Extreme Cold Weather Causes Near Record Electric Consumption
The recent extreme cold weather has caused nearly every home owner in southern Illinois to see increased energy consumption and higher bills. According to Bryce Cramer, Egyptian Electric Cooperative District Office and Member Services Manager, the recent frigid temperatures are a near record for a 30 day period.
Cramer has tracked the daily high and low temperature since 1984. He receives the data from a City of Carbondale unit of government that is a national weather reporting station. Using their data, he calculates heating degree days, a quantitative indices designed to reflect the demand for energy needed to heat a home or business.
“If you look at the month of December, 2009, it was only nine heating degree days colder than December, 2008”, Cramer stated. “Those members that have their meter read on the first of the month did not see much change this year compared to last year for the same period. However, those members that are on our cycle 2 billing where their meter is read on the eighth of the month have seen a large increase.”
Cramer says this is due to the extreme frigid temperatures the Midwest has been locked into for the last two weeks. He says the 30 day period that goes from the ninth of December to the eighth of January saw the most recent period have 1077 heating degree days while the same period last year was only 893, meaning it was over 20 percent colder this year.
When examining the temperatures for last year, Cramer found that the first 8 days of January were very warm. “I had forgotten how warm it was last year. When I looked back, I found that during the first 8 days of the year, the lowest temperature was 19 degrees. In the last two weeks this year however, it feels like we haven’t even gotten warmer than 19. On January 4, 2009, the high for the day was 66 degrees.”
For members just having received their bills, this means attempting to compare this year’s bill to last year is impossible. “You just can’t have one month with 893 heating degree days and one with 1077 and expect the energy usage to be comparable. The amount of energy required to maintain the temperature in our homes is directly dependent on how cold it is out. The colder it is, the more energy it will take to keep our homes warm.”
One recommendation Cramer has for home owners with heat pumps is to not turn the thermostat back at night. He says that heat pumps are very efficient heating and cooling systems, but are the only heating systems that basically have two integrated sources of heat, the heat pump and then the auxiliary heat system (electric heat elements). The heat pump is over 250 percent efficient while the electric elements are the same as an electric furnace, 100 percent efficient. “Turning the thermostat down at night is not the issue; it’s when it is turned back up the next morning. What the home owner is doing is causing the system to by-pass the heat pump and immediately switch to the electric elements. The most cost effective way to utilize a heat pump is to set the thermostat at a comfortable temperature and then leave it be.
For members anticipating having a problem paying larger than normal energy bills, Cramer recommends contacting the billing department early to work our payment arrangements. “Waiting until the bill is past due to make payment arrangements severely limits the options the billing department has to work with the member. I always recommend the member call the billing department as soon as they think they might have a problem. This gives the department some flexibility to work something out with them.”
