Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could share their experiences regarding energy costs. We currently use JEA for our electricity, with the exception of our water heater tank and our dryer. Those are gas (propane through Sawyer). We normally wash our clothes on cold and do laundry once a week (me, wife, 2 kids under 2). My propane bill is approx. $150 per month, while electricity is approx $250 in the summer (roughly 2800 sq ft as far as heating/cooling via the HVAC) and $125 during the winter. I am starting to think propane is just too expensive.
Does anyone here have experience with Sawyer gas, and propane in general? I searched online and the current average residential cost (per gallon of propane) is under $4.00. That means we're using almost 38 gallons a month to heat our water tank and run our dryer! That seems high to me...
Dump Sawyer. Try AA up on Main St.
Your JEA Bill is good for a large house like that, though.
Yikes, propane seems to be expensive! I would go all electric, probably cheaper overall.
Far as gas is concerned, nothing can't get much worst than TECO. Since I moved recently, I'm so glad that I'm done with TECO and CWE (Commercial Water Energy), two god-awful companies!!! All JEA all the way now, thank God! The bill is reasonable too.
I guess natural gas has gone up since I had gas. My TECO Bill for a 40 gal gas water heater never exceeded $30 a month. That was over 10 years ago though.
An open loop solar water heater costs about $2100 installed. JEA gives you a $800 rebate and you can take the rest off of your Federal income tax next year. Install a 40 gallon electric water heater as backup and storage and you bill for hot water will be zero during the summer months and < $15 during the winter.
If you have a large family or teenagers a closed loop solar hot water system might be better for you. Cost for full system is just over $4k but you will never ever pay for hot water again.
Solar water heat is the "low hanging fruit" for solar energy.
Sawyer has a terrible reputation for cost and service and most of your propane is probably going to keep the pilot lights on your water heater and dryer burning. Total waste!
Thank you all for the responses. I'll start looking into the solar suggestion since there seem to be a number of homes in our neighborhood that already have it. I don't mind the up-front cost considering it will pay for itself in a year compared with Sawyer's costs.