LOL! I've got friends who do that. The only bad thing is at the end of the year when they re-average, then your bill could take a big jump.

I've done it before myself. thing is if you don't owe that much you still pay it till they reassess it. that happened to me. So while I had huge (unexpectedly so) bills thru the summer I'm just going to set money aside during the winter months when it goes way, way down. I won't be running a space heater here and doubt I'll need much heat. It's usually only needed late at night and for maybe a month. this place will hold the heat better than the tin can I was in - lol! When that metal got cold, it really got cold.

And I've worked on the door striping and will work on it more during the cooler months. Also I should have curtains up by next summer plus special coverings on the W windows to battle the hottest of the heat beating on those. there were huge gaps around the outer edge of the patio door (put in last winter) and Jed has caulked those and I'm going to have him check out all of the windows and other 2 doors.

And major is that I shut down the water heater in the old place. As soon as I get my fridge out of there all electrical will be off there - maybe within the month.

hopefully, the bills won't be as high next summer but I'll have money set back for it in case it's needed. then I'll run it all thru my brain again and decide if I want to do the budget plan.

I guess I can see the appeal of levelized billing. Particularly if your climate is one that sees very little power usage for a good portion of the year. But for us, it tends to level itself between the gas bill (furnace) and electric bill (A/C)so that one is higher when the other is lower.

That crystal ball would come in really handy for the first year in any house, though -- because that's when all the surprises happen!

kinda like a website I was at today
that had a box to check if you were
human.

I've cut my bills in the summer by more
than half. going from window shaker a/c
to central. waiting to see what savings
heat pump provides this winter. got to be
less than 1/3 of my propane costs...
we'll see come feb.!

I've bragged all summer...1170kwH for
june 1-15
325kwH for june 16-31. started central on 16th.
coolest summer I've ever had. as I get older..
that is important. even whole house dehumidifier
didn't increase monthly bill but $17.
all that air sealing finally pays off!!

my utility co-op offers that type of
billing also. years ago my Mom signed up
for it. after a year..she got unsigned.

beware of those end of the year big bills.

best of luck.

energy rater - hope your bills go way down!

I also have more problems taking the heat as I get older - the cold too!

I remember once going on the budget plan (maybe 1000's of yrs ago when I was married) and then off the next yr. It was a huge 'catch up' at the end of the season. Not what it's supposed to do for you!

That's why I just figure I'll stash the difference thru the winter when my bill usually cuts in half - or less - and have it set aside for next summer. I can 'advance plan' myself.

hopefully sealing around all of my windows and doors will help.

gotta say it was a cold night in AZ last night - surprised me. I had to put on long pants!

Hi ER LA, I remember you from when I used to read the Building a House forum and the Renewable Energy forums about 7 years or more ago. I have to tell you what happened when we put in the super two-fan-speed, two-burn-level furnace with computerized controller a few years ago. It was the Carrier/Bryant one, Evolution?

DH had switched us to paperless bills and he was getting the bills in his email. I kept asking him to compare and see what the difference in the gas bill was, compared to previous winters, but he kept forgetting. Finally, I got him to look, and there was very little change - if at all, compared to our 1978 era furnace that had come with the house. Finally, after about a year of bugging him to either switch back to paper bills or email me some bills so that I could compare, I got to see the bills. Coincidentally, the same month that our 1978 furnace had tried to kill us with carbon monoxide and was replaced, our tenant had left our previous house and the bill reverted back to us. Our new "tenants" (they were not required to pay us rent, they were friends we were helping out) were getting free heat because their gas bill had been added on to ours. So our new high-efficiency furnace was giving us a twofer. Our bill was so low we could heat our home and our old home for less than the cost of our home alone had cost before. That was a pleasant surprise!

Both homes have excellent insulation. We are slowly replacing windows as we do each room here.

I signed up last year for balanced billing and actually got a reduction in the last payment. I signed up again this year, not sure what will happen, I need that crystal ball.