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Prepping and energy use/cost

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Prepping and energy use/cost

dman049162 Feb 17, 2026 45 Replies 3,172 Views
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dman049162

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#21
So everyone...I may or may not have done the math/google search right. I rounded up to 1800 watts used and rounded up the kwh to 13 cents. I got based on my search at $10.90.

Does that seem right? Assuming I picked the right thing to go off on last months bill?
 
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Grownsince95

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#22
dman049162 said:
So everyone...I may or may not have done the math/google search right. I rounded up to 1800 watts used and rounded up the kwh to 13 cents. I got based on my search at $10.90.

Does that seem right? Assuming I picked the right thing to go off on last months bill?
Click to expand...
It's not watts used, it's kilowatt hours. So 1800 watts is everything running? You have to figure out the wattage of every appliance and how many hours it's running. That's your kWh. Then add those all together and multiply by the days in the month. Sounds like maybe you forgot to multiply by the days (30)? ...idk and I think your kWh is closer to 20 cents if I read correctly.
 
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Grownsince95

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#23
I gave your power bill to Gemini to decipher and this is what it spit out:

"Based on the image you provided, your utility bill is for a total usage of 930\{ kWh}. To find your total cost per kWh, we have to look at all three sections: Delivery, Supply, and Taxes.


1. Delivery Charges​


These cover the "wires and poles" part of the service.


  • Delivery Charge: 930\text{ kWh} \times \$0.09783 = \$90.98
  • Other Fees: When you add the Transition charge, SBC charges, and Recovery charge, the Subtotal for Delivery (before taxes) is approximately \$105.74.

2. Supply Charges​


This is the cost of the actual energy you consumed.


  • Supply Charge: 930\text{ kWh} \times \$0.11596025 = \$107.84
  • Merchant Function Charge: When adding the Dec/Jan split for this fee, the Subtotal for Supply is approximately \$111.39.

3. Taxes & Misc​


  • Taxes: There is a 2.0408\% tax on delivery charges.
  • Misc: There are additional small billing service charges at the bottom of the bill.

The Final Calculation​


Taking the sum of all charges (Delivery + Supply + Taxes + Misc) and dividing by your 930\text{ kWh} usage:


  • Estimated Total Bill: \approx \$221.00
  • Effective Cost per kWh: \approx \mathbf{\$0.237} (or 23.7 cents per kWh)

Your "Supply" rate alone is about 11.6 cents, but once you factor in delivery and taxes, you are paying more than double that amount to actually get the power into your home.


Would you like me to compare this rate to the national average, or help you figure out which appliances are driving that 930 kWh usage?"

$.024 per kwh
 
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Ninjadogma

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#24
Grownsince95 said:
It's not watts used, it's kilowatt hours. So 1800 watts is everything running? You have to figure out the wattage of every appliance and how many hours it's running. That's your kWh. Then add those all together and multiply by the days in the month. Sounds like maybe you forgot to multiply by the days (30)? ...idk and I think your kWh is closer to 20 cents if I read correctly.
Click to expand...

I'm coming up with about $0.24/kwH with tax included.

My super on peak rate is something like 53 cents per kwH. But if I'm supplying electricity to the grid during that peak time, the cheap fuckers are only crediting me about 22 cents a kilowatt hour. Off peak is about 22 cents if I'm buying and 8 cents if I'm selling. The way the pricing integrity falls apart lik that on the consumer/generator side is totally messed up.
 
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dman049162

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#25
Grownsince95 said:
It's not watts used, it's kilowatt hours. So 1800 watts is everything running? You have to figure out the wattage of every appliance and how many hours it's running. That's your kWh. Then add those all together and multiply by the days in the month. Sounds like maybe you forgot to multiply by the days (30)? ...idk and I think your kWh is closer to 20 cents if I read correctly.
Click to expand...
I could be wrong but this is why I post questions like this. Im not a math wizard but combined with a guy like me that doesn't understand electrical anything. Im in a foreign country. As long as my bill stays the same im happy.
 
