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Show Currently ( Speaking O NRECA Moon Lake Eleolrie Association, Inc. a'. all have a tendency to compare ,lves to others. Members of an SSc cooperative are no exception .hpv often want to compare electric 1 There's no problem in doing that if b , aware of all the things you need w to make a true comparison, tw example, the first thing to look at , the money totals on a bill is the 4116 .motion - the amount of KWHs 3Sng the Ume period of the ML Gumptions vary widely for a lot of ns A family with 4 people in it will allv use more electricity than a S with 2 people. Of course, the ore electrical appliances you have in "our home, the more your consumption nil be. far as appliances go, however, Here is a finer distinction than number then you compare two homes. Two wes might have very similar ap-oliances ap-oliances or even the same number of Lliances yet use different amounts of electricity. Let's take an example to orove this point. In one home, there may be a hand-held electric hair dryer rated at 300 watts while in another tome a similar dryer could be rated as tighas 1000 watts. The 1000-watt dryer Is using over 3 times as much electricity electrici-ty as the 300-watt one when they are both used for the same length of time. This difference in wattage can be found nth almost any electrical appliance you can name from televisions to electric elec-tric tooth brushes. So just because two homes each add a freezer doesn't mean He electric bill will increase by the same amount. Those two freezers may use electricity in entirely different amounts. Another factor that can make a big difference in consumption is how often someone in your family is at home. The less often there is someone in the house, Ike less often those electric lights, appliances, ap-pliances, and heatingcooling systems are running. And, how you heat your water can make electric bills differ substantially. The electric hot water heater is one of Ike biggest home consumers of electricity. elec-tricity. Also,- the hotter you heat your ater the more electricity you use. One thing which does not matter all that much when you're comparing electric elec-tric bills is the size of your home. Someone So-meone in a mobile home can use twice as much electricity as someone living jualO-room house; depending upon all i the factors we have talked about so tr.Everi when comparing electric heat fcsthe size of the home may not be as pportant as you may think. What is Important is the amount and kind of inflation, in-flation, storm windows, storm doors, and other house features related to heat k I So you see, when comparing your electric bill.to someone else's, you have tolook at the consumption as well as the tost and when you compare consumptions consump-tions there are hundreds of things that can make a difference. One other point about comparing bills -any time your bill increases in cost to a little comparing with your previous bill. Rate increases have put jw bill up but some of that increase may well have come, pure and simple, ,fon an increase in consumption, i From member to member, each bill Mers for a lot of reasons, but another 1t(m that might interest you is the Mount of Moon Lake consumer's bills in comparison to others, i ln a recent survey of 79 rural electric Operatives in the Northwest, where "cost hydro power is used, only 20 "operatives had lower bills than Moon ke 0ne co-op in Alaska was almost I!!;'mes more than Moon Lake. The " highest, which was a co-op in Mon-". Mon-". was more than twice as high as Moon Lake. Out of 45 utilities surveyed in Col-El Col-El .nly two had lower rates than mlV 6' with the highest being CiationtW UmeS h'8her tha" yUr W w"unther survev' bv us- News Bun, . Report magazine who used I? of cities across the United s, there was only one city cited lower rates than Moon Lake, and VT fSt rate in the c'ties surveyed t 5 ' times Moon Lake's rate. tomn!!f an see' vour Association has .very fl, favrably, but while s low r , 1S ing made t0 maintain hsinnin, , as Pssible, these gaps are 6oa lg( KCl0Seas8r0wthand infla-also infla-also a ' , me cost of power. You must SJ purpart -conserve as much kudM , yU Can for the g0 of your , S ,yourarea, and your nation. |