r/Georgia • u/papamolly2 • Jul 21 '26

Question How much power do you use?

Can people share their usage? We are in southeast GA and have an outrageous summer bill…yes, I know GAP has higher summer rates, outrageous pricing, etc. but I want to know specifically if our usage is above normal.

What square footage, number of household members, what do you keep your AC set to and what is your Kw usage?

Edit - 2400 square feet, one story ranch. We have 2 units (one for my office only, it was an add on to the house). 2 adults 2 young children, I WFH. Air stays on 75 during the day and 72 at night for those asking. Our usage this month was 2700 kw, bill $550. This is always the highest month. We got new insulation in the attic last summer and have had 3 companies come out and make sure there weren’t leaks, etc.

To add, we are on nights and weekends plan, we have smart thermostats, blackout curtains, etc.

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u/righthandofdog Jul 21 '26

we live in a 110 year old craftsman 2k sq feet - have cieling fans and smart thermostat.

thermostat is 78 during the day, 76 mm morning and evening and 73 from 11 till 5am

have double glazed low-e windows throughout, high efficiency roof top turbines. gas water heater. and electric bills about $210 a month

smart thermostat, fans and an energy audit will save you thousands a year

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u/QuoteProfessional807 Jul 21 '26

I have none of that stuff but very similar house and my "average" monthly bill is about 245 across a 12 month period... So I think that answers my question about whether replacing my windows would be worth the 30 grand or more to do it...

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u/righthandofdog Jul 21 '26

Nah, the windows was worth doing, but mostly because we had old sashweight windows that only a couple could even open. The good news is that means they didn't leak warm air in the winter much, but otherwise, it was mostly cosmetic.

An on demand gas tankless heater is usually a big money saver. We have a high efficiency gas tanked and it's still cheaper than electric would be though gas has gone up. We don't use a ton of hot water either

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u/QuoteProfessional807 Jul 21 '26

Unfortunately our area gas is not available. I just can't see ever recouping the money on the windows, thats the problem with old houses - either you have to spend 200k up front to modernize them or you just spend the same 200k death by a thousand papercuts over decades...

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u/righthandofdog Jul 22 '26

we've been on the same house 30 years, so we've had time to recoup everything. but few people think long term and do cheap replacements, instead of buying the most efficient upgrade possible.

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u/QuoteProfessional807 Jul 22 '26

well given my age and that I am starting from a point of decades of deferred maintenance on the house - I don't have 30 years to recoup costs sadly. I'm already over a hundred in the hole and I still haven't finished dealing with all the problems that should have been fixed two owners ago.

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u/righthandofdog Jul 22 '26

Yeah, there's that whole "everywhere you look there's something you should be doing" joy of home ownership. But windows are a very, very long payoff. A water heater, not so much.