Cost Of Utilities

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Today I will talk about the two highest cost in our home which are electricity and water.

Our water bill is based on consumption and Gwinnett County Department of Water Services bills a certain rate for water based on 8,000 gallons per month for a single family home. Usage over 8,000 gallons is billed at a higher rate.

I informed everyone how to save water such as: don’t stay long in the shower, don’t run water constantly if you are sitting in a bath, don’t flush toilet until you absolutely need to, don’t allow water to run  while  brushing your teeth or shaving. When you wash dishes by hand turn the water off while you are soaping dishes and only turn the water on when you need to rinse them. Here are our last four water bills:

July 12 through August 7, 2018.= Used 6,.900 gallons (-1,100 under our goal of 8,000 gallons). We paid $102 this bill.

August 8 through September 7, 2018 = Used 8,900 gallons (+900 over our goal of 8,000 gallons) We paid $130 this bill.

September 8 through October 8, 2018 = Used 8,500 gallons (+500 over our goal of 8,000 gallons) We paid $124 this bill.

October 9 through November 7, 2018 = Used 8,800 gallons (+800 over our goal of 8,000 gallons) We paid $128 this bill.

In the 12 months we have been in the house we have been under 8,000 gallons but I hope we could be under 8,000 gallons more often.

When we run air conditioning during hot weather I estimate a monthly cost of $150 for electricity. This accounts for additional electric usage as the compressor that cools the air is running in addition to our house fan. When it comes time to run the heating system we cut electric usage by not having to run the compressor for the air conditioning. When you consider that to cool the house from 82 degrees to 72 degrees takes up to 8 hours to accomplish, and the fan to circulate the air and the compressor both run constantly, and compare that to running the heating system where we can heat the home from 63 degrees to 70 degrees in 2 to 3 hours, you can see where we get a lot of savings on electric usage during heater season over air conditioning season. We experience a small increase in gas usage as our heating system is gas fired but that usually amounts to an increase of $10 to $20 per month on the gas bill.

September 7, 2018 = $150 (due to using air conditioning a lot)

October 7, 2018 = $150 (due to using air conditioning a lot)

November 7, 2018 = $110 (dropped $40 due to less air conditioning usage)

December 7, 2018 =  $85 (dropped $15 due to using air conditioning only for a few days)

If you turn off lights when not in the room, run heating and air conditioning only when necessary, turn water off when taking a bath, brushing teeth, washing dishes, not flushing the toilet until absolutely necessary, and washing clothes less frequently, you can save on electricity and water.