Michele Milligan on tue 2 sep 03
I may not be of much help, because I don't know a lot about kilns, however my
spouse sells electricity and I have NEVER heard of a demand charge. We live
in Texas, so we can choose our electical provider, but last month our kwh was
almost 4000- and our kwh charge was still 7cents per kwh. You might look
into switching providers (If you are able) .
What company are you using- I might could have hubby do some research and see
what he can find out- its worth a try.
Michele
Kathi LeSueur on tue 2 sep 03
maur@ALPINECOM.NET wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I'm new on this list and will start out with a frustrating problem that I'm
>wondering could be caused by my kiln.
>
>I've had my own studio for nine years, six of those in my house, and 3 1/2
>years ago I moved it all to a downtown studio separate from my home. Since
>then, my electric bills have skyrocketed.>>
>
One thing I doubt either you or your electrician considered is that
someone has tapped into your electricity somewhere along the line. I'd
have him come back and check every inch of your line to check for this.
If you are in a building with multiple businesses this could be the
problem. It's definitely not unheard of.
Kathi
>
>
Larry Kruzan on tue 2 sep 03
Hi Elisabeth,
My studio is in my home and it is really just a very active hobby for me at
this point, so take that into account please. This said your work routine
sounds a lot like my own. I also fire my (newer) Skutt 1027 6-10 times a
month and throw about three days a week.
I also heat and air condition the house (3800 sq ft, one level) and my
studio/shop/darkroom stc. (1800 sq ft). Three to four computers, stereo, TV
and everything else that is our modern high tech life. We have a number of
outdoors lights that are on timers and such and a small area has an electric
fence around it. Each night I also run a big battery charger hooked to my
wheelchair and never worry about turning off a light. We also run the well
on electric too.
Given all this consuming going on here on the homefront we use about
2000-2500 Kwh per month. Before I got my kiln three months ago the usage
was a little lower but not that much. In fact our usage, even with the kiln
has dropped since last year! Why? Our daughter moved out on her own last
winter!! :O) Gotta love them.
I would still request the power company change the meter as it very well
could be running high. They do age and break down. If this is a sudden
jump or even a gradual creep since last year I would demand they record your
actual usage with a special test kit they have for just this purpose.
Also for the "demand" part of your bill, find out what the utility company
considers it's demand times and make sure you do not fire the kiln at that
time. These vary somewhat by utility or state but they must inform you.
Electricity is less expensive after midnight typically but you might not
want to go back to the shop after midnight just to start the kiln. You
decide.
Another thing to consider is the age of your elements in the kiln. I do not
know much about kilns but I do know that heating elements, in general,
become inefficient with age and use. Perhaps they are not performing as
well and making the kiln run longer to do the same amount of work.
All this is just the ramblings of a very tired old soldier and is worth just
what you pay for it.
Larry
Earl Krueger on tue 2 sep 03
On Tuesday, September 2, 2003, at 01:39 PM, Elisabeth Maurland wrote:
> and we discovered that I pay a "demand charge"
> whenever we use more than 1500 KwH.
Elisabeth,
My old physics teacher kept telling us that when we had solved a
problem we should look to see if the answer was reasonable. Let's do
that here.
Your kiln consumes about 10,000 watts (10 Kw) and if we assume that it
was full on for 10 hours for each firing and you fire 6 times a month
that would be
10Kw X 10 Hours X 6 = 600 KwH.
I don't know what the consumption of your water heater is but let's say
it's 4500 watts (you can check the label) and it's on for 1 hour per
day;
4.5 Kw X 1 H per day X 30 days = 135 KwH.
I have a small fridge that consume 1.5 amps at 115 volts or 172.5
watts. If yours is similar and is on for 4 hours a day;
0.1725 Kw X 4 H per day X 30 days = 20.7 KwH.
Let's assume you have 10 fluorescent fixtures with 2 40 watt bulbs and
that they are on for 10 hours per day;
0.04Kw per bulb X 2 bulbs X 10 H per day X 30 days = 24 KwH.
My wheel says 115V at 4 amps or 460 watts. If yours is similar;
0.460 Kw X 8 H per day X 3 days per week X 4 weeks = 44.16 KwH.
For the pug I'll assume 1/2 horsepower motor which is 373 watts;
0.373 Kw X 2 H per week X 4 weeks = 2.984 KwH.
Adding all of these;
600 + 135 + 20.7 + 24 + 44.16 + 2.984 = 826.8 KwH.
