Done with electric, switched to GAS!

[sweetdiesel]

Yup I did it, got so sick and tired of the high cost of running electric that I made the switch to gas, water heaters that is. Last year our electric bill was $860 for January 09. For January 2010 the bill was a mere $206!! The switch was made from a 55 gallon electric unit to a 40 gallon natural gas unit. It paid for itself in one month.

Piss on Electric!!

 

[slowngreen]

What a dork! lol, had me worried from the title.

 

[Rolex]

Approximately 650 a month to spend on new R/Cs.
You'll have that bad ass Baja SS paid off in 6 weeks.....
and it's GAS!

 

[SMaxxin]

WOW, thats a huge difference and well worth the switch!. It was the exact opposite for us, gas cost a fortune and electric was cheaper. My house is now all electric, the bill for January is $191.00 and I consider that pretty high, 9 months out of the year it's under $150.00.

 

[sweetdiesel]

It took 2 electricians to figure out why our electricity bills were so high. When we first moved to the mountains 2 years ago we were floored when we got our first bill. We thought it was normal for the area but after talking to some neighbors they were shocked as well. The first electrician (a neighbor) was apparently a dipshit because he recommended that the old washer and dryer were causing the high bills. We got a high efficiency washer and new dryer with very little savings. After dealing with it for the last year and a half we hired a second electrician and he found the water heater to be the culprit. It was running off two 30 amp circuits and it's thermostat was broken, locking it to a temp setting of 140+ degrees.

The RC fund is going to be fat this year.

 

[Rolex]

The RC fund is going to be fat this year.

Can we expect gifts?

 

[Racer 1966]

The electric bill went down but how much did the gas bill go up? IMO gas is best for a water heater.

 

[bergoff]

if your water isn't super hard tankless gas is the way to go.

 

[beason]

we have a gas water heater, and furnace. during the summer my bill is about $50, winter it goes up to more like $80. the electric in winter is close to $150 and summer is more like $300.

i want to add a second on demand system but they are pretty expensive.

 

[sweetdiesel]

The electric bill went down but how much did the gas bill go up? IMO gas is best for a water heater.

Gas actually down by $30 for a couple reasons. In our area, the cost of natural gas decreased and we also invested in a higher efficiency forced air furnace last year. We looked at tankless water heaters but the higher initial cost and maintenance did not fit with our budget.

 

[flm_savage]

It took 2 electricians to figure out why our electricity bills were so high. When we first moved to the mountains 2 years ago we were floored when we got our first bill. We thought it was normal for the area but after talking to some neighbors they were shocked as well. The first electrician (a neighbor) was apparently a dipshit because he recommended that the old washer and dryer were causing the high bills. We got a high efficiency washer and new dryer with very little savings. After dealing with it for the last year and a half we hired a second electrician and he found the water heater to be the culprit. It was running off two 30 amp circuits and it's thermostat was broken, locking it to a temp setting of 140+ degrees.

The RC fund is going to be fat this year.

I'm disappointed sweets. you could have bought a cheap clampmeter and found that out yourself. now i think you just copy and paste all of your posts after you google the initial question.



































j/k. but really man, what the heck?

 

[sweetdiesel]

I have an ammeter sitting in my garage still in it's unopened packaging from a year ago. I was too busy and too lazy to make the appropriate harness in order to isolate the hot wire from the appliances. When I put the new water heater in, I then realized how easy it would have been to check the water heater circuit.

The first electrician was a neighbor of ours, and he seemed like a stand up guy. I guess you never know.

 

[robmob]

I think I would shat myself if I got an $860 PG&E bill!!!!

 

[flm_savage]

The first electrician was a neighbor of ours, and he seemed like a stand up guy. I guess you never know.

probably a great guy and a poor electrician.

I am sure the electric company will be sad to see you go.

 

[sweetdiesel]

I'm sure they will no longer think that I'm growing "crops" in the basement.

I think I would shat myself if I got an $860 PG&E bill!!!!

I nearly had a heart attack when we opened it. It was to the point where we were very suspicious of the neighbors stealing power from us because the energy usage was so unreal. Now I can finally get back to work on the mancave.

 

[h8z2luze]

lol speaking of crops. I was looking at a house for rent on craigslist and it straight up says the land is great for growing tomatoes, gardens, or medical marijuana.....

 

[olds97_lss]

That's insane! Is it because you just use so much hot water?

Our place is all electric (heat/stove/wh). Our bill for January was $227. Oddly enough... so was our cable bill!

 

[moe7404]

most carburetter troubles are electrical.

 

[hamz9561]

When I lived in Kansas I had an electric water heater in my mobile home. When the power bill started going up, it was usually time to clean it out and install a new primary element.