High Electric Bill - Programmable Thermostat

[BrokeDown]

I got my first months electric bill and it was close to $240. It turns out that the camp ground is doubling the cost of the electric. Peco, the local electric company charges .074 per KWH. The campground is charging .15. Is this a common practice?

My MH has the 5 button Duo-Therm thermostat in it. I would love to put a programmable thermostat in its place but I want it to control everything that the Duo-Therm does and to work with all of the temperature sensors just like the Duo-Therm does. Has anyone done it?

Thanks
BrokeDown

[glarnold]

Most of the campgrounds we've stayed at charge .13 to .17. Monthly bill typically $65 to $75.

[Rorytug]

I know my AC's don't turn off all day after temps outside crest 90 this time of year meanwhile, the temp in the coach steadily rises throughout the day. I can't see any benefit in a programmable thermostat for me. 76 or 78, seems that while the sun is up, the AC is struggling to keep up, especially in the SW where shade is a fairytale. As far as the tech, I would call duotherm to inquire. Because of the dual system function, I think RV thermostats are their own animal. Good luck

[allynne]

You may want to check with the local power Co. or state utilities commission to determine if the park is allowed to be a reseller of power.

In WA state parks are not allowed to be resellers of electric power.

Al Sawyer
'05 Mt. Aire

[MRUSA14]

Originally Posted by allynne

You may want to check with the local power Co. or state utilities commission to determine if the park is allowed to be a reseller of power.

In WA state parks are not allowed to be resellers of electric power.

Al Sawyer
'05 Mt. Aire

Ditto. I would question the legality of the park marking up the cost of electricity. The PUC could tell you if this is allowed, which it may not be.

[nothermark]

FWIW as in I cannot say what is going on there. I can say that the park is probably not considered a residential load. Business loads fall into a different category where peak billing can come into play. In essence the theory is that if the business needs a certain amount of power then the electric company bills to provide that much power 24x7 whether or not the business uses it. It is usually computed at the highest amount used, say hot summer day around 4 PM.

The justification is that the power company has the cost of being able to provide the power so the responsible customer gets to pay the cost of doing it. Short term power is almost always higher than long term average power. Peak usage is short term power.

In addition someone is paying for that meter channel and meter along with reading and billing whether it is used or not. That is why there is a minimum distribution charge that has to be recovered for 12 months whether the site is occupied or not. The park would be expected to be able to roll that cost into each site.

FWIW I think we paid something like $0.28/KWH in the central Adirondacks. Expensive power and short season. Still probably worth it as the WiFi was pretty good. ;-)

[snickers]

Where are you located we don't want to go there and as far as I know most states don't allow resale of power

[kvm1970]

Originally Posted by snickers

Where are you located we don't want to go there and as far as I know most states don't allow resale of power

That's what I was thinking

[ThatzGuy]

Not that I know for sure, but a couple years ago I was a peck s&b customer... the base rate for generating power was about 7+ cents, but PECO adds another 7 cents to the bill for delivering the power. Almost 15 in total.

[nothermark]

FWIW I'm in NY. That's where the Adirondacks are. ;-)

If states do not allow reselling power how do the long term users buy metered power?

In any case what I wrote probably explains why the markup for electric sites is significantly higher than non electric and/or the adder for electric heat or A/C. The billing system is still the same but the details are hidden from the end user. I really doubt every other state does it that much differently. Some just hide it better.

[PanJH]

Originally Posted by nothermark

FWIW I'm in NY. That's where the Adirondacks are. ;-)

If states do not allow reselling power how do the long term users buy metered power?

It's my understanding that CG's can only provide a "pass thru" of the electric company charges plus a "reasonable" administrative/billing fee.

[allynne]

Northermark, We are in our owned lot at a resort every summer. Our lot has a meter and we are billed by the association for our usage based on a meter reading. Our bill is based on the utility rate times the meter reading. There is no additional charge by law. The utility rate is the rate delivered to the park, not to my meter.

Al Sawyer
'05 Mt. Aire

[2Labs]

Originally Posted by ThatzGuy

Not that I know for sure, but a couple years ago I was a peck s&b customer... the base rate for generating power was about 7+ cents, but PECO adds another 7 cents to the bill for delivering the power. Almost 15 in total.

Residential power in CT is the same way ... there are 2 sections to the bill, power generation and power delivery. CT is a state that allows consumers to choose their power supplier. I go through the dance to change my power supplier at least once a year - promotions with each supplier only last 3-18 months on average.

Currently we're on a plan with a supplier at a rate of 0.049 per kWh (public utility is .0661 today, was .0999 when we changed our plan). We work at home, and last month used 1709 kWh, an electric supplier cost of $84 - can you guess how much Eversource charged us to deliver that elecricity to us -- $165

Needless to say, we are giving solar another look for the S&B

[nothermark]

Originally Posted by allynne

Northermark, We are in our owned lot at a resort every summer. Our lot has a meter and we are billed by the association for our usage based on a meter reading. Our bill is based on the utility rate times the meter reading. There is no additional charge by law.

Al Sawyer
'05 Mt. Aire

Thanks for the reply. I wondered how that worked but have not been in a situation where it mattered. I assume the association charges a separate maintenance fee that picks up the cost of having the meter there when you are not there.

FWIW What I wrote is essentially a distillation of things I learned about how business's are billed after I got curious about a relatives high electric bill in his small business. There is an interesting set of what one might call legal fictions involved in how things like this are managed. I doubt the campground was making a profit. I would expect they were passing through as close as could be estimated the cost of having the setup they did where they did. That would include proportioning charges by usage for offering electric.

The owner did make a comment to the effect that they had the meters put in because electric usage was very costly and it was the only way they could see to be fair about how to charge. They lived in a DP. We had a C with electric HW and a small heater so I had a clue. Glad I was not driving an all electric dp on that one. ;-) I could have done things differently and used more propane than I did but it was my choice.

Just to give you a sense of the area there are only two places like this really inside the Adirondack Park. One is in Indian Lake and the other in Long Lake. The rest are more or less on the fringe. The cost of utilities for the locals is probably also higher than average. The reason both parks have the services they do is that they are in or adjacent to a local village so there is a sub station and telco pop close by. Their season is probably July, August, September and part of October. The fringe areas and the Lake Placid/Saranac Lake area are a different experience.