The result we calculated is only about half of 1500 KwH required for
the surcharge therefore we would have to say "The answer is not
reasonable".
This means that;
1. You need to take a closer look at the estimates ( I made some
guesses),
2. You need to ask the electric company to explain your bill better,
3. You can tell the electric company you suspect they have a bad meter,
4. The meter could be servicing more than just your studio.
On item #2 you need to ask specifically just exactly when the surcharge
comes into play. Is it based on total energy consumed or is it based
on rate at which energy is consumed? If it is the latter it could be
that whenever you turn on your kiln you encounter the surcharge.
I would like to know how you come out on this so when you get an answer
please let me know.
Earl...
Snail Scott on tue 2 sep 03
At 03:39 PM 9/2/03 -0500, you wrote:
>...why we use over 1500 KwH before I complain to the electric company.
>Does this make sense to anyone, or could my kiln be at fault? (My old, 30
>year old 1027 Skutt never used this much energy...
I don't see how it's possible, either. That Skutt will
draw about 11 kilowatts/hour on high; less on lower
settings. If you did every firing on high for ten
hours each (unlikely!), you'd still only rack up about
100 kwh per firing, and all your other uses don't
even come close to that. Flourescent lights use very
little power compared with incandescent; your major-
power-use appliances are probably your fridge and
water-heater, and that still ain't much...
EXCEPT for the A/C. You say your bills don't fluctuate
much, seasonally. If you have A/C, that seems strange
indeed, since an A/C compressor is THE number-one power-
consuming appliance in existence, aside from kilns.
(Exaggerating a little, but still basically true.) So,
if you do have gas heat, and your power bills don't show
a seasonal variation, check your billing plan.
Some power companies offer a 'helpful' service called
'seasonal cost averaging' or something similar, to
help spread the cost of your air conditioning evenly
throughout the year, instead of having a huge cost
spike in the summer as most folks with A/C do. See if
you're being billed based on this option.
If you're new in this building, the previous renters
may have set up the billing plan, and it never got
changed. This may also mean that you're paying based
their average bills, not yours. This can happen!
(I once rented a house. The local power company charged
a deposit equal to the previous year's highest monthly
bill. $600 - in a house with no A/C OR heat! Turns out
the previous renters had heated the place with an
electric space-heater in every room, 24/7. They moved,
but we got stuck with their track record of 'average'
costs.)
If you're still topping 1500 Kwh even with averaging,
and the usage is accurate, it's time to decide if you
really love your AC that much.
If it's not the A/C:
You said you are in an urban area - is it possible that
someone is tapping your supply?
Turn off everything in the building that you can...
lights, fridge, kiln, water heater, air conditioning,
fans and radios, everything. Then look at the meter.
Is the thing still showing use? How much, how fast?
If it's still going around at anything but an
imperceptible crawl, something's fishy. If so, it may
be worth that $129/month to get an electrician out
to check things over.
-Snail
Elisabeth Maurland on tue 2 sep 03
Hi,
I'm new on this list and will start out with a frustrating problem that I'm
wondering could be caused by my kiln.
I've had my own studio for nine years, six of those in my house, and 3 1/2
years ago I moved it all to a downtown studio separate from my home. Since
then, my electric bills have skyrocketed. I called the electric company soon
after the move and said I had never paid more than $100 before, why now, but
I was told that, yes, I had paid over $100 once before. I remembered that
was after I got my washer and dryer, so I accepted that, and thought that
maybe all the fluorescent lights we have here draw a lot of electricity.
Three years have gone by, and I never get a break! Our bills (I share with a
graphic designer - not much electric use there) are always between $150 and
$250, whether I fire a lot or not. I asked a fellow potter, with a much
bigger production than me, and we discovered that I pay a "demand charge"
whenever we use more than 1500 KwH. Which is almost every month. Before I
moved, I never used 1500 KwH, and none of my potter friends, who all produce
more than I do, use nearly that much, even though their studios are in their
houses, families and all.
I have a 3 1/2 year old 1027 Skutt KM that I fire 6 times a month (three
bisques and three cone 6 firings). Other than that, we have a small fridge
and a small electric water heater (used for a few dishes and hand washing),
both three years old. And of course fluorescent lights, an electric wheel,
used three days a week at best, and a pug mill, used 2 hours a week at best.
