January utility bill

Hey Dave, be glad you don't live in Sheffield where it's citizens are still paying for a meter reader blunder that happened back in the summer. Filling quotas seemed to outweigh competence at Sheffield Utilties. So, on top of cold weather we are paying back where a few were undercharged because this meter reader decided on riding around in his truck instead of doing his job.

In Florence you can do a budget pay where they average your bill for the year and then you pay a set amount per month. I like it because we avoid the $400 surprise bill.

quote:

Originally posted by dkn:
In Florence you can do a budget pay where they average your bill for the year and then you pay a set amount per month. I like it because we avoid the $400 surprise bill.

Did not know Florence had that, but it is a great thing. I guess the people south of the river haven't had that idea yet.

My bill for Jan was $126.00. I heat with Electric heat pump.

Ours(12/17/06-01/17/07) was $312. That's water, gas and electricity COMBINED. Not bad for a 4200 sq. ft. house. My neighbor's was almost $900. but his house is TWICE the size of ours.

Not too bad. $144 for gas and $126 for water, elec, & trash. We have a fireplace insert that helps us cut down on gas consumption. I will gladly dust and sneeze daily to keep from making Alagasco richer.

Mine is pretty dang high... 187 for electric and 137 for gas... but at least I didn't freeze, lol.

We do the "average" deal in Florence, too. They took our average monthly bill for the previous year, which then became our bill was for each month. THEN, at the end of the year, we balance out. Our actual usage this year was slightly less than the last, so they owed us us around $100. They credited us that on the next month's bill. It's nice to have a $32 bill once! We like the system, because it avoids those spikes in the winter AND in the summer.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tdreader:

Also, there are many ways to average a continuing set of numbers. QUOTE]

Can you clarify your meaning here? By average, they use the mathematical "mean" and not the median or mode. Is that the difference you're getting at? If so, yes, I understand.

Based on my own calculations, I think that aspect of the system is on the up-and-up.

quote:

Originally posted by tdreader:
Forgive me, my statistics training has made me a little obsessive about statistics.

Ahh, no need to ask for forgiveness: we are in the same boat. That's why I had to ask! Thanks. -E-

Well my electric bill including water and garbage usually runs around 200.00. But I use propane from TRI-CITIES GAS. my gas bill usually runs about 250.00 TO 350.00 a month during the winter. We have never been delinquent on our bill, always paid it, and have never wrote a bad check of any kind. We have been a customer of TRI- CITIES GAS for 18 years. I think that makes us a very good customer. We ran out of gas last thursday night, called TRI- CITIES GAS on friday morning and they said we are on their route for thursday but they would try to get a truck out. Saturday morning we were still out of gas so my wife called the emergency number and the tech informed her very rudely that we were not on the route untill thursday and we would have to waite. The weather was very cold and we have children. It was down in the twenties all weekend (actually since thursdaty) So comes monday my wife calls again to TRI- CITIES GAS and the woman told her very rudely again that we were on the route for thursday. I mean what does it take to get heat in your home from a business you have been with for 18 years? 18 years of always paying on time????? to the same company. Well she told them to come get their tank we could go one more night untill L&L PROPANE COULD COME OUT TUESDAY MORNING AND BRING US A NEW TANK AND GAS, CHEAPER DEPOSIT ON TANK, CHEAPER PRICE ON GAS AND CHEAPER RENT ON TANK. tri- cities can stick their tank where the sun don't shine. terry weems.

Thanks for the excellent tips! As far as I can see, I've followed each one to the letter. I do have a couple of additions to add.

1.) A toaster oven is a GREAT second alternative to the regular oven. I've had one for years, and it saves so much electricity AND time with my cooking. I often want to put one smaller item in the "oven" to thaw, to bake, to broil, to brown, to toast, or just to warm. If I use my regular oven, I would have to turn it on and pre-heat for 10-15 minutes before I could even get started. Then it has to keep the WHOLE oven at whatever temperature I set it on for the entire time. The smaller toaster oven is pre-heated in about 2 minutes, and a few coils can keep it at that same temperature for MUCH less energy. New ones can be bought as cheap as $30 these days.

2.) An electric blanket is wonderful for sleeping in winter weather, as is a down comforter, or even just a nice old-fashioned pile of quilts. Regardless of which option you choose, you can save a lot of money by turning that thermostat down at night and bundle up instead. We turn ours down to 50 degrees, though we often have to toss a coin to decide who gets up for a moment to turn the heat back up when it's about an hour before the alarm clock sounds! In the summer, we do the opposite: turn the thermostat up really high, open a window or two in the bedroom, and place a fan in the window so that it blows cooler air inside.

Star Music Studio;

Sorry to hear about your problem. It seems longevity no longer matters.