Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Chipmunks95 t1_j1vm5wi wrote

What’s your usage? Mine was $75 but I don’t have electric appliances

6

valkaress OP t1_j1vmtp5 wrote

Wow that's a huge difference.

According to Duquesne Light it was 1,067 kWh between Oct 26 and Nov 24. I don't know if their "Similar Homes" estimate is credible, but they say those use 688 kWh.

My main usage is for central heating. I get the feeling my apartment is poorly insulated, and my central heater isn't good. Bit of a double whammy.

4

Chipmunks95 t1_j1vn85x wrote

That’s probably it. Heating is always gonna be expensive though, I have a gas furnace and my gas bill was $230ish last month while it was set on 68 degrees most of the time.

My total usage was only 282 kWh

4

valkaress OP t1_j1vo8cz wrote

Oh I see. So since I don't have a gas bill your combined gas+electric ends up being similar to mine. That makes me feel better.

Are radiators a lot more efficient? I noticed Pittsburgh seems big on radiators, but I had never seen one before moving here.

1

RumbleInTheJungle4 t1_j1vukhv wrote

Radiator heat is wmazing

3

valkaress OP t1_j1vv085 wrote

Why though?

I've never had one before. Or met anyone that did. It's just not a thing out in the midwest.

1

GottaWanna t1_j1xxn5h wrote

Forced air heating dries the air out more, so radiant heat provides a more comfortable heating solution. It can be more efficient as well, especially in older houses. My house has no insulation, but has forced air. I imagine my ducts are very cold and I probably lose a lot of heat just from that.

2

Chipmunks95 t1_j1vofzb wrote

I couldn’t say anything about radiators, I’ve never lived in a house with them. They were at my elementary school when I was a kid and I remember them being able to keep the room warm pretty well. Couldn’t tell you about the cost though.

2

CARLEtheCamry t1_j1we1lr wrote

It used to be with the price of gas it was cheaper to heat with it. Also a lot of older homes in Pittsburgh were built before forced air heating was a thing, so they use a gas boiler + radiator system (which was probably converted from coal to gas back in the day).

I haven't done the math on if gas vs electric is cheaper recently, but both gas an electric recently went up by like 50% because reasons.

An electric heater is pretty much 100% efficient, that's just thermodynamics. The real thing to consider is cost. And it's not inexpensive to switch from say electric to gas, or vice versa, so you're generally stuck with what you have.

2

threwthelookinggrass t1_j1vmcxq wrote

There's a ton of variables to your question. How big is your apartment? Is your heat electric? Is your water heater electric? On page 3 of your DLC bill, what's your kWh price for distribution/supply/transmission? Is your supplier DLC?

5

valkaress OP t1_j1vo46e wrote

Yeah it's DLC. Distribution said 1414 kWh @ $0.0719 and Transmission 1414 kWh @ $0.0129. Supply had two prices, 309 kWh @ $0.0694 and 1105 kWh @ $0.0883.

My apartment is 600 sq ft, and you're right about heat, I mentioned in the other comment I'm pretty sure my central heating is the culprit. But damn.

2

cthulhu_on_my_lawn t1_j20l212 wrote

Search /r/personalfinance for any variant on "electricity bill high" and every single one is " ... ok, I do have a radiator"

2

ohidontthinks0 t1_j1vysxs wrote

$260, but my kid runs an electric radiator non stop so I wasn’t too surprised.

2

cv620 t1_j1w2el3 wrote

when we lived in a two bedroom apartment, our electric bill was sometimes $400 or more because of the heat (3-5 years ago). we had an incredibly inefficient system but we were responsible for the bill so the landlord was not bothered to do anything.

2

Unethical_GOP t1_j1w75kv wrote

My last bill was 160 - 2 BR end unit townhouse

2

Sep88 t1_j1wcg0j wrote

$59 for a 1 bedroom unit with a dining room, but I’m on the top floor of a building and get sufficient heat transferring up/over from the units below and beside me that my unit stays warm without running my own heat aslong as the external temps are 30+ … did have to run it heavy this past weekend though so we will see what the next statement looks like.

2

jrpau t1_j214hf3 wrote

DLC just emailed me that my next bill (in 13 days) is projected to be $467 for my 1 bedroom apartment. I do have electric heat, but this seems a bit ridiculous. I’m not sure if there’s any action I can take besides not resigning my lease. I’ve been there 3 years, but the highest before this was about $300, which I also think is pretty high. Quite frustrating.

2

Jupichan t1_j22sfi5 wrote

Like $120 or something, and we're not even living in the goddamn house yet

2