Gas heat, and since the bill doesn't seem to differentiate much in the
winter, the a/c doesn't seem to play a big role.
I had an electrician try to do some detective work, but he couldn't find
anything wrong. He asked someone connected with the electric company, who
said we draw this much electricity because the use fluctuates so much.
The "demand charge" was this month $129 (this is on top of what we actually
use), and when I asked why, I was told that's just the way it is.
I'm not asking the list about the demand charge, but I need to know more
about why we use over 1500 KwH before I complain to the electric company.
Does this make sense to anyone, or could my kiln be at fault? (My old, 30
year old 1027 Skutt never used this much energy, even though I fired more
back then.)
Sorry about the length of this, I hope someone will take the time to read it
who might have an idea.
Thanks!
Elisabeth Maurland
Kenneth D. Westfall on wed 3 sep 03
Well if you have moved to a different building down town then your probably
paying commercial rate not home rate. That plus the "demand charge" will
definitely drive your bill threw the roof. For comparison we use during
the months May threw July for our home which includes air conditioning 2393
KWH. For the months of March threw April we use 1748 KWH for the
house. I have a separate studio with commercial electric, we use 1903 KWH
for two months which includes two electric bisques in a large Olympic oval
kiln, one cone 10 electric in a small kiln and two small kiln
bisques. With out the electric kilns our electric usage runs in the range
of 506 KWH. We use mostly florescent lighting with a few 100 watt task
lights, TV, electric wheel, pug mill, soldner clay mixer, some exhaust fans
when mixing and firing gas kiln and a dust to dawn light. Lights are on
from 10 am to 12 pm 5 to 6 days a week if not 7.
Florescent lighting is about as cheep as you can get for
lighting. If there was something wrong with your kiln causing high
amperage usage your breaker would trip. Now that is not to say that you
don't have a switch stuck in the on position but I think you would feel the
heat when loading and investigating why your kiln is always warm. Are your
firings taking longer to do? Old elements will cause the firing time to go
up which could be causing you to use more electric.
I would say that your graphic person uses more electric then you
think. If you go and add up, all the watts for each light bulbs, computer,
printer, light table, etc times the hours they are on then divide by 1000
you can get a pretty close estimate of the KWH she is using. Your hot
water tank may not be turning off which would give you a higher bill. Is
the water very hot all the time?
Are you sure that someone is not getting electric from you
meter. Many old buildings have wiring that crosses over to the next
building due to expansion of a former business. Then business closes the
buildings get separated later but the electric doesn't make the split
up. Some old stores had heated side walks for snow removal that can be
faulty and remains on year round.
Considering the number of firings your doing and the fact you have a
second person using electric your KWH really doesn't seem to be that out of
line.
At 03:39 PM 09/02/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I'm new on this list and will start out with a frustrating problem that I'm
>wondering could be caused by my kiln.
>
>I've had my own studio for nine years, six of those in my house, and 3 1/2
>years ago I moved it all to a downtown studio separate from my home. Since
>then, my electric bills have skyrocketed. I called the electric company soon
>after the move and said I had never paid more than $100 before, why now, but
>I was told that, yes, I had paid over $100 once before. I remembered that
>was after I got my washer and dryer, so I accepted that, and thought that
>maybe all the fluorescent lights we have here draw a lot of electricity.
>
>Three years have gone by, and I never get a break! Our bills (I share with a
>graphic designer - not much electric use there) are always between $150 and
>$250, whether I fire a lot or not. I asked a fellow potter, with a much
>bigger production than me, and we discovered that I pay a "demand charge"
>whenever we use more than 1500 KwH. Which is almost every month. Before I
>moved, I never used 1500 KwH, and none of my potter friends, who all produce
>more than I do, use nearly that much, even though their studios are in their
>houses, families and all.
>
>I have a 3 1/2 year old 1027 Skutt KM that I fire 6 times a month (three
>bisques and three cone 6 firings). Other than that, we have a small fridge
>and a small electric water heater (used for a few dishes and hand washing),
>both three years old. And of course fluorescent lights, an electric wheel,
>used three days a week at best, and a pug mill, used 2 hours a week at best.
>Gas heat, and since the bill doesn't seem to differentiate much in the
>winter, the a/c doesn't seem to play a big role.
>
>I had an electrician try to do some detective work, but he couldn't find
>anything wrong. He asked someone connected with the electric company, who
>said we draw this much electricity because the use fluctuates so much.
