You’ve decided to make the move and become an Arizona resident – congratulations! All that talk about the “Monsoon” didn’t scare you and it’s already the first of August and nothing catastrophic has happened. This could really be OK. So, you head to the mailbox to pick up today’s mail and there it is; your first bill from the electric company. How bad can it be?
Well, once the mercury begins its’ annual climb to temperatures that reach 105 degrees plus daily, it is safe to say that the air conditioner will not get a break until the monsoon is over. That means that the electric bill will be substantial. So far in 2023, we’ve had a streak of 31 days of temperatures reaching 110 degrees plus every day!
When we purchased our first home which was almost 3000 square feet it was normal to see bills that tapped the shoulder of $400 each month. You will start to see a steady climb around May peaking in September/October and then the gradual decent to normalcy from October thru April.
We ask ourselves is there really anything you can do? The answer, as I’ve discovered, is yes! The electric companies (APS or SRP) offer budget programs where you pay one fixed amount all year around and if that is appealing to you, there is one solution. They also offer different rate plans which go up and down based on the heaviest hours of use. They call them “peak” rates. So, if peak hours are between noon and 7pm and you can avoid electric use during those hours you can pay less per kilowatt hour at times other than noon to 7pm.
There are other solutions to be found at the Home and Garden shows which happen about 4 times a year in the valley maricopacountyhomeshows.com/. You will find companies offering to give your home an energy efficiency test and they will check for duct leaks and make sure that your home is sealed tight so your air-conditioned air won’t escape, and you will see improvement in energy use. Then you will find the Solar Guys.
It’s a huge deal in the valley of the sun and it should be. After all, there are a lot of sunshine filled days and it could make sense to capture some of that sun light to power your home. We’ve tried all of the solutions I’ve mentioned. We’ve even built a brand-new home that was marketed to be “energy efficient” and we expected to see dramatic reductions in the electric bill. That didn’t happen but I didn’t give up! What I did was monitor my monthly kilowatt use and changed the electric plan to get the best rates during times that we use electricity. We made sure that our energy efficient thermostat stayed at a constant temperature and used ceiling fans and yes, we had a solar consultant come out to give us an estimate.
What I saw in that estimate was that initially (first year), I would pay just about the same in electric cost as I did the previous year. It seemed to me that this was the budget plan solar style, and I couldn’t justify the expense. As you look closer you figure out that during cooler months your solar grid will produce electricity that you can “bank” for the warmer months and that is where the “savings” should happen. They offer you different ways to own or lease your solar power grid and all this information tells me one thing: you must be an informed consumer.
Full disclosure: I made the switch to solar! I would recommend it to any homeowner in the valley with the following caveat; do your research! Don’t grab the first vendor that knocks on your door and promises you the world. Solar is complicated and there are MANY companies looking for your business. What we found is that you need a good base to compare electric consumption and most companies will ask for a year of data in order to create the best plan for you. What that may mean is that you’ll need to deal with the utility company for a year. If you are savvy, and already have the idea to switch to solar, great!
Gathering information about the experiences your neighbors who have solar had and the companies they used is another avenue as you make a decision to go solar or not. Keep in mind that with solar, no 2 homes will have the same experience.
Just know that Arizona summers are hot. Your electric bills will be high. Can you do things to make them not so high? Yes, but it requires that you do your research to see what plans are available and what modifications to lifestyle, home efficiency and electric use you can make. I never said it would be easy and I don’t think it will be cheap, but you can manage it.
Remember, Google is your friend – use it to gather more information and I’d love for you to share what you find.
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