Howdy Folks-
Yes...I've been slacking. I've been busy at work...blah blah blah, yeah I know...no excuses. Well, I received my February Duke Energy Bill and the results are posted below:
February 2012 Bill
Total Energy Consumed: 1,075 kWh
Number of Days: 29
Average Daily Usage: 37.07 kWh/day
Heating Degree Days: 566
Temperature Normalized Average Usage: 1.90 kWh/HDD
February 2013 Bill (Jan 3- Feb 4)
Total Energy Consumed: 1,050 kWh
Number of Days: 32
Average Daily Usage: 32.81 kWh/day (11.5% Reduction)
Heating Degree Days: 606
Temperature Normalized Average Usage: 1.73 kWh/HDD (8.8% Reduction)
Rate Adjusted Bill Savings ($0.0996/kWh): $14.71
One Year Rate Adjusted Bill Savings (April 2011- Feb 2013): $296.18
Cumulative Rate Adjusted Bill Savings (April 2011- Feb 2013): $680.45
Not too bad...a 11.5% reduction in usage compared to a year ago. And when adjusting for temperatures differences, it's still nearly a 9% reduction. I'll take that. I also added in my one-year and the cumulative savings. These savings do not take into account any system maintenance...although I doubt it would be much difference.
I will say that I do like using the Heating/Cooling Degree Day Data. It certainly puts my HVAC-Energy usage into perspective. I've been fairly consistent over the last 3 months (Recall the bills listed above actually represent the previous months usage):
11/2012 = 1.82 kWh/HDD
12/2012 = 1.75 kWh/HDD
1/2013 = 1.73 kWh/HDD
Interesting enough...Duke Energy Announced that they filed for a Rate Hike in NC. They are trying for an 11.8% increase in residential Rates (among lower rate hikes for Commercial, Industrial, etc). I expect that rates will eventually flatten out once either (a) Duke gets all its coal-fired plants in line with EPA air regs or (b) somehow Republicans destroy the EPA. But of course, Duke Energy still recorded profits which were bolstered by the nice 7% rate hike they got last year. Must be nice to be an energy company with low risk and can pass all costs onto its customers.
I will note that if this goes through as planned, then in in the past 3 years, rates would have increased by 22.2%. When I evaluated my Geothermal system, I assumed a 24% (conservative 1.2%/yr) hike in electricty rates over 20 years. Well...I guess my return on investment will be faster than I expected.
Overall, maybe I should start looking at getting solar panels. But, I have to build a screened in porch first...
