83 replies to this topic

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

When you stay for a month and the electric is extra, on the average, how much do you end up paying?

Edited by grc, 16 March 2012 - 02:51 PM.

[Connie B.]

We're back to the It Depends answer. If we are running our 2 ACs or running the big heater in the RV, it is more than if the weather is great and we have the doors open and not running much. It also depends if we have 20, 30 or 50 amp. Also the cost of KW hours is different in different areas of the country. BUT if I had to give you an answer, I would say I figure between $1.50 and $2 a day for electricity. So for a 30 day month that is between $45 and $60 a month. That's to run our RV which has a separate icemaker from the refrig, toe electric heaters, lots of bells and whistles.

Edited by Connie B., 17 March 2012 - 07:42 AM.

[Barb and Alex]

That's pretty darn affordable compared to our house. We just paid $880 for 2 months

[rmader]

When you stay for a month and the electric is extra, on the average, how much do you end up paying?

If it is very cold and you like to keep it warm inside, You can spend 5 to 7 dollars a day. There are a lot of factors

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

Folks, I don't mind a general answer - I understand that if you stay in Alaska for the winter that your electric will be higher than if you camp in Hawaii.

So, what do YOU average?

Of course additional information is helpful....like two a/c units versus one.

[Glenn West]

I have paid as high as $150.00 a month. 2 ac's will really turn that meter in Texas summers.

[Vladimir]

A better measure would be to track your KW hours used....and then apply the local cost factor. Your not going to change your RV, but you will change your location.

We spent a month in California. To give you the range of possible bills. Our $100 all electric, 2400 sq.ft. house cost us $100/month in January. The same bill in California is $1,200!!!

Thank god, that RV use is different. So in the 5th wheel in California using the propane furnace to heat the trailer in the morning and evening and then supplementing with an electric space heater. Our power bill came to $39 for the month. That same bill at home would have been $9. We used about 345 KW for the month.

[PETE & PAT]

When we were paying for our electric at 14 cents per kw, our bill was $50-$70 per month. That was over a 5 mo period of time where we had days needing the furnace and electric heater, no heat or air and days with air. We have only run 1 air conditioner at a time. We apparently have not been in an area hot enough to required us to run both at once. We do not watch very much tv, but charge each of our laptops usually 2x per day.

Edited by PETE & PAT, 16 March 2012 - 05:11 PM.

[Rif]

I too struggled with a reasonable answer to this question. Just for background purposes, we have a 43' Teton with two heat pump/air conditioners. We also have all the appliances and toys, like washer, electric dryer, dishwasher, residential refrigerator, 46' TV, etc. We consider ourselves power hogs. We have stayed in many monthly parks where we pay for electricity, but the numbers have been all over the place. Mostly it depends on the weather. For example, in September of 2010 we spent a month at a park in Western NY. We paid $91 for electricity. We rarely ran the A/C or heat pumps that month. We spent last summer near Dallas during one of the hottest summers on record. Our electric bills were well over $200 each month, with the highest being $238, but the A/C's rarely turned off. We spent all of 2004 when I was still working, in an RV park in the Dallas area. Our monthly electric bills ranged from $66.88 to $98.40.

To cite an average would be meaningless. I hope these actual numbers are of some use to someone.

By the way, there is another RV park only a few miles from the one we stayed at last summer near Dallas and paid well over $600 per month with electric. They charge $424 per month, electric included. The place we stayed last year is a newer, quieter and nicer place, but guess where we will stay in the future.

[Barbaraok]

A better question would be what is your average Khw usage. We average ~20kwh/day, which includes using w/d and a few hours of small electric heaters on low. So if it is $0.11/kwh, that's $2.20 a day, or a little over $60/month. If $0.15/kwh, the about $90.00/month.
Barb

[Connie B.]

Our lot renters (Class A motorhome) just paid their 3 mo electric bill (Jan $67, Feb $43 & estimated March bill) here in Florida. They averaged $50 a month. We have had a very nice winter here in Jan, Feb and March and they did not have to run their ACs or heater much.

