Brenda Ann wrote:
"Bill Baka" wrote in message
...
Though you can still buy incandescent lamps here, almost no one uses
them. This is because energy is so blankety-blank expensive here. Trust
me, when Americans are paying 60 cents per kilowatt hour in the US,
they'll quit clinging to energy-hungry devices. Our light bill averages
something like $500-600 a month during the summer, and that's with only
using an air conditioner at night so we can sleep (and that only in the
bedroom). I'd hate to think what the power bill would be if we replaced
all our CFL's with incandescents using 5x the power..
Where ever you live I am glad I don't. You are getting completely raped on
you electric bill. What appliances short of an electric dryer can possibly
take that much? Central heating?


Three things: Computers, Refrigerators and A/C.

I have 2 Computers, one over/under Refrigerator, 2 window A/C units, and
a stand alone freezer that is turned on lowest just to keep the
compressor kicking over a few times a day. My bill is only about $60-$80.
We have a graduated scale that starts at about 12 cents per KWH, then
goes up at 500 KWH, which is considered the 'baseline' below which
people can't even afford to turn on lights or cook.
At 1,000 KWH it goes up again to about 23 cents. We usually manage to
keep it at about 700 KWH since the window air units are so much more
efficient than a central unit.

Mind you, our power bill is being broken up into three pieces, as we
actually have three different 'drops', one for each apartment (we live in
two apartments that have been conjoined) and one for the basement, which
also feeds my shop. This month's electric bill is over $700 (they raised the
electric rates last month). We have a 'graduated scale' billing system. If
we used less than 100KWH in a month (totally impossible), our power would be
about 4 cents per KWH. The second 100 KWH is billed at 10 cents/KWH, the
third at 15 cents, the fourth at 22 cents, the fifth at 35 cents, and over
that at 62 cents per KWH. This is the sort of thing that happens when you
live in a country with limited resources that has to buy things like
electricity (either directly or by virtue of buying raw materials to make
their own.)


I'm in California and paying less than half of what you pay so I stick
with the comment "You are being raped.".

Bill Baka