[miacomet]

Ok. So I bought a 12" PB and plugged it into my also newly purchased Dell 2005FPW last month.

And I have been using the monitor very frequently both for work but also for watching DVD's.

I heard that these new bright flatscreens use lots of electricity, but do they really use so much that it would raise my electricity bill by a whole $50?

[Ganesha]

$50 is 694 watts of constant load for 30 days at $0.10/kwh.

Look for another culprit.

* Check how the read the power meters in your area. Large spikes sometimes occurs when they move from an estimated read cycle to and actual read.
* How is your place heated? Any electric heaters?
* How is your refrigerator working? Too hot/too cold? Cycling on more then you remember?

[PeterKG]

Originally Posted by Ganesha

$50 is 694 watts of constant load for 30 days at $0.10/kwh.

Look for another culprit.

* Check how the read the power meters in your area. Large spikes sometimes occurs when they move from an estimated read cycle to and actual read.
* How is your place heated? Any electric heaters?
* How is your refrigerator working? Too hot/too cold? Cycling on more then you remember?

What a great response Ganesha. That's what these forums are all about. Good job man!

[romeosc]

Its because your next door neighbor is running his house off your meter using extension
cord!

When we had a local power outage, I had 4 homes tied to my natural gas generator....
they had gas heat and the fans ran off the extension cord to my house....

Not smart, but we had 9 100 foot extension cords + my entire house running off my 25kwatt generator

[miacomet]

Originally Posted by Ganesha

$50 is 694 watts of constant load for 30 days at $0.10/kwh.

Look for another culprit.

* Check how the read the power meters in your area. Large spikes sometimes occurs when they move from an estimated read cycle to and actual read.
* How is your place heated? Any electric heaters?
* How is your refrigerator working? Too hot/too cold? Cycling on more then you remember?

Thanks for your help! You inspired me to compare my last few bills. All my rates went up.


In particular my "generation charge" jumped from

Basic Svc Fixed .07265/KWH

Basic Svc Fixed .10780/KWH

And that makes a big difference. That one higher rate alone accounts for a $35 increase of my electricity bill. Do you know how they determine all these different rates on the bill (and why they fluctuate)?

But I also used an extra 69 KWH's since I got the new computer setup...

[miacomet]

*Accidental double post*

[miacomet]

Sry for the triple post.

[Dakkon]

they fluctuate because of the cost of fossel fuels, most of the power plants in the us are powered by coal, and the cost of coal can vary so the cost of the end product will vary.. the end product being eletricity.. I don’t work for billing at an eletric company so I can't tell you all the in’s and outs, but that is prety much the simple of it.

[legacyb4]

If you were in B.C., I'd say it's the grow-op next door... wait, that's hardly be enough to cover the heating/lighting costs!

[Dyeus]

Originally Posted by legacyb4

If you were in B.C., I'd say it's the grow-op next door... wait, that's hardly be enough to cover the heating/lighting costs!

Those operations run on generators as to not alert anyone on there operations

[Jaret]

Originally Posted by Dakkon

they fluctuate because of the cost of fossel fuels, most of the power plants in the us are powered by coal, and the cost of coal can vary so the cost of the end product will vary.. the end product being eletricity.. I don’t work for billing at an eletric company so I can't tell you all the in’s and outs, but that is prety much the simple of it.

Coal costs don't vary, there's no "spot market" for it. The price of natural gas does, however, and can (and has) have a tremendous impact on your electric bill. In fact, natural gas has increased about 2.5 times what it was a couple years ago. It takes a long time for rate increases to go into effect. There is a long process of approvals and petitions that need to be brought forward and reviewed and the whole thing can be pretty ugly. I guess the short of it right now, though, is that many people will be experiencing rate hikes in the upcoming months, if you haven't already seen them--especially if you live in the California or its bordering states.

[Bwa]

I live in Silicon Valley. My price per kwh is up around 33% for my Jan 2006 bill compared to my Dec 2005 bill. :-(

[Jaret]

CPUC just approved rate hikes for PG&E and Edison, so you aren't the only one. It's even spread to AZ, where SRP has also received a huge rate hike. They're getting cleaner power, but it costs.

[inkhead]

It always is UP during the winter regardless of if you use more power or not. Find the difference in power you used between your last two bills. Especially in california, during the winter rates go up like 40%.

It's because executives have to buy expensive gifts for christmas.