My husband checked our unit and it wasn't coming on - there was no reset button on the unit, no breakers tripped.  He went to the programmable thermostat and hit the mode button a couple of times.  First time he hit it turned off the ac completely, second time it put it into heat, instead of E (as in emergency) heat and the heat pump came on. 

Quote from: veggiegirl67 on February 06, 2010, 10:32:48 PM

I know this message was posted a month ago, but I have had the same thing happen to me.  I had a complete meltdown when I received December's electric bill.... immediately turned off the heat and told every one to freakin' bundle up and light a fire.  Kept the heat on 60 degrees for goodness sake (sometimes even lower) and have virtually frozen through January.  Received January's bill and its even HIGHER!!!!  I am so hopping mad.  I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.  I'm going to call GCEC and have them figure out what the deal is.  Thanks for the post.

If you have a heat pump, check to see if the outdoor unit is running when your system is blowing warm air.  If not, then you're warm air is coming from the emergency heat which is a power hog.  On our outside unit near
where the tubing connects, there is a red reset button.  If you push that reset and your system comes on, you should call a heat/air shop to come take a look at it because something is causing it to trip.  I recommend Brandon's AC.

We just turned up the heat and went outside and the unit was not running?   Did not see a red reset button??...

Y'all definitely have problems, my winter power bill after being here in Anna 4 years now has never gone over $225. Granted I do have a good programmable thermostat and keep it set at 69F from 10pm to 6am and then at 66F from 6am to 10pm for just under 1800 square feet. I just got my new bill that was for 12/25 to 1/25 and it was $206 my last one for 11/25 to 12/25 was only $186.  It is the summer bills that get me running $275-325.

My husband checked our unit and it wasn't coming on - there was no reset button on the unit, no breakers tripped.  He went to the programmable thermostat and hit the mode button a couple of times.  First time he hit it turned off the ac completely, second time it put it into heat, instead of E (as in emergency) heat and the heat pump came on. 

I checked our programmable thermo yesterday just for fun.  It was on Emergency Heat.  I switched it back to Heat and it's still that way today.

We keep it at 65 (used to be 64) - you guys have warm houses!!!!!!!

I'm in Creekside so a/c unit is 6 years old, 2-story house, only 1st floor thermostat is turned on.  Electric used this month was 3,150. Thermostat is set on 67 all day, Emergency heat is definitely NOT on, 2 people in the house.  Usually no lights on in the day, maybe a tv.  Then 1 or 2 lights on at a time at night, don't use the oven.  Bill was $405.  Surprises the heck out of me.  Sounds expensive to me, especially for only 2 people living in the house. I just hate the $100 in fees/taxes, and the high bill itself.  What can I do to lower it besides turn the heat off and freeze? i'm already replaced all of the light bulbs with low wattage ones months ago.  I did rip all of the carpet out and did the stained concrete on the first floor...so there is a 1/4" gap between the floor and the trim.  I do feel a slight breeze coming from underneath the bathtub.  And i'm sure these DR Horton houses aren't sealed the best on the outside walls. Which means I would have to get 10 tubes of silicone and seal around the outside walls if it might help.

POWER COST RECOVERY FACTOR    $63.02
BASE FEE                                      $18.00
TOWN TAX                             $7.65
FRANCHISE TAX                             $15.30
 

I havent gotten this months bill yet but last month was just over $400.  We are thru TXU and our house is just over 1400 sq ft and is a newer home.  We keep our heat at 68 normally and only occasionally hike it up to 69 on a very cold night.  This by far has been the most expensive winter our house has seen with the electric bills.