Con Ed: What is an average winter bill for a slope couple?

livej · December 2006

Our ConEd bill for my girlfriend and I in a small 1-BR apartment is upwards of $75 - $79 per month! This for Sept, Oct, and November. Not even summer. No ac running.

Does that seem high? Or has energy gone up so much that about $80 a month is normal?

I'm curious what other apartment-dwellers in the area pay. People like us who work all day in an office and are only home at night and weekends.

We have a refrigerator (maybe 10 years old - set to 5 on its little 0 to 9 dial), cable box, microwave, gas stove, two laptops and a normal amounts of lights/lamps. We do have 4 halogen in-ceiling lamps in the bedroom with dimmers but they are only on at night when we are in the bedroom. We don't leave lights on during the day and our heat is steam - not electric.

Just curious what other people pay for winter rates. I confirmed the meter is working. Turned off everything and it wasn't spinning.

Our KWH are coming up on our bill as 525 (sept), 525(oct) and 380(nov). Is that higher than other couples?

Many thanks for any advice in this matter.

I've become so obsessed with wanting to know I may even hire an electrician to come measure what "thingy" is costing me so much.

brookfetish · December 2006

That does seem a bit high.

Ours is in the $25-30 range this time of year, but shoots up to the $100 area in the summer (fan and AC).

EDIT: Received the bill today - $39ish.

dw438 · December 2006

75/month very high for a 1 br. i have a large 2br and pay less than 50 in the winter.

livej · December 2006

I thought that $75 sounded high.

After questioning Con Ed quite a bit about it they suggested I speak with one of their "High Bill Specialists." I had no idea such a person existed.

As soon as I get the call from the specialist, I'll post back what such a person can do for anyone who ends up in a similar situation.

wally · December 2006

Ours is in the 60-70 range but it's usually because they are doing an "estimated" reading and can't read the meter in the basement. Once someone actually reads it, it gets adjusted. Does your bill say it's an actual reading or estimated?

You might want to look around and see if you have appliances plugged in that don't need to be 24-7 (ie a toaster or a coffee maker with a clock). All those things suck power all the time, even in standby mode. Unplug anything you can and that can only help.

anonymous · December 2006

change to fluorescent light bulbs and your bill will be cut in half
the other large "guzzler" is an old refrigerator.
It pays to get an energy efficient one!

anonymous · December 2006

When my husband and I moved here 25 years ago, we thought that our entire building's electricity was being billed to our apartment. Seriously. We even called in Con Ed because we were so shocked. Either something is REALLY wrong with our meter or we are being charged excessively but our electric bills in the summer are in the range of 3 or 4 hundred a month. What is bizarre about this is that we have energy efficient appliances, almost never watch television and use only a gas stove. We do have air conditioning but, again, the air conditioners have been exchanged a few times over the years because we wanted the most energy efficient models. Our apartment is an average size 2-bedroom.

Go figure.

brooklynjack · December 2006

New York city enjoys the highest electricity rates in the country, $0.21-$0.22 per KwH

1 100 Watt ligh bulf burning for 10 hours= 1 KwH X 30 days = $6.60 for 1 electric light for 1 month

doctorj · December 2006

Subject: Re: Con Ed: What is an average winter bill for a slope coupl

livej wrote:
We have a refrigerator (maybe 10 years old - set to 5 on its little 0 to 9 dial), cable box, microwave, gas stove, two laptops and a normal amounts of lights/lamps. We do have 4 halogen in-ceiling lamps in the bedroom with dimmers but they are only on at night when we are in the bedroom. We don't leave lights on during the day and our heat is steam - not electric.

The laptops. Shut them down and unplug the transformer when not in use. And the TV/cablebox should be as off as possible, not pretend-off, when not in use.

sarajean8 · December 2006

dw438 wrote: 75/month very high for a 1 br. i have a large 2br and pay less than 50 in the winter.

ditto

(I have steam heaters as well, and I keep the valves off half the time b/c they are TOO hot.)

livej · December 2006

I spoke to the Con Ed "High Bill Specialist" today about my seemingly high bills. Very pragmatic fellow.

He agreed my first two billing cycles were seemingly high for a small 1 BR at 1050 KWH or $229 for 63 days. That works out to 16.7 KWH per day. He confirmed that it might be due to no actual reading being done on sept 1, when I moved in. He indicated that the KWH actual/estimate figures between the last tenant and my move-in left room for some error.

In short, I will get a credit based on my current, most recent, bill. This is my first stand-alone bill. It's still high at $75 (380 KWH for 34 days) but averages out to 11 KWH/day.

Whew! Bored yet?

So I still don't know why I am paying $75 / month in November. I'm not done yet with this. I will find out what rogue appliance has made a beeline for my wallet.

Stay tuned!

armchair_warrior · December 2006

it does seem very high, i paid for my building. lights are on 24/7 a week and washer and dryer. its only 63 a month.

anonymous · December 2006

You might try flipping the breakers in the electrical box if you are planning on going out of town over the holidays. Just don't shut off the one to the refrigerator. It could be a quick way of finding out if someone else's apartment has outlets that are wired to your electrical panel.

stacey · December 2006

livej wrote: I spoke to the Con Ed "High Bill Specialist" today about my seemingly high bills. Very pragmatic fellow.

He agreed my first two billing cycles were seemingly high for a small 1 BR at 1050 KWH or $229 for 63 days. That works out to 16.7 KWH per day. He confirmed that it might be due to no actual reading being done on sept 1, when I moved in. He indicated that the KWH actual/estimate figures between the last tenant and my move-in left room for some error.

In short, I will get a credit based on my current, most recent, bill. This is my first stand-alone bill. It's still high at $75 (380 KWH for 34 days) but averages out to 11 KWH/day.

Whew! Bored yet?

So I still don't know why I am paying $75 / month in November. I'm not done yet with this. I will find out what rogue appliance has made a beeline for my wallet.

Stay tuned!

That does seem high - we had a similar problem in our old apartment and found out that the light in the common hallway on our floor was tied in to our bill (this was the light that was left on all night so you can see your way up the stairs).

pureistheword · December 2006

mine is usually 60-70 in the non summer months ,its a med size 1 BR.
although I have a PC that is almost never turned off

caaahyoko · December 2006

Hmmm. I think I have y'all beat. We have a small two bedroom and our bill is hovering just over $100.
This is with us being extra careful about turning everything off. We don't have the lights on while we are watching TV even. The computer isn't on that often, even. Of course, we have an ancient fridge, and waaaay to many overhead lights--one switch turns on all three in the living room, and one turns on four in the bedroom.
The one thing that may make it worse are that my husband and I have different work hours. I work 10-6, he works 12-9, so there is less time during the day that no one is home.

Still--it may be time to call coned and have an inspector check if I'm being charged for something extra.

brooklynpotter · December 2006

mine's around $70. 2 br., one person with w/d and dishwasher. lights on all the time (all but 1 are fluorescents) because i hate living in a dark house. lots of TV and computer on all the time.

Con Ed: What is an average winter bill for a slope couple?

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