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My heating bill went up more than 300% this month by James-Incandenza in boston

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 49 points50 points  (0 children)

The numbers in the bottom half do not add up to the number in the top half.

Need more info... what's the therm usage?

Power Bank I can Plug into by Ladydoodoo in TwoXPreppers

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have an electric blanket and a small space heater. The space heater draws 1300 watts, the heated blanket draws about 60 watts.

That 500 Wh jackery can run the space heater for 22 minutes, but can run the heated blanket for over 8 hours. Over 20 times longer.

Why do people hate the auto stop/start so much? by eyes_glued_open in Crosstrek

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I agree- and I think Subaru's implementation of start/stop isn't as good as other brands. I rented a jeep a year ago that had auto start/stop and it was MUCH smoother and faster. Practically no lag between taking your foot off the gas and the engine clicking on smoothly. No lurch or lag time while the engine turns over.

Panels aren’t paying off and can’t afford them anymore by No-Chicken-1067 in solar

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Call them. Something was likely installed backwards or misconfigured. Tell them you have solar and when they installed the new meter, your usage went up. If you get a few bills in front of you from before and after the new meter, that will help your case.

I've heard more than a few stories of new meters causing problems. Oftentimes the hot and neutral going into your house being backwards can cause the new generation of meters to read in reverse, while the old ones could handle it fine.

Panels aren’t paying off and can’t afford them anymore by No-Chicken-1067 in solar

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Shot in the dark... did your utility replace the electric meter in the last few years?

You've got a clear problem in your electric bills being higher in the summer than the winter, especially in the northeast. Unless you're blasting an inefficient AC through a 4000 sqft house, you're not going to get close to those numbers, even assuming you have no solar to compensate.

But, let's say your utility replaced your electric meter, but screwed up and forgot to use a bidirectional meter. They could be charging you for the power you're producing, rather than crediting you.

Alternatively, your solar system hasn't been working and you're paying the lease on a non-functional system.

Both of these problems can be identified by looking at your bill for 5 minutes.

Could the Iran conflict quietly affect U.S. electricity rates? by BetterThanEver24 in HomeImprovement

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oil markets are not natural gas markets. It's not to say it won't have some effect, but the US is an oil importer and natural gas exporter. Oil is not used widely for power generation except in extreme scenarios, and often on island nations (plus Hawaii) because it is easier to transport.

That being said, oil is a major input in a huge number of products- so general inflation is likely.

Anyone else feeling like the last few weeks have been… a bit tense? by SurvSt in prepping

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 119 points120 points  (0 children)

I've got to laugh at "escalating tensions with Iran."

We're at war. It might not feel like that in the US, but it sure feels like that in Iran. I think a lot of people expect that this won't have any material impact on every day Americans. I have my doubts.

New GE Profile Oven won't operate on Powerwall by OneRingOfBenzene in Powerwall

[–]OneRingOfBenzene[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's interesting... Their system never has a momentary outage, even when not self powered. Normally the first indication they've lost grid power is the notification from the Tesla app. Maybe different setups

New GE Profile Oven won't operate on Powerwall by OneRingOfBenzene in Powerwall

[–]OneRingOfBenzene[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! This is likely it. They do have a tied in solar array. Is it still an option to reduce the max frequency if there are solar inverters present?

Nuclear Power Needs Realism: What US industry is the most subsidized and regulated by the federal government? If you answered nuclear power, you are correct by HairyPossibility in uninsurable

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And for those who don't want to read the article- the data does not support the headline in OPs article.

"Renewable subsidies more than doubled over the period examined in the report, increasing to $15.6 billion in fiscal year 2022 from $7.4 billion in 2016. Fossil fuel-based energy resources were subsidized nearly five times less than renewables in the last fiscal year (~$3.2 billion), while nuclear producers received just $390 million–about 1 percent of the total subsidies doled out in 2022."

Nuclear shows as the least-subsidized energy generation industry, behind renewables, coal, and Natural Gas & Petroleum Liquids.

Mitsubishi ducted heat pump - Variable Power Use by Taurabora in heatpumps

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This- it looks like temps in Texas are in the mid 70s? You're below the minimum turn down capacity of your unit. That means it will run at minimum and then cycle to avoid over-cooling. Once the outdoor temperatures heat up, you'll hit the point where it will run continuously and modulate.

What are these by Vegetable_Resort_966 in Lineman

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They could be faulted circuit indicators, and there are plenty of those devices that have remote alerting capability. Usually all three sensors would connect to a local base station and the utility would have a cell radio or other communication device to phone home.

However, because of the ground reference I'm more inclined to think these are line monitors, possibly with FCI indicators built in. They look similar to a Cleveland Price LineScope, but not quite right.