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Grownsince95

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#26
Once you know the kWh price you calculate the cost of each piece of equipment one by one.

Light - 200w × 18hr = 3600w ÷ 1000 = 3.6 kWh per day. 3.6 × 30 (days) = 108 kWh per month. 108 × $.24 = $26 a month.

Fan - 40w × 24hr = 960w ÷ 1000 = .96 kwh per day. .96 × 30 = 28.8 kwh per month. 28.8 × $.24 = $7 a month.

Do that for every piece of equipment.

Then figure out what you're going to say to the wife when the first bill comes.
 
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dman049162

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#27
Grownsince95 said:
Once you know the kWh price you calculate the cost of each piece of equipment one by one.

Light - 200w × 18hr = 3600w ÷ 1000 = 3.6 kWh per day. 3.6 × 30 (days) = 108 kWh per month. 108 × $.24 = $26 a month.

Fan - 40w × 24hr = 960w ÷ 1000 = .96 kwh per day. .96 × 30 = 28.8 kwh per month. 28.8 × $.24 = $7 a month.

Do that for every piece of equipment.

Then figure out what you're going to say to the wife when the first bill comes.
Click to expand...
Thats why im tossing it around to start now or wait a few weeks. That way I could get them outside ans save me there
 
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Grownsince95

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#28
dman049162 said:
I could be wrong but this is why I post questions like this. Im not a math wizard but combined with a guy like me that doesn't understand electrical anything. Im in a foreign country. As long as my bill stays the same im happy.
Click to expand...
You don't have to be a math wizard. That's why other good folks on the farm are here and happy to help. If you read back what I just posted it might be a good starting point to figure it out. If not DM me and we could go line by line.
 
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dman049162

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#29
Thank you! Truly.
 
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#30
Ninjadogma said:
A little 100w wall plug heater like that will keep a tent with radiant heat reflectors warm if you're not constantly unzipping it. Your air exchange is what will knock down it's effeciency. Or, if you want to sit in your tent for a prolonged period, humans put out 600 btu's per hour and every breath you take is about 20k ppm by volume.
Click to expand...
LOL, dont forget about the human co2 output!
 
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Ninjadogma

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#31
Grownsince95 said:
You don't have to be a math wizard. That's why other good folks on the farm are here and happy to help. If you read back what I just posted it might be a good starting point to figure it out. If not DM me and we could go line by line.
Click to expand...

Dont expect me to help find your X. She's not coming back, don't ask me Y
 
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Ninjadogma

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#32
MercDod said:
LOL, dont forget about the human co2 output!
Click to expand...

I screwed up by thinking it and not typing... I did say 20k ppm but I didn't say of WHAT
 
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Grownsince95

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#33
dman049162 said:
I could be wrong but this is why I post questions like this. Im not a math wizard but combined with a guy like me that doesn't understand electrical anything. Im in a foreign country. As long as my bill stays the same im happy.
Click to expand...
How would your bill stay the same if you're adding appliances? Now you sound like you're trying to hide this from your mom!

Good luck with that. I'd rather take my chances with the wife lol
 
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Ninjadogma

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#34
Grownsince95 said:
I gave your power bill to Gemini to decipher and this is what it spit out:

"Based on the image you provided, your utility bill is for a total usage of 930\{ kWh}. To find your total cost per kWh, we have to look at all three sections: Delivery, Supply, and Taxes.


1. Delivery Charges​


These cover the "wires and poles" part of the service.


  • Delivery Charge: 930\text{ kWh} \times \$0.09783 = \$90.98
  • Other Fees: When you add the Transition charge, SBC charges, and Recovery charge, the Subtotal for Delivery (before taxes) is approximately \$105.74.

2. Supply Charges​


This is the cost of the actual energy you consumed.


  • Supply Charge: 930\text{ kWh} \times \$0.11596025 = \$107.84
  • Merchant Function Charge: When adding the Dec/Jan split for this fee, the Subtotal for Supply is approximately \$111.39.

