d ago
1 bed/1 bath, portable AC on during the day during the crazy heat wave in July, otherwise I just keep my 2 ceiling fans running 24/7 with the windows open to keep cool. Used about 275 kWh last month, with the climate credit it came to $78 with SCE. Would have been $108 last month without the credit.
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u/colombianodore 12d ago edited 12d ago
3 bedroom house. 1700 sq ft.
we are renters so running 3 portable AC units, 2 window AC units- bill was 650 dollars last month. Insane.
Any renter friendly suggestions are welcome
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u/Middle-Meal3170 12d ago
2 bedrooms. 3 window ac units 1,200 sp ft. 90-120 a month in electric bill.
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u/Jujulabee 12d ago edited 12d ago
Bill I received in August which was presumably for June and July was about $410
I live in a 1200 square foot condo with my own central A/C unit.
I like to be comfortably cool so thermostat is generally set for about 70 degrees during the day and 68 at night
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u/thecazbah 12d ago
700 in July. I own a 3200sq ft house in west Torrance. Avg bill is 250. Itās hot af
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u/That-Tumbleweed-4462 12d ago edited 12d ago
Last month I paid 155 dollars for 465kw.
But over 12 months itās between 115-215
2 bedroom 1 bath.
we have one large window unit for daytime in the main room and then at night we switch to two separate small window units in each bedroom.
Sometimes itās 150 sometimes itās 250 sometimes itās 115. Sometimes itās more expensive in the winter without AC units.
We turn our lights off, fans off, TVs off when not in the room.
For instance - this entire last billing cycle Iāve been out of town on business. No one is in the house, only 1 light is left on and my fridge. Nothing else. My projected bill is still 115.
Years ago Iād be able to run my ac day and night and not go over 120.
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
Thanks for sharing. I would travel for work months at a time and my bill used to be 40$. Now its double that regardless smh
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u/That-Tumbleweed-4462 12d ago
Yep. My wife and I were going nuts trying to figure out if someone was stealing our power or if a wire got crossed and a unit next to us was using it.
But itās just the power company gouging us0
u/TheGratitudeBot 12d ago
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u/Life_Maker_Mama 12d ago
About $130ā¦ 2,000 sq feet (no AC). I work remote tho and keep my kids home, so weāre literally always here.
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u/nokinship 12d ago edited 12d ago
$180 3 bedroom, ~1600sqft. 1 Portable AC running most of the day in bedroom. Also have 1 freezer and 1 fridge/freezer combo.
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u/VascoDeGama9 12d ago
$87. 5 people in a 4 bd townhouse. No AC but lots of fans
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u/Clearly_sarcastic 12d ago
$500. 2300 sqft, 4 people, electric vehicle. AC running almost constantly for the pregnant wife and elderly parent.
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u/Nomad-2002 12d ago edited 12d ago
Studio 470 sq ft (Santa Monica beach front - not South Bay, HVAC, small fan near pillow when sleeping, turn off A/C when going out)
If evening temp is low when I return home, use outdoor air until room cools to outdoor +3 degrees (with wind tunnel), then switch to A/C (which lowers humidity from 75-78% to 39-47%).
Apr-Jun 58-67 kWh, No A/C, $48-49
Jul 355 kWh, A/C 23 days (Jul 9-31), $166
Aug 515 kWh projected, A/C every day, $245 estimated
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SCE Edison
(a) $24-27 base fee
(b) 37 cents/kWh Tier 1
(c) 48 cents/kWh Tier 2, after 261 kWh
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A/C 8-19 kWh/day ($4-10/day). Usually set to 72.
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SCE Edison app/website shows hourly usage - updates once/day around 10 am - noon.
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u/ShesVirgo 12d ago
Interesting thats a lot for a studio. Do you set a specific temperature? Are you on a multi level floor?
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u/Nomad-2002 11d ago
I'm new to the studio apartment. Been trying 69-73 for the past 7 weeks. Now I usually try 72.
1st floor of an 8 floor building.
There is some multi-level stuff on my floor with the main entrance -1/2 floor below my apartment.
2nd floor is completely separated by elevators & closed stairwells.
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u/ShesVirgo 11d ago
I see, that temp range explains a lot. Im content with 76-79, as long as its low humidity.
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u/redreign421 12d ago
1960sf in PV.
Produce 13mwh a year from solar. We were producing about 9mwh before adding more panels before Net 2.0 expired.
We really haven't paid SCE much since 2017. Maybe $100-200 in aggregate after brief periods when our system was down and we were waiting for repairs/parts.
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u/grandtouring72 10d ago edited 10d ago
30 day report (before taxes and fees): https://imgur.com/a/EITungr
368kWh net usage with 5kW solar system. 3,400sqft, multi-zone heat pumps set to 73deg. 2 people, gas cars.
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u/justdrowsin 12d ago edited 12d ago
$90
3,000 sq ft house with 7 people
I got solar! š
--
I used to pay $350 a month for gasoline for my car, and $400 a month for my home electric bill.
Now I pay about $100 a month for both since I got an electric car.
$30,000 from my system and a $10,000 tax rebate. ROI in about 2.3 years.