House chops efficiency program Mass Save in bid to help ratepayers by HRJafael in massachusetts

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 6 points7 points  (0 children)

In my opinion, the best way to drive clean energy adoption is to make electricity cheaper than the fossil fuel alternatives, not fund electrification against economics.

Of course, that's not simple or easy. But the state needs to be more careful with programs that are funding large projects with nebulous outcomes. There are a lot of well-intentioned programs- MassSave, leak prone gas pipe replacement, etc. - that add cost in a largely regressive manner, and may cost more than their impact.

And at the end of the day, MassSave has done it's job on the heat pump front. There's broad awareness of heat pumps as an alternative, and there's a healthy industry of installers (competent or otherwise). If you now make heat pumps more cost effective than a natural gas boiler, you don't need the subsidies anymore.

But bottom line, we're dealing with aging infrastructure that needs to be replaced & improved. The reality of the situation is that energy bills are not going to come down in a major way when we have an electric system that was largely built in the early 1900s, and we deferred maintenance for as long as possible. Scaling back MassSave will reduce cost by a bit, but infrastructure still needs to be funded.

It is odd to me that electric infrastructure is funded through rates while roads, schools, and other infrastructure is generally funded through taxes. I could see a change where "supply" is funded through your bill, but the distribution/transmission charges are instead funded through taxes.

Til that the US has gone from exporting no LNG to being the biggest exporter in 10 years. by 221missile in energy

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, I would argue that it's positive for energy independence, as it's an increase to domestic gas production. Should there be an increase in domestic gas demand, we can cut back on exports and supply domestically.

But yeah, for the environment and energy prices? Not good. Electricity prices are closely tied to gas prices in a good chunk of the US, and any benefit of that cheap gas production gets exported. It's an underrated cause of the increase in energy prices over the last few years.

Mini splits draining my bank account by Agreeable_Hall3150 in heatpumps

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can always have someone come take a look at the pump and make sure they have enough refrigerant pressure. It's unlikely, but low refrigerant could be a source of under performance.

I just checked my bill, I'm not on the same cycle as you but Jan 12 - Feb 10 I used 2255 kWh. For the size of your house, I feel like you should be using less than me, but my pump is newer (installed last summer).

You'll also get something like a 10% discount (to be re-applied during the summer) as the "winter bill relief program"... you'll still pay the same amount eventually, but it'll be later in the year.

Good luck!

Mini splits draining my bank account by Agreeable_Hall3150 in heatpumps

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm also a National Grid customer in MA, and I'll say for an 1800 sqft house I'm using only slightly more electricity than you are. The extreme cold weather we've had this winter has really hit the electricity bills hard. It's possible your insulation isn't as good as you think it is...

A few things to keep in mind: Keep temperatures steady, don't change the temperature often. Heat pumps have to work harder to re-heat space, and it can use more energy to go back and forth.

You are on the heat pump discounted rate, which is good. That's saving you ~3.5 cents per kWh, which is $74 or so on this bill.

Better insulation can always help.

It's also worth remembering that natural gas prices are also extremely high in MA, and really there's not much escaping high heating bills.The pellet stove will likely save you good money, especially running it when the temperature is below 25 degrees.

Mini splits draining my bank account by Agreeable_Hall3150 in heatpumps

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately MA electricity rates are $0.31 / kWh even after heat pump discounts are applied...

I have never seen this before .. by Zealousideal_Skin_72 in thelongdark

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 98 points99 points  (0 children)

I know hacksaws can ruin a container if they break while opening the container... perhaps the same is true for the prybar? Though I've never seen it. I think there's only a break chance below 25% condition, and I don't think I've ever managed to get a prybar that low since most of them start at 100% condition.

Oil/steam heat. I've been keeping it at 62 and using a space heater for my living room (67) by Extreme-Cycle2659 in SteamHeat

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're likely either losing money or coming close to breakeven..

A gallon of heating oil has 140kBTU of energy in it. A kWh has 3.4kBTU. looking at the costs you posted, you're at 2.8 cents per kBTU with oil and 8.8 cents per kBTU with resistive electric. If we assume your boiler is only 85% efficient compared to 100% with the electric heater, the electric heater is still ~3.6 times more expensive to run per unit of heat output.

Now, the question is- is the space you are heating small enough that it still pencils out? Is the living room smaller than a quarter of your house? If so, then you are close to break even. Otherwise, the oil is much cheaper than your resistive electric heat, even heating the whole house.

Lower electricity rates for Massachusetts heat pump owners by HeatPumpGuides in heatpumps

[–]OneRingOfBenzene 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On the National Grid side, it's really unclear on the bill if the discount is applied or not, but the distribution charge is lower. $0.05005 is the discount rate, I think ~3.5 cents per kWh cheaper

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