Cost of electricity fulltiming in a 40 class A.

[Wayne M]

And what does the space rent cost? If all that is being paid for is electricity it seems like a bargain to me.

[deandec]

Just on the unlikely chance of confusion, my PGE bill includes gas and electric charges so do not base the cost on the total bill, use the relevant components.

Gas for us is higher in Winter and electric is higher in Summer here in NorCal.

[PyrateSilly]

Originally Posted by deandec

Just on the unlikely chance of confusion, my PGE bill includes gas and electric charges so do not base the cost on the total bill, use the relevant components.

Gas for us is higher in Winter and electric is higher in Summer here in NorCal.

Slightly off topic, sorta, but just some info that you may want to look at.
When we lived in a S&B in MI, the first year we had propane for heat and water heater and of course using electric.
The first year our cost for propane was evened out over 12 months since you use more in the winter then summer so the cost was around $250 a month. The electric was $50 in the summer months and went to $200 a month for the winter months.
The second year we got 3 Eco-Heaters at $100 each. The propane went to almost nothing as we never needed them to refill. The electric was still $50 in the summer months and it went up to around $250 in the winter months.
We saved a lot of money by not using propane and in the end we bought an on demand electric water heater for the whole house rated for MI winters. Cost was $250. At that point we had the propane company take out the tank since we had not had a refill by then in 2 years.

Take a look at the cost of each and you may be able to save money in the S&B without propane. The propane company tried to tell us we would spend more money buy in the real world testing and living we saved quite a bit.

[Groovy]

It might be a good idea to go solar. At $200 a month for electricity, you will pay for a solar power installation in less than 2 years.

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by Groovy

It might be a good idea to go solar. At $200 a month for electricity, you will pay for a solar power installation in less than 2 years.

I'm not saying this is a bad idea but there are some things that need to be considered in that equation.

One of those things (and probably the biggest) is regarding what is causing the high electric bills/demand? AC units, washer/dryer, high energy space heaters... These are things that I don't think are typically powered by of a solar power system. Well, space heaters can be solar powered be if plugged into inverted outlets.

So, the flip side is that part of controlling the use of electricity for heating is to use other sources like using an LP furnace and water heater instead of heat pumps/strips. Otherwise the use of an LP/diesel powered hydronic heating system. These alternatives are not without cost but those comparisons need to be done in consideration of the price of electricity compared to LP/Diesel.

There is really no way for solar to be used to cool things down during hot summer days so it depends on how much folks want to suffer to avoid commercial electricity costs. Of course, there is also the issue of how adequate the insulation of the RV is to minimize HVAC systems.

Now...I could be wrong about all this since at this point I have a very general, schematic concept of solar power. If I am wrong, I might be more interested in going solar power sooner. But, as long as I don't see serious boondocking/dry camping in my future, I'm having a hard time justifying the cash to go that route. I'm not closed minded on this subject at all.

[Spinner]

Check the efficiency of the pedestal branch. Unplug your RV and check the plug with a volt meter. Do both legs to ground separately. Record these numbers. Now plug in RV, turn on both A/C and water heater. Check the voltage at a wall plug outlet in the RV or if you have a 120 plug in the pedestal check there. Compare to original numbers. If it is more than a 2% drop, you are using significant energy to heat the ground around the pedestal run from the main service breaker at the house/meter. Unfortunately, the fix isn't cheap. Thicker gauge wire from house to pedestal.

I agree with other posters about solar. I also have a friend who put solar on his S&B in Escondido, CA. His electric bills have been reduced 90%.

[1948boat]

Thanks for the replies, I guess the answer isn't real clear. Just some information for those of you that have asked so many questions. We have no washer/dryer, were running the lp furnace not heat pumps and no air, electric hot water and frig., two laptops and 40" lcd cable box and surround sound amp. and of course the charger/converter. We pay no rent (our son's property) and have a meter on the water. Yes, it may seem like cheap living but when you compare it to operating our home in FL it isn't much cheaper to operate per month, excluding the taxes.

[Z714X4]

Originally Posted by 1948boat

...We have no washer/dryer, were running the lp furnace not heat pumps and no air, electric hot water and frig., two laptops and 40" lcd cable box and surround sound amp. and of course the charger/converter. ....

That seems really high to me for not running the A/C. Your son could be running into the higher tier'd electric but without your A/C running I just don't see it.

Side note:
Living in SoCal, I finally had enough of the electric tier's, which brought me to tears monthly. I bought solar for my S&B house and couldn't be happier. Convinced my BIL to do the same and he is very happy too. With NET METERING you "bank" extra power produced and use it when needed. During the summer I took more than I produced (A/C) and come this spring I will "bank" more than I use. I should wash even at the end of my NET YEAR. I currently pay right at $1.00 per month (taxes and fee's) for my 3,050 sq ft home and I used all the A/C I wanted this last summer. Even bought electric heaters for my rooms for the winter.
Next major purchase... electric car.

[gemini5362]

Originally Posted by 1948boat

We are staying on a family members property in SW CA and we have created full hook-ups. This was done anticipating a budget of around $50.00 a month for electric full timing. First off I didn't realize that CA pays about 43% more for electric than the national average. We have been sharing the electric bill trying to make it equitable for both parties since they have the two previous year bills for averaging. But that being said the first month we paid them $175.00 and now the second month $200.00,
We created our budget on the cost to operate our 2100 sq ft home in FL all electric including a pool that ran 8 hr every day with electric heat pump. Out bills for electricity ran from $158 to $240. So my question is does anyone have any input to support the cost of electricity in CA.

We are fulltiming for a few months in OKlahoma at a camp ground. Our first month here was pretty mild and we used about 100.00 a month using the heat pump during the day and not having it come on at night. The last month we use two 1500 watt space heaters instead of propane and we use our microwave to cook and have usual electric devices and our usage was 140.00. Your bill seems high but do not know how much electricity you have used. I am sure your son can call the electric company and have them send him a copy of the bills for the year before you moved in and then copies of the bill since and see what the useage was. Then some work online will get you the temps for the same periods and see if the weather was the same or maybe a hot spell or cold spell to change things. IF the
RV is running off of a breaker in the main breaker box at the house turn off all of the other breakers in the box and then unplug the RV see if the meter shows electricity being used. You might have a problem in the new hook up for the RV.

Also have you checked your batteries. If you have a shorted cell for instance that might be using a lot of current out of your charger trying to charge it up.