Lots of folks (myself included) are complaining about the utility bill they just got in the mail. Here are a few thoughts on what's up.
First of all, the National Weather Service uses a unit of measurement called a Degree Day. It's like Miles per Hour or Gallons per Flush...it's just a unit of measurement. The assumption is that 65 degrees is what you are shooting for, so if your average temperature of the day is 60, then you have 5 "Heating Degree Days" in order to get back to 65. And if your average temperature for the day is 80, then you have 15 "Cooling Degree Days" to get down to 65. You take the high for the day, and the low, average them and then check the difference from the 65 degree base temperature.
So, if the average temperature for the day was 65 then you have zero Degree Days and therefore you need no heat or air conditioning running in your house. Now, obviously during the winter in Kentucky we spend a lot of time, in fact most of our time, below 65 degrees both day and night. So we accumulate Heating Degree Days almost every day. But...the more you accumulate the more energy it takes to maintain that 65 degree temperature, so more is worse. And the problem right now is that we are already at 442 Heating Degree Days for the month which is 26 above normal and it's just half way through the month! So that is why Kentucky Utilities and other utility companies have set new records for usage this month. The more HDDs you get, the more money it costs!
Now, there are two additional things that compound the problem. Number one is that most people in Kentucky keep their thermostat at a temperature higher than 65 degrees. Which means that you are in effect adding even more HDDs to your personal situation which costs you even more money. The second issue is that lots of contractors who build houses in Kentucky are using heat pumps and all-electric style HVAC systems...and they don't belong this far north. Any climate where you routinely go below freezing and stay there during winter is a bad environment for a heat pump style system. They lose a LOT of efficiency below 40 degrees and the colder it gets the less efficient they are. In Florida they are awesome. In the Ohio Valley, not so much. So if you own a heat pump, you probably noticed that it ran constantly last week when the temperature was below zero. That's because the science involved in how the machine draws heat from the air (which I won't bore you with) dictated that it was just impossible for your unit to get enough heat from sub-zero air to keep the house warm. So, the unit ran constantly and some folks might have increased the temperature at the thermostat thinking it will make up for it but it doesn't...it just makes it worse.
Also, the lower the air temperature the less humidity the air can hold. That's why in winter the air gets dry. And the more dry the air becomes the "colder" it feels to the human body. 70 degrees with high humidity and 70 degrees with low humidity feel totally different to us, even though the temperature hasn't changed a bit. That's why people have the tendency to crank the thermostat up high in the winter, and turn it down low in summer, rather than just leaving it in one place all year long.
Put all of these things together, and that's why utility bills are astronomical in Kentucky right now. The wife and I have seen our bill close to $400 in the winter and in the early summer it might only be $60! It's easy to see that COLD air puts a huge strain on the electric grid, which costs the utility company a lot of money, which in turn costs you and I a lot of money.
Maybe that's why propane and natural gas fireplaces are becoming so popular now days. Best thing to do is set the t-stat and leave it alone. Dress warmer if you have to. Use the fireplace and spend time cuddled up near it. Try to conserve energy the best you can and get through the really cold days. Remember...this cold air is only temporary. Spring will be here before you know it!
-Shawn
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