Think twice before comparing your electric bill

You’ve heard the say­ing, “that’s like com­par­ing apples to oranges.” Grant­ed, both fruits make great snack choic­es, but that’s where the com­par­isons stop. YEC wants to help you have a man­age­able elec­tric bill month­ly. With sum­mer weath­er now here, you can expect a high­er bill due to the extreme tem­per­a­ture dif­fer­ence between the inside of your home and the out­side weath­er. The greater the dif­fer­ence, the more ener­gy is need­ed to main­tain com­fort.

YEC recent­ly intro­duced our mem­bers to “Beat the Peak.” This free and vol­un­tary effort gives you the oppor­tu­ni­ty to reduce your ener­gy use dur­ing the time of the day when pow­er use peaks, such as sum­mer after­noons when tem­per­a­tures are at their high­est. If you haven’t signed up yet, we encour­age you to vis­it EnergySmartSC.org. Also, this month, we are announc­ing the launch of the “Home Ener­gy Adven­ture” from Touch­stone Ener­gy, which will help you learn how to improve ener­gy effi­cien­cy in your home and, ulti­mate­ly, save mon­ey.

While I’m on the sub­ject of sav­ing ener­gy and mon­ey, did you know YEC’s res­i­den­tial elec­tric rates, on aver­age, have not increased dur­ing the past four years and, in 2016, rates slight­ly decreased? We also con­tin­ue to be the fastest grow­ing co-op in the state and have some of the low­est rates.

Now, let’s talk about your month­ly elec­tric bill. You may be tempt­ed to com­pare yours to the bill of your friends and neigh­bors. How­ev­er, com­par­ing bills sel­dom reveals a sat­is­fac­to­ry expla­na­tion, because it’s like com­par­ing apples to oranges. While there may be some sim­i­lar­i­ties, there are far more dif­fer­ences that affect the elec­tric bill.

There are many vari­ables to take into con­sid­er­a­tion. Such as, how many peo­ple reside in your home? Of these res­i­dents, how many are chil­dren, teenagers and adults? Do the occu­pants bathe in a tub or do they show­er; how often and for how long? How much hot water is con­sumed dai­ly? How often do you wash and dry your clothes?

Your idea of “com­fort” is anoth­er major con­trib­u­tor to your home­’s elec­tric bill. For exam­ple, do you set your air con­di­tion­er to 78 or 68 degrees? How many tele­vi­sions do you own, and how often are they used? Do you have an extra refrig­er­a­tor or freez­er? Do you run a well pump? Con­sid­er every­thing you own that plugs into a sock­et and how often it is used. It adds up quick­ly.

As you can see, there are dozens of con­sid­er­a­tions and ques­tions to be asked, when it comes to ener­gy con­sump­tion, and it isn’t fea­si­ble to com­pare your elec­tric bill. The real­i­ty is no two homes are alike, and no two fam­i­lies use elec­tric­i­ty the same way.

For more ener­gy-sav­ing tips, vis­it the Ener­gy Sav­ings sec­tion on our web­site or give us a call. We’re here to help, and we’re always look­ing out for you!