3. Taxes & Misc​


  • Taxes: There is a 2.0408\% tax on delivery charges.
  • Misc: There are additional small billing service charges at the bottom of the bill.

The Final Calculation​


Taking the sum of all charges (Delivery + Supply + Taxes + Misc) and dividing by your 930\text{ kWh} usage:


  • Estimated Total Bill: \approx \$221.00
  • Effective Cost per kWh: \approx \mathbf{\$0.237} (or 23.7 cents per kWh)

Your "Supply" rate alone is about 11.6 cents, but once you factor in delivery and taxes, you are paying more than double that amount to actually get the power into your home.


Would you like me to compare this rate to the national average, or help you figure out which appliances are driving that 930 kWh usage?"

$.024 per kwh
Click to expand...

Im just breathing a sigh of relief I came up with the same number as Gemini
 
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dman049162

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#35
Grownsince95 said:
How would your bill stay the same if you're adding appliances? Now you sound like you're trying to hide this from your mom!

Good luck with that. I'd rather take my chances with the wife lol
Click to expand...
Meaning from month to month. I honestly dont look at my bill if it stays the same when it changes significantly enough i do. Lol
 
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Grownsince95

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#36
dman049162 said:
Meaning from month to month. I honestly dont look at my bill if it stays the same when it changes significantly enough i do. Lol
Click to expand...
With a $.24 kwh price, your bill will go up $15 per month per 100w of light.

What kind of light do you have?
 
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Brother_Antioch

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#37
Ninjadogma said:
I have solar and am on a contract with the utility under what's called Net Metering 2.0. It was pretty good but despite generating my own electricity and even feeding some to the grid, California decided that I need to pay for poor people to have electricity too, so we started getting hit with a $40 bill each month on top of our net metering.
Click to expand...
Wow. In that case, I'd be tempted to say "Screw you!" and disconnect from the grid and live off your solar!
 
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cpurola

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#38
Brother_Antioch said:
Wow. In that case, I'd be tempted to say "Screw you!" and disconnect from the grid and live off your solar!
Click to expand...
We have a bank of batteries, eight, in the basement for when the power goes out. They will power the well pump, boiler(furnace), fridge and freezer. But don't even think of making toast.
They are deep discharge Trojan, 100 pounds each and over $100 each and have to be replaced occasionally.

The math sucks and we'll never recoup the cost of original equipment and batteries, but it was a life long dream for hubby, can't put a price tag on that.
 
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cpurola

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#39
cpurola said:
We have a bank of batteries, eight, in the basement for when the power goes out. They will power the well pump, boiler(furnace), fridge and freezer. But don't even think of making toast.
They are deep discharge Trojan, 100 pounds each and over $100 each and have to be replaced occasionally.

The math sucks and we'll never recoup the cost of original equipment and batteries, but it was a life long dream for hubby, can't put a price tag on that.
Click to expand...
Oh, and he's an electronic engineer so of course the control center is....

 
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Brother_Antioch

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#40
Just ran the math and I'm sitting around $30/mo. on our tiered power rate ($0.12/kWh for first 1000, $0.142/kWh after that). I'm running a Spider Farmer SE4500 at 53% (currently), AC Infinity T3 heater on level 4 setting, Vivosun h05 humidifier on level 4 misting, 8W air pump for the DWC system and 4 fans (small intake fan, 6" clip on oscillating, 8" stationary floor fan and 4" inline exhaust fan). I figure 5 months, so total cost in electricity should be roughly $150. Considering even on our local Rez, while you can buy a $20 oz, it's utter garbage. Anything decent you're still going to pay $60 for an oz. So as long as I get more than 2 oz. out of my grow, I'm ahead of the game. Using nothing but a single Phlizon 120W light with a single fan (the floor fan) I got 9 oz. from the same seeds using promix HP last year. I think I'm good.
 
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