Edited by Connie B., 17 March 2012 - 07:48 AM.

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

A better question would be what is your average Khw usage. We average ~20kwh/day, which includes using w/d and a few hours of small electric heaters on low. So if it is $0.11/kwh, that's $2.20 a day, or a little over $60/month. If $0.15/kwh, the about $90.00/month.
Barb

I guess, but the possibility of different rates being charged is also part of the conversation. If people respond telling what they generally end up paying we end up with a good average of both use and cost. If we only ask people to state usage we still don't know what average rate people are paying.

[richfaa]

Our Electric bill last month was 73.00 with a lot of A/c use. Our highest bill over the last three years was 86.00 in a very cold Florida winter. I am told the per KWH is 14 cents.Makes no difference the A/C is set at 76 and the furnace is set at 70 and the electric as well as the propane bill is what it is.

[Lou Schneider]

I fulltimed for 3 years in the San Francisco area. At 15 cents per kw/h my monthly electric bill was usually less than $10. Of course, I was in a temperate zone where I rarely had to use much heat and almost never used the air conditioner.

[Barbaraok]

I guess, but the possibility of different rates being charged is also part of the conversation. If people respond telling what they generally end up paying we end up with a good average of both use and cost. If we only ask people to state usage we still don't know what average rate people are paying.

But that doesn't really help you because it is a meaningless number. You have to know how many KWH you are typically going to use and then, when making reservations to stay somewhere for an extended time, you ask about the rate and project your monthly costs.

Barb

[Doug Simpson]

I have averaged about 20 KwHr a day over the past 4 years, going as high as 30 KwHr a day on hot days when the A/C was running a lot. I have 2 A/C units. The KwHr rate has varied from 7 cents to as high as 16 cents with an average of 13 cents. So, my average cost has been $2.60 a day or $78 a month.

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

But that doesn't really help you because it is a meaningless number. You have to know how many KWH you are typically going to use and then, when making reservations to stay somewhere for an extended time, you ask about the rate and project your monthly costs.

Barb

Not to be argumentative, but your number is the meaningless one to me. I can have a wonderful estimate of usage, but then I'd need to do another survey asking what is the average cost people pay. Otherwise the information would be useless. If I simply ask people what they average paying and get number of replies I get the combination average in the responses which can then be plugged into an annual budget.

Your approach is useless because "it depends" on specific rates and locations. It might help when one is checking into a campground for the next month, but that's not what I'm asking. My approach results in a usable over-the-long-run figure that helps in creating a long term budget.

Edited by grc, 17 March 2012 - 12:13 PM.

[Barbaraok]

You have got to figure our what YOUR AVERAGE DAILY USAGE OF ELECTRICITY is. You need to know how much power you use. Each of us will have different power usages depending upon how our rigs are set up. For example, if you don't have a w/d then you won't be using as much power as I do, because I use ours every day. Do you run your water heater on gas or electric. If you run on gas, then you're usage will be lower than mine because we run ours one electric. Same with the refrigerator. Do you run your furnace all of the time when in cool/cold weather, or do you use electric space heaters some of the time. Do you have one, two, or three ACs and do you keep your temperature at 76 in the summer or 80. Unless you have the same equipment as we do, use them the same amount as we do, and stay in the same place, then our average costs mean nothing to you.

Again, the question should be what is the rate that you are paying. Get a feeling for what people are paying across the country and then you will know what to budget for when moving on to another area based on YOUR usage pattern. I realize that this involves some work on your part, but it is the only way that you are going to be able to get a reliable estimate for yourself.

Barb

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

I know out just goes with the territory but I did ask a simple question. When you pay for your electric what do YOU average paying. I didn't ask what I would pay, just what you average paying. When all is said and done its a reasonable question and I appreciate people sharing from their experience and find the replies helpful in a general, nonspecific way.

[Barbaraok]

It is not a simple question.
Barb