>
>The "demand charge" was this month $129 (this is on top of what we actually
>use), and when I asked why, I was told that's just the way it is.
>
>I'm not asking the list about the demand charge, but I need to know more
>about why we use over 1500 KwH before I complain to the electric company.
>Does this make sense to anyone, or could my kiln be at fault? (My old, 30
>year old 1027 Skutt never used this much energy, even though I fired more
>back then.)
>
>Sorry about the length of this, I hope someone will take the time to read it
>who might have an idea.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Elisabeth Maurland
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.
Kenneth D. Westfall
Pine Hill Pottery
R.D. #2 Box 6AA
Harrisville, WV 26362
kenneth@pinehillpottery.com
http://www.pinehillpottery.com
Ann Geiger on wed 3 sep 03
Elisabeth, in reply to your post regarding electrical usage, I can give
you some information regarding kilowatt usage using an L & L J230-3
which is the same size as your kiln and is quite new (less used than
yours).
I have done some firing for another potter and wanted to know amount of
electricity being used for a firing and then charging her a percentage
of the electric charges based on the space her work took up in my kiln.
So I read my meter just before and just after the firings. Now the rest
of my house runs off the same meter but I tried to keep other electrical
use during the firings at a minimum. Any way, my KWH came to 69 for the
bisque firing and 82 for the glaze firing. The bisque firing was to
cone 05 and the glaze firing was to cone 6. I should add that the kiln
was 3/4 full for each of the firings.
I also then did two single firings, the first one with the Kiln 1/2
full, used 81 KWH and the second with the kiln full used 96 KWH. One
other difference between these two firings was that the kiln vent was on
for as additional 5 hours for the second firing which accounts for at
least some of the difference in the two firings. There were also some
difference in the two firing schedules but that only involved adding an
hour to the hold time at 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
I hope this information helps you.
Regards,
Annie Geiger in very soggy Fly Creek, NY
Arnold Howard on wed 3 sep 03
Elisabeth, maybe if you fired your kiln at off-peak times of the day,
you would not have to pay a demand charge.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P.
arnoldhoward@att.net
From: Elisabeth Maurland
> I'm not asking the list about the demand charge, but I need to know
more
> about why we use over 1500 KwH before I complain to the electric
company.
> Does this make sense to anyone, or could my kiln be at fault? (My old,
30
> year old 1027 Skutt never used this much energy, even though I fired
more
> back then.)
Bob Nicholson on wed 3 sep 03
>Three years have gone by, and I never get a break! Our bills (I share with a
>graphic designer - not much electric use there) are always between $150 and
>$250, whether I fire a lot or not. I asked a fellow potter, with a much
>bigger production than me, and we discovered that I pay a "demand charge"
>whenever we use more than 1500 KwH. Which is almost every month. Before I
>moved, I never used 1500 KwH, and none of my potter friends, who all produce
>more than I do, use nearly that much, even though their studios are in their
>houses, families and all.
1500 KwH does seem high. Here's a quick back-of-the envelop calculation,
assuming your kiln is rated at 50 amps, 220 volts, and operates full-on
for 12 hours for each of your 6 firings. If my guesses about amps and firing
time are off, adjust the formula accordingly.
50 * 220 * 12 * 6 = 792 KwH
So 792 KwH is about the max your kiln should theoretically contribute to
your electrical use... and it's probably a lot less, since the elements are
not full on throughout the firing.
The other items you mentioned should not make up the difference...
especially if you electrical appliances are fairly new.
Work with your electrician to figure out the electrical use for each of
your appliances, and multiply by hours of use... you can see if there's
any way you could be hitting 1500 KwH. This is not a hard computation,
and your electrician should be able to do it for you if you can't figure it
out yourself.
If your total does not come out to 1500 KwH (or at least close), you should
pursue this with your power company. They do make mistakes!
(I once worked in a build where, over the years, tenants had made modifications
to the building wiring. We eventually found that the neighboring office was
running off our meter, and we were being charged for their power use.)
Cindi Anderson on thu 4 sep 03
This is common in California since our "energy problems" started. Pacific
Gas and Electric gives you so much at a certain rate, then you bump up to a
higher rate for the next amount of electricity, then another rate, etc.
Cindi
Fremont, CA
----- Original Message -----
> my spouse sells electricity and I have NEVER heard of a demand charge. We
live
> in Texas...
