[Christ]

Originally Posted by jonebell

You may want to check with your utility companies and see if they offer something like budget billing or level billing. I have those on both my electric and natural gas, and it is very handy. Yeah, it kinda sucks paying almost $50/month for natural gas in summer, but it is nice in winter, when I am running the gas furnace and still only paying around $50/month. My electric bill has stayed under $100. Of course, it helps that my house is only about 1400 sq. ft.

I could probably lower those costs a good bit, but it is worth paying a bit extra to stay comfortable. I keep the thermostat between 70-75, depending on season.

Thanks.

For many people, budget billing is a bad idea. When you don't have a real-time indication of your waste, it generally increases.

If you have to pay more during the winter for your use than you do during the summer, it acts like an indication that you may want to consider doing things slightly differently.

For some areas, like those with electric co-ops, block-billing is available, where you make an investment purchase at current rates (including a discount) of a large "block" of energy. If you do not use the energy within the allotted time, you must make another purchase, or restart normal billing. The rates and time periods are negotiable, and it provides investment capital for your local co-op to bargain with larger companies that they get their power from.