The first real cold snaps are showing up, and in a lot of homes the heat pump's backup heat is about to kick on for the first time this season.
Most of the time that's normal. One setting on the thermostat isn't, and it can make every hour of heat cost about three times as much.
Below: what Emergency Heat costs, the kettle we'd use, the equipment fee hiding on your internet bill, what an estimated meter read means, and what it really costs to boil water.
Reply and tell us: which line on a monthly bill have you never understood? We read every one.
Why Emergency Heat Costs 3 Times More
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If your home has a heat pump, check one word on the thermostat tonight. If it says EM or Em Heat, you're paying about 3 times as much for the same heat.
About 13% of U.S. homes heat mainly with a heat pump, per the EIA. A heat pump moves heat in from outside instead of making it, which is why it's cheap to run.
Behind it sits a backup: electric resistance strips, which work like the coils in a toaster. A heat pump rated 10.3 HSPF delivers 10,300 Btu of heat per kWh, while resistance strips deliver about 3,400, per the Department of Energy.
TLDR: a Btu is a small unit of heat, and a kWh is the unit your electric bill charges for. More Btu per kWh means cheaper heat.
Here's the math at the national average of 18.16 cents per kWh. Take a 10 kW strip bank as an example. It costs about $1.82 for every hour it runs, while the same heat from that