June 14, 2013

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The Texas summer has descended upon the area with a vengeance.

Yesterday's high was near 100° — and reports strongly suggested that the heat index exceeded 100°.

It is safe to say I didn't expect much from this morning's meter reading.

Today's reading is 9353. Yesterday's reading was 9323 so consumption was 30 kWh. My usage went up 1½ kWh — a little more than 5%.

Last year at this time, the "cool front" apparently was still with us and consumption on this date in 2012 was 20 kWh. Consequently, my consumption was up by 50% over this time last year.

June 13, 2013

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Yesterday was another hot day. Not as hot as Monday but hot enough. The last time I checked the conditions (around 4 p.m.), the temperature was 94° with a heat index of 98°.

Even so, I tried to keep my electricity consumption under control. I managed to avoid a 30–plus kWh day on Monday because the power was out, but consumption on Tuesday skyrocketed (and I strongly suspect the power was restored long before I had been told it would be).

I hoped to avoid a repeat of Tuesday so whenever I felt I could get away with it, I raised the thermostat setting. And it nay have been successful — but modestly so.

This morning's meter reading is 9323. Yesterday's reading was between 9294 and 9295 so consumption in the last 24 hours was 28½ kWh.

And that is a decline of nearly 10% from the previous 24 hours — when consumption was 31½ kWh. But this time last year, Dallas was experiencing something of a cool front, which made my consumption 18½ kWh a year ago today.

That means consumption is up by more than 50% over this day last year.

June 12, 2013

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Yesterday was another day spent away from the apartment.

The fix that the utility company eventually made on the electric line on Monday was a temporary one. The permanent one was done yesterday. In order to do it, the power had to be shut off — which meant I had to vacate again, and the management told me the power would be off all day. When it went off around 9:40 a.m., I vacated.

I returned around 5 p.m., and the power was on. When I went inside, the apartment was cool, much cooler than I would have expected if the power had just come back on — so my guess was that the power was restored earlier, probably much earlier. How much earlier, I do not know.

Anyway, when I checked my meter this morning, I found that my reading was between 9294 and 9295. Yesterday's reading was 9263. Electricity consumption in the last 24 hours was roughly 31½ kWh.

That's more than double my consumption in the previous 24 hours, and the power was out nearly all day Monday. I only had electricity during the nighttime hours. That suggests to me that the power wasn't off nearly as long yesterday as I had been led to believe, and consumption skyrocketed during my absence.

Even so, my consumption was still below my level on the same date a year ago. Last year, my consumption was 34½ kWh so usage dropped nearly 9%. That isn't much, at least compared to what I have managed so far this summer, but sometimes you have to take your triumphs where you can find them.

June 11, 2013

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I checked the weather report about 4 p.m. yesterday, and it was 99°. I've heard that the Dallas–Fort Worth area hit 100°, which may well be true.

The power, according to the apartment management, was supposed to be restored by 5 p.m. so that is when I left campus to return home. I had no idea how hot it was in my apartment. I only knew how hot it was when I left about 4½ hours earlier.

But I was sure it would be hot in there, even with the air conditioning set to kick on as soon as the power was restored.

So, while consumption was undoubtedly down through most of the day, I was sure I more than made up for it overnight as the air conditioning struggled to bring the temperature in my apartment down.

I can't say for sure when the power came back on. I spent the night elsewhere.

But when I checked the meter this morning, the reading was 9263. Yesterday's reading was between 9249 and 9250 so consumption in the last 24 hours was 13½ kWh. That's pretty good, given the time of year, but it was all accumulated overnight as the air conditioning tried to bring the temperature in the apartment down since I had no electricity for at least 17 hours so it's hard to say how well I did.

Still it is only an 8% increase over the day before. And it's a 50% decrease over this date last year.

June 10, 2013

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(Power in my apartment went out around 6 a.m. today, and, as of 1 p.m., it still had not been restored so I am on campus this afternoon, trying to stay cool. Whenever the power is restored, I will post the photo.)

Yesterday was another tough day to figure out, weatherwise.

It was rather cool and rainy in the morning, but the afternoon gave way to sunshine and heat.

The forecast for the rest of the week was modified as well — it's still supposed to be warm, but daily predictions now call for highs that are a degree or two lower than they were 24 hours ago.

Anyway, this morning's meter reading was between 9249 and 9250. Yesterday's reading was 9230. Consequently, consumption was about 19½ kWh. Yesterday's usage was 12½ kWh so that was an increase of 56%.

On this day last year, however, my consumption was was 27 kWh so I'm still seeing decreases in my daily usage as compared to this time a year ago. The decline was just shy of 28%.

June 9, 2013

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Well, the heat has returned — and, if the forecasts can be believed, we can expect gradually accelerating temperatures through the week.

Currently, predictions call for a high of 99° by Friday.

Nevertheless, it remained mostly mild through much of the day yesterday — but it warmed into the upper 80s by about 4 p.m., and the air conditioning came on after being off for the previous 60 hours or so.

I knew when I went out to check the meter this morning that my consumption increased — and I was right. Most of that was due to yesterday's heat, but some had to be due to the fact that I couldn't go check on the meter as early as I would have liked. The sky was dark and overcast, and we had an early morning thunderstorm.

Conditions still weren't ideal when I went out to check the meter, which is why today's photo is hard to read. Nevertheless, today's meter reading is 9230. Yesterday's reading was between 9217 and 9218 so consumption in the last 24 hours wasn't as bad as it could have been — about 12½ kWh.

That, as I anticipated, meant an increase in consumption — more than 47% — over the previous 24 hours. But, although temperatures were cooler than usual on this date last year, my electricity consumption was lower this year than it was last year. Last year's consumption was 20 kWh so my consumption this year is about 37% lower.

June 8, 2013

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I've really tried not to get too accustomed to the recent cool spell — because I know we have some brutal weather ahead of us before the summer is over.

Still, the weather lately has been very nice. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to it — which, apparently, I have to at least start to do today.

Thursday and Friday's highs were in the mid–80s, and the nighttime lows were in the 60s. Today might get to 90°, with a steady increase in the next several days, and tonight's low is expected to be around 70°. That, too, will be going up.

There is even talk that this area could experience its first 100° day of the year next week. That's really hard to believe, considering how mild it has been around here lately. But that would be more in keeping with this area's traditional seasonal weather pattern so it can hardly be said to be a surprise.

Anyway, electricity consumption went up yesterday — but it stayed in single digits for a second straight day. This morning's meter reading is between 9217 and 9218. Yesterday's reading was 9209 so consumption was roughly 8½ kWh. That's more than 21% higher than my consumption level in the previous 24 hours.

We were experiencing a cool front on this date last year, too, and consumption was 10 kWh. That means my consumption level is 15% lower than it was on this day in 2012.