Equal Payment Plan My family signed up for the Equal Payment Plan with Progress Energy. You can enroll on their website, which is really convenient. We are a family of 5, home all day except for Dad, and keep the thermostat at 68 in winter, and 78 in summer. Our monthly bill is $207. That is with cooking 3 meals/day at home, and running the dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer every day. Everything is electric, with no supplemental heating. I believe if you have a balance at the end of the year, you can either pay it in full or add it to your next twelve-month payment.
I miss the EPP from Progress. We moved to a new house and have to wait a year to get back on the plan. This is our first winter in a 2 story and I find myself constantly adjusting the thermostats down when we are not using an area of the house. Does anyone have a suggestion on the programmable ones? There are lots of them to choose from.
A few months ago I signed up for the on-peak/off-peak rate system (not sure what it's called?) and am VERY happy with it! Each month's bill says how much your bill is and how much it would have been paying the other way. My bill I just go says I saved $70! For a 3900 sf house with 5 people, who never use the fireplace and keep the heat set to 70-73 around the clock, our bill was $288. We do have propane as a back-up on really cold days, but that's it.
No, it doesn't cost anything. I don't remember the exact rates, but the on-peak AND off-peak rates/kwh are cheaper than the normal rates. BUT there is a fee that is charged x the highest kwh used for the month during the on-peak times. Right now off-peak is 1-4 pm and 9-6 am, so if you're not going to be doing your laundry, baking, heating during those hours it's probably not worth it. I usually wash a load of laundry in the morning during peak hours, then get home in the afternoon around 2ish and throw that in the dryer and start another load that will finish before 4 pm. I also run the dishwasher in the evening at 9, so it's running while everyone is asleep. I turn down the heat to 70 while we're gone, then in the afternoon I turn it back up to 73 to heat us up during off-peak. In the summertime the off-peak hours are different, I think they were 9 pm - 10 am.
I save money with TOU. You should quit your jobs. Save money on power, gas, wear & tear on your automobile, clothes, child care... lol
If you don't mind us asking what was the problem and who did you have fix it. If you don't want to respond in this forum you can pm me. Thanks.
We've had the same HVAC repair guy for years. He is awesome! His name is Paul Houghton. Just him, his little dog & his little truck. Knows his stuff for sure. however, since he's getting older, he isn't doing this much any more. He was able to walk my husband through trouble shooting on the phone. Fix the problem over the phone. No charge. though, we've kept he busy over the years. LOL. I honestly don't know what the problem was, husband does. Mentioned heat strips I think. Don't ask me. I really don't know. This guy though does have another person that does the same thing he does. Reasonable, reliable, knowledgeable, and kind. We're getting his name for future reference. Hard to find someone who works like this any more. Write me privately and I'll get back to you in a few days w/ a name and #. BTW, ours is around 20 years old. No easy task keeping it running. stephanie--mom to 7
Our bill is $60 more than last month, and $33 more than this time last year. Interesting to see that all off 2010 was $400 more than what we paid in 2009. Guess we'll need to start lowering the thermostat... and paying more attention, since we went on vacation for a week and left the heat at 74 upstairs and down.
Not sure if Ken said this but it's probably around the same thought. Heat rises so the thermostat can be set lower upstairs. Sherry
i was thinking that but then it occurred to me that if the thermostat is set lower upstairs isn't that making the system downstairs work harder to keep the temperature moderated?
