Pepco Bill

[Anonymous]

Any tips for lowering Pepco bills, beyond the usual set of energy saving hacks.

I'm thinking more along the lines of smart meters where certain times of day are cheaper for electricity.

Does anything like that exist with Pepco, and has anyone tried it?

[Anonymous]

OP here - sorry that first sentence should be a question!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any tips for lowering Pepco bills, beyond the usual set of energy saving hacks.

I'm thinking more along the lines of smart meters where certain times of day are cheaper for electricity.

Does anything like that exist with Pepco, and has anyone tried it?

Look at you bill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any tips for lowering Pepco bills, beyond the usual set of energy saving hacks.

I'm thinking more along the lines of smart meters where certain times of day are cheaper for electricity.

Does anything like that exist with Pepco, and has anyone tried it?

Look at you bill

???

[Anonymous]

Seriously only way to reduce your bill is to use less electricity.

[Anonymous]

Biggest energy sucks:

A/C: keep it at 80 when you’re out of the house, drop it to 78 when home. Wear less clothing, regularly apply a cool cloth to the back of your neck.

PCs and older televisions: unplug when not in use.

Your attic: spend the 400 bucks and rent an insulation blower from Home Depot. Air seal, then pump in as many bags as you can afford. Don’t clog your soffits.

Clothes dryer: line dry during the summer. I hang clothes on a ten dollar mulig rack from Ikea and hang a couple flower baskets on it when not in use.

[Anonymous]

As noted, the AC is the biggest electricity user. Add in hot water and heat if you use electricity for those, which is less common in our area. I do have a couple ideas for lowering your bill.

Learn what appliances are using how much electricity with a home energy monitor.
Sense is one popular brand but there are others: https://sense.com/product.html
A cheaper option is a Kill-A-Watt meter that can measure a single plugged in appliance like a refrigerator https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kill-A-Watt-Electricity-Monitor-P4400/202196386

Or, you can bring in a pro to do a whole home energy audit:
Pepco has a list of authorized energy contractors to do a full home energy audit and identify energy saving measures that Pepco will subsidize https://homeenergysavings.pepco.com/home-performance-with-energy-star-program

If you have big variances in when you use electricity during the day, you would think you could save some money by going with time-of-use rates. But not in Pepco Maryland! The difference between peak and off peak rates is less than a penny for residences.
Standard rate - 6.53 cents per kWh https://www.pepco.com/MyAccount/MyBillUsage/Documents/Updated%20060118-%20R.pdf
Time of use rate - 6.5 to 6.8 cents per kWh https://www.pepco.com/MyAccount/MyBillUsage/Documents/Updated%20060118%20-%20RTM.pdf

Or, go solar! Prices have dropped a lot just in the past couple years and the tariffs on imported panels have not affected the residential solar market very much. I definitely encourage you to get a quote and see if it makes sense for you.
https://solarpowerrocks.com/maryland/

[Anonymous]

You can choose a different energy provider--some are cheaper than Pepco's standard rate: https://www.pepco.com/MyAccount/MyService/Pages/DC/EnergySupplyOptions.aspx