The Vent and Rant Thread

[zelda_pinwheel]

how often do they check your meters ? and how often do you pay the bill ? here, i have a bill every 2 months, and they check twice a year. as an option, you can have a monthly bill based on your average yearly consumption ; they divide it by 11, so the 12th month you pay whatever is left from your real use : either pay less (if you used less) and they adjust for the next year, or pay more (and they adjust higher...). other option is to report your use yourself before every bill, so you pay what you really use (i do that). but they still come twice a year to make sure you're not lying.

[pilotbob]

A/C guy came to do the annual service on our units.

First, he tells me cleaning the air filters wasn't included... then he gives me a paper about the service and it says right on it "clean air filters".

Next, he tells me he went to add refrigerant to the unit and the pressure spiked... so that means there is a bad expansion valve. This sounds fishy to me, the unit was working fine. Thankfully it is still under warranty.

Now, they tell me it will be 5 to 7 business days to get the part, and to keep the A/C off. I am glad it is only one of the two units. Living in Tampa in July without A/C is not fun.

BOb

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

A/C guy came to do the annual service on our units.

First, he tells me cleaning the air filters wasn't included... then he gives me a paper about the service and it says right on it "clean air filters".

Next, he tells me he went to add refrigerant to the unit and the pressure spiked... so that means there is a bad expansion valve. This sounds fishy to me, the unit was working fine. Thankfully it is still under warranty.

Now, they tell me it will be 5 to 7 business days to get the part, and to keep the A/C off. I am glad it is only one of the two units. Living in Tampa in July without A/C is not fun.

BOb

When we lived in Fort Lauderdale, it always seemed like our A/C would go out whenever someone would come for a visit.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

how often do they check your meters ? and how often do you pay the bill ?

Here in Florida they read every month and you pay monthly. But, we also pretty much run everything on electric.

When I lived in Rhode Island we still paid monthly but IIRC they read the meter every other month. On the off months it was an estimated bill.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Here in Florida they read every month and you pay monthly. But, we also pretty much run everything on electric.

When I lived in Rhode Island we still paid monthly but IIRC they read the meter every other month. On the off months it was an estimated bill.

BOb

monthly ? really ? so you have to wait for them one day every month ?? or is the meter outside the house ? here it's inside each appartment, so you must be at home or leave your keys with a neighbor. if you aren't there they leave a card for you to report the reading yourself, but they still must have direct access at least once a year, and if you can't be there when they come to your building you must make an individual appointment, but then they charge you for that.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

monthly ? really ? so you have to wait for them one day every month ?? or is the meter outside the house ?

Yes, the meters are all outside. Also, as Kas said, they read it electronically by just driving down the street and it is done wirelessly.

BOb

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

monthly ? really ? so you have to wait for them one day every month ?? or is the meter outside the house ? here it's inside each appartment, so you must be at home or leave your keys with a neighbor. if you aren't there they leave a card for you to report the reading yourself, but they still must have direct access at least once a year, and if you can't be there when they come to your building you must make an individual appointment, but then they charge you for that.

It's monthly here for both the reading and bill. The bills that come during the summer months when we are running the AC pretty much give me a heart attack!

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Yes, the meters are all outside. Also, as Kas said, they read it electronically by just driving down the street and it is done wirelessly.

BOb

ah right, forgot that. i wonder if they'll do that here eventually.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by kazbates

It's monthly here for both the reading and bill. The bills that come during the summer months when we are running the AC pretty much give me a heart attack!

for me it's the winter bills. i don't have air conditioning but my heating is electric. this past winter it was really cold so i was heating a lot and my bill was HUGE. electricity is expensive here.

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

for me it's the winter bills. i don't have air conditioning but my heating is electric. this past winter it was really cold so i was heating a lot and my bill was HUGE. electricity is expensive here.

We have gas heat, so the same thing happens to me during the winter months. I get the January bill and start yelling at the kids to wear more sweaters! To be honest, I think we need to move to a smaller house.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by kazbates

It's monthly here for both the reading and bill. The bills that come during the summer months when we are running the AC pretty much give me a heart attack!

Ha... we run the A/C maybe 9 months of the year, then use the heat maybe for 3 or 4 weeks worth of cold days in the winter. Believe it or not it cost alot less to run the A/C than the heat... and that is with a heat pump.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by kazbates

We have gas heat, so the same thing happens to me during the winter months. I get the January bill and start yelling at the kids to wear more sweaters! To be honest, I think we need to move to a smaller house.

i WISH i had gas heat !! (and gas kitchen, and gas hot water...). it's much more comfortable heat, and much cheaper than electricity !! but i always wear a sweater at home (sometimes 2...) at home, and thick socks, and when it's really cold i wear a hat. i know some people who live in buildings with central heating, and actually i don't like it so much because they can't adjust the temperature individually, and it's always stifling hot ! at christmas i was at a friend's house and we were all wearing t-shirts !

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Ha... we run the A/C maybe 9 months of the year, then use the heat maybe for 3 or 4 weeks worth of cold days in the winter. Believe it or not it cost alot less to run the A/C than the heat... and that is with a heat pump.

BOb

I remember those days, but we pretty much ran the AC all year. In the 8 years we lived in Fort Lauderdale, I think the heat pump kicked on only a handful of times. I have pretty bad allergies to mold and couldn't keep the windows open much. Nothing worse than having mold allergies and living in Florida!

[zelda_pinwheel]

what is a heat pump ??

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i WISH i had gas heat !! (and gas kitchen, and gas hot water...). it's much more comfortable heat, and much cheaper than electricity !! but i always wear a sweater at home (sometimes 2...) at home, and thick socks, and when it's really cold i wear a hat. i know some people who live in buildings with central heating, and actually i don't like it so much because they can't adjust the temperature individually, and it's always stifling hot ! at christmas i was at a friend's house and we were all wearing t-shirts !

Shannon and Zack tend to be kind of cold blooded and wear hoodies even in the spring and summer. Maybe it's a hold over from living in Florida. Ryleigh, on the other hand, it's pretty hot blooded and would walk around in ther skivvies if you let her.