Maurice Weitman on sat 6 sep 03
Actually, the "demand charge" has nothing to do with tiered rates.
Many commercial meters have, along with the KwH reading, a separate
demand reading which records the highest load used at any given time
for that reading period.
This means that if you only had a 40 Watt bulb burning all month
long, but one time briefly fired a 50 Amp. kiln to test the elements,
your demand would be recorded at that highest rate of use.
This is to provide the electric companies with enough revenue to
supply all their customers their highest demand at any given time.
It also provides powerful incentives to large users to use their
electricity wisely during peak use periods. On hot weekdays, for
instance, when all offices and homes have their air conditioning
cranked on top of the normal lighting and equipment loads, those
facilities with high, temporary loads must pay their share.
I've forgotten who the original poster was, but it's possible that
the heat supplied to your space is provided by a heat pump integral
to the air conditioning unit. These units are not energy efficient
when compared to a standalone (gas/oil-fired) furnace. If your kiln
is on when a heat pump or other high-energy unit, you'll record and
get socked with a high demand charge.
Of course, as someone pointed out, it's possible that you're paying
for someone else's load due to sloppy (but cheaper) wiring.
Landlords and their electricians don't care as much as we might to
which panel a new circuit is wired. That bears checking.
With energy bills as high as you're reporting, it makes sense to
figure this out; you might even be eligible for a rebate from the
electric company or your landlord. At the least, you might be able
to save a bit of money by correcting the faults or being more mindful
of when you should fire and/or run heat or A/C.
Regards,
Maurice
At 11:57 PM -0700 on 9/4/03, Cindi Anderson wrote:
>This is common in California since our "energy problems" started. Pacific
>Gas and Electric gives you so much at a certain rate, then you bump up to a
>higher rate for the next amount of electricity, then another rate, etc.
>
>Cindi
>Fremont, CA
>----- Original Message -----
>> my spouse sells electricity and I have NEVER heard of a demand charge. We
>live
> > in Texas...
Elisabeth Maurland on tue 16 sep 03
Hi,
Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about why my electric bills
were so high. I wanted to hear from the electric company before I wrote to
Clayart again, but they took their sweet time.
I was a little hasty when I said our usage was over 1,500 KwH every month.
It varies. Last January it was 672 KwH (the lowest), last June it was 2,011
(the highest). We pay a demand charge every month, however, regardless of
the KwH. Sometimes the demand charge is twice the actual use, so we pay
three times as much as what we use. But the electric company told me that i=
f
we use more than 1,500 in any one month during a year, we get a demand
charge every month.
Thanks to Earl, I did the math and came up with 1,200 KwH being reasonable
for an average, but I didn't take into account small and incidental use,
such as radios, TV, the computers, the microwave and the toaster, and fans.
Nor did I figure in the A/C in that math piece, so that would account for
the higher use in the summer, even though we usually only use it at night
when we are not here, since it's so loud. And this summer has been so cool,
we haven't used it much at all. I don't think we used it much in June, so I
don't know how we racked up over 2,000 that month, but since our typical
usage isn't that far off what should be expected, I'll accept it and not
assume we're paying for anyone else's. (We'd already had the electrician
check the wiring in the building, since we thought the upstairs apartments
might have been wired into our electricity. It would make a lot of sense,
since the former owner lived upstairs and ran a business downstairs, so
maybe he wanted to write off some of his personal use. But no. Nothing fish=
y
going on there either.)
I hadn't really expected the electric company to write back and say that we
were right, and they were wrong, and could they please give us a refund?
And they didn't, and we own the building, so we won't get any refunds from
ourselves either.=20
So the next step has to be to figure out when the most economic times to
fire are. I don't know if it will help, since I tend to work harder and
harder the closer to a show I get, until the last few days before it I fire
day and night. The glaze firing goes for 14 hours anyway, so it will be har=
d
not to hit the peak time at some point. It might help to make sure I don't
run the A/C at the same time as I fire, ever. But that will suck when it's
95=B0F outside, we have no windows that open, and my graphic design friend ha=
s
clients that come in and stay and collaborate with her.
It's a conundrum.
Elisabeth =20
> From: Maurice Weitman
> Reply-To: Clayart
> Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 11:24:24 -0700
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: Faulty kiln? (Long)
>=20
> Actually, the "demand charge" has nothing to do with tiered rates.
>=20
> Many commercial meters have, along with the KwH reading, a separate
> demand reading which records the highest load used at any given time
> for that reading period.
>=20
> This means that if you only had a 40 Watt bulb burning all month
> long, but one time briefly fired a 50 Amp. kiln to test the elements,
> your demand would be recorded at that highest rate of use.
>=20
> This is to provide the electric companies with enough revenue to
> supply all their customers their highest demand at any given time.
> It also provides powerful incentives to large users to use their
> electricity wisely during peak use periods. On hot weekdays, for
> instance, when all offices and homes have their air conditioning
> cranked on top of the normal lighting and equipment loads, those
> facilities with high, temporary loads must pay their share.
>=20
> I've forgotten who the original poster was, but it's possible that
> the heat supplied to your space is provided by a heat pump integral
> to the air conditioning unit. These units are not energy efficient
> when compared to a standalone (gas/oil-fired) furnace. If your kiln
> is on when a heat pump or other high-energy unit, you'll record and
> get socked with a high demand charge.
>=20
> Of course, as someone pointed out, it's possible that you're paying
> for someone else's load due to sloppy (but cheaper) wiring.
> Landlords and their electricians don't care as much as we might to
> which panel a new circuit is wired. That bears checking.
>=20
> With energy bills as high as you're reporting, it makes sense to
> figure this out; you might even be eligible for a rebate from the
> electric company or your landlord. At the least, you might be able
> to save a bit of money by correcting the faults or being more mindful
> of when you should fire and/or run heat or A/C.
>=20
> Regards,
> Maurice
>=20
>=20
> At 11:57 PM -0700 on 9/4/03, Cindi Anderson wrote:
>> This is common in California since our "energy problems" started. Pacif=
ic
>> Gas and Electric gives you so much at a certain rate, then you bump up t=
o a
>> higher rate for the next amount of electricity, then another rate, etc.
>>=20
>> Cindi
>> Fremont, CA
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> my spouse sells electricity and I have NEVER heard of a demand charge. =
We
>> live
>>> in Texas...
>=20
> _________________________________________________________________________=
_____
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>=20
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>=20
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
Elisabeth Maurland on wed 17 sep 03
It's over 1500 in the winter too. I don't know what a swamp cooler is. I
live in Iowa, it's pretty humid here. I can't stand the a/c when it's on
because it's extremely loud. I can't talk on the phone or listen to the
radio. Therefore, if I turn it on when I leave, usually around midnight,
after it has had time to get heated up during the day (brick building), it's
bearable again in the morning when I come in. And, like I said, we have no
windows that open. We can open the doors, but we haven't found any screen
doors to fit these giant industrial doors, so we get a lot of flies, which I
think is really annoying while I'm throwing.
What's a swamp cooler?
Elisabeth
> From: Snail Scott
> Reply-To: Clayart
> Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 08:12:17 -0700
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: Faulty kiln? (Long)
>
> At 12:19 PM 9/16/03 -0500, you wrote:
>> Thanks to Earl, I did the math and came up with 1,200 KwH being reasonable
>> for an average, but I didn't take into account small and incidental use,
>> such as radios, TV, the computers, the microwave and the toaster, and fans.
>> Nor did I figure in the A/C in that math piece, so that would account for
>> the higher use in the summer, even though we usually only use it at night
>> when we are not here, since it's so loud...
>
>
> You use the AC when you're not even there? Huh?
>
> Is it really worth it? AC is a truly huge user
> of electricity, even when only used occasionally.
> If you really need to cool the building at night,
> could you convert to a swamp cooler, or do you
> live in one of those damp places? It might make
> the difference in bringing your peak usage back
> below the 'magic' 1500 KwH number.
>
> -Snail
>
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Snail Scott on wed 17 sep 03
At 12:19 PM 9/16/03 -0500, you wrote:
>Thanks to Earl, I did the math and came up with 1,200 KwH being reasonable
>for an average, but I didn't take into account small and incidental use,
>such as radios, TV, the computers, the microwave and the toaster, and fans.
>Nor did I figure in the A/C in that math piece, so that would account for
>the higher use in the summer, even though we usually only use it at night
>when we are not here, since it's so loud...
You use the AC when you're not even there? Huh?
Is it really worth it? AC is a truly huge user
of electricity, even when only used occasionally.
If you really need to cool the building at night,
could you convert to a swamp cooler, or do you
live in one of those damp places? It might make
the difference in bringing your peak usage back
below the 'magic' 1500 KwH number.
-Snail
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