Hey everyone I am new here  :-D

 

Just wondering if anyone else billed doubled for the month of January...how can u go from a bill of $200 to almost $700????? Call Duke and they have no idea...the best they can say is that I used more.  :whip: COME ON DUKE STOP RIPPING PEOPLE OFF!!!!

The winter energy bills at my house are usually about double the summer bills.

 

Maybe one of your recent bills was based on an estimated reading?  If they underestimated you last month, you underpaid last month and are paying for it now.  Or, they may be overestimating for this month.  Duke will only come out to read my gas meter every other month, so I read it myself and submit it online.

 

The best thing to do is to look at the actual usage on the bill (cubic feet of gas, kwh of electricity) and determine if it's right.  If you used 3 times more gas/electricity than you did last month, the bill will logically be ~3 times higher.

Not sure what bill you are looking at, but since this is only Jan 12, it can't be for January.  November was the coldest November in a number of years, and bills were much higher, so the combination of that, plus an estimated bill could result in much higher bill this month.

Estimated versus actual readings, and it is the difference between the two months that explains the sharp increase. My winter bills have loomed around $100-$150 for a ~800 sq. ft. apartment (but I have a 25 foot ceiling with a full glass skylight), that jumped to $250 last month after I turned down the gas and used an electric heater.

 

I am using my gas more this month, and have almost completely disengaged from my electric heater, which sucks up the electricity by the load, as I found out.

^ Yeah, but you're in a huge building (people on the other sides of your unit). Ours was extremely low too when we were living in the Shillito.

 

We just got ours and it was $530.

Ah, the benefits of living in an steam heated apartment.  :)

So far, our biggest bill this winter has been $240 for 2200 sq ft.  I can't imagine having bills of 500+.

So far, our biggest bill this winter has been $240 for 2200 sq ft.  I can't imagine having bills of 500+.

 

If you've got 20+ minutes, you can call my dad and listen to him b*tch and moan about their heating bill.  Apparently when I come to visit, I run up the heating bill. ::)

So far, our biggest bill this winter has been $240 for 2200 sq ft.   I can't imagine having bills of 500+.

 

If you've got 20+ minutes, you can call my dad and listen to him b*tch and moan about their heating bill. Apparently when I come to visit, I run up the heating bill. ::)

 

Must be all the energy you use to make yourself beautiful.  hehehe

^ Yeah, but you're in a huge building (people on the other sides of your unit).

 

Well, it was really high for me due to the damn electric heater. I thought that the electric heater would _save_ me money by heating only the area around my computer, but it ended up exaggerating my bills even more. My gas usage went down for the last reading, but my electric usage skyrocketed!

 

It's a toasty 18C in my apartment now. Sweatshirt, sweatpants, socks, I'm fairly comfortable, although that is around 60F.

$182 for an 800 sq ft house.

Was there a rate increase effective with the beginning date of the extremely high bill? Something I caught AEP at years ago, but never was able to get anything done about it - they'd render an extremely under-estimated bill the month before a rate increase was to take effect, and then include the usage adjustment in the next month's bill at the higher rate. Effectively they were billing the new, higher rate a month early.

 

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It's a toasty 18C in my apartment now. Sweatshirt, sweatpants, socks, I'm fairly comfortable, although that is around 60F.

 

Do you have a ceiling fan? If you don't, that would make a great big difference. With a high ceiling, warm air stratifies more than you can imagine. Put a thermometer on a long pole and put it up near your ceiling for a while and see how much warmer it is there than, say, four feet above the floor. Even an ordinary fan pointed toward the ceiling and run on low would make a difference by breaking up that stratification.

 

You whippersnappers and your twenty-something metabolism! I used to keep my place like that, and when anyone came to visit, they'd either keep their coat on and try to tough it out, or ask if I could please turn up the heat. Nowadays, I should have a blanket over my shoulders and a big ol' cat to sleep in my lap when I'm sitting down.