The Effing Weather

[PennLady]

I am seriously glad we laid in an extra order of firewood and topped off the kero tanks with that upcoming forecast. We won't discuss how bad the power bills are getting though...

We had a ridiculous electric bill on our last one, but it was in great part b/c we'd gone with an alternate provider and they raised our rates by like 2.5 times. We're going back with the main electric company, PECO, on March 6. They couldn't switch us sooner.

 

[desertslave]

We had a ridiculous electric bill on our last one, but it was in great part b/c we'd gone with an alternate provider and they raised our rates by like 2.5 times. We're going back with the main electric company, PECO, on March 6. They couldn't switch us sooner.

I despised PECO when I lived in the Philaburbs! They messed up my bill multiple times and claimed it was because they couldn't read my meter. Uhhhh, it's right on the side of the house, in front of the gate!

Anyway, last trip to Mom's one of the local news channels was talking about the way electric prices had soared. I was shocked by some of the bills people were getting, and what they considered "normal." $350 vs a jump to $850. We pay less than $400 in peak summer months when the a/c is fighting against 110+ temps. I tried to explain to myself that those $850 bills MUST be for all-electric, poorly insulated old houses.

 

[PennLady]

I despised PECO when I lived in the Philaburbs! They messed up my bill multiple times and claimed it was because they couldn't read my meter. Uhhhh, it's right on the side of the house, in front of the gate!

We've lived here about six and a half years, and PECO has never been a problem. What we did was a year ago after they deregulated or whatever and introduced "competition," we went with another provider. Now, PECO still sends the bills, but supposedly you're supposed to save money -- mostly -- by using an alternate provider. It's not guaranteed of course.

We did switch, and up until recently we probably did about as well as with PECO, until this last bill.

I think our highest electric bill before this was probably around $400 (summer), but this was $500. We have oil heat, but electricity pushes the heat through, so we're still using power for that. Still, they jacked our rate from something like $0.1387 per kWh to $0.2986. So we're out of there ASAP.

Never had an electric bill near $800. The only time we have a utility bill that high is for oil, and that's the oil company, not PECO.

 

[AirRichard101]

Anyway, last trip to Mom's one of the local news channels was talking about the way electric prices had soared. I was shocked by some of the bills people were getting, and what they considered "normal." $350 vs a jump to $850. We pay less than $400 in peak summer months when the a/c is fighting against 110+ temps. I tried to explain to myself that those $850 bills MUST be for all-electric, poorly insulated old houses.

I lived in the Chicago area for the first 64 years of my life. As a home owner of a 2500sqft, two story, wood-frame home, it was heated by natural gas (plus hot water and clothes dryer) and cooled by A/C. We invested in good insulation and windows. We used the A/C as sparingly as possible. Our bills were averaged over the whole year so I don't know the costs of any severe months but in 2012 I had $68 gas and $140 electric monthly bills.

Retired to Florida's panhandle and renting a house for now, everything is electric. It is a cinder-block, 1000sqft, ranch style. We ran the A/C everyday, all day and night from April thru October. Without bill-averaging, our highest electric bill was for Aug 20 - Sept 20 at $155. Is it low rates, efficient A/C, or cinder block walls?

 

[JackLuis]

Get out your snorkel HP.

Britain braces for stormy weather

The most powerful storm in years could batter Britain next week, with parts of England hit by gales of more than 80mph.

The storm will develop over the Atlantic on Saturday before potentially hitting the south coast on Sunday night and into Monday, bringing exceptionally strong winds, forecasters predict.

If it doesn't get blown away it just might drown.

 

[MSTarot]

Ogg, I think a lot of us on here would probably like to talk to you about lottery numbers.

 

[desertslave]

I lived in the Chicago area for the first 64 years of my life. As a home owner of a 2500sqft, two story, wood-frame home, it was heated by natural gas (plus hot water and clothes dryer) and cooled by A/C. We invested in good insulation and windows. We used the A/C as sparingly as possible. Our bills were averaged over the whole year so I don't know the costs of any severe months but in 2012 I had $68 gas and $140 electric monthly bills.

Retired to Florida's panhandle and renting a house for now, everything is electric. It is a cinder-block, 1000sqft, ranch style. We ran the A/C everyday, all day and night from April thru October. Without bill-averaging, our highest electric bill was for Aug 20 - Sept 20 at $155. Is it low rates, efficient A/C, or cinder block walls?

Interesting! Our home is 2150 sq. ft. with gas heat and hot water plus central air, built in 2005. Both gas and electric are averaged, gas is $33 and electric is $155 monthly. Both suppliers review use and make adjustments in November. Gas has stayed the same since we moved in, electric has bounced around from $180 to $150.

 

[Handley_Page]

I live in what's known as the 'Midlands' of the UK. We've had some pretty fierce winds and, of course, loads of rain, but I've not heard of anyone round here with real floods - so far (a few miles to the west, the floods are about 4ft deep in parts).

But for the first time in ten years, one of my Aerials has succumbed to the wind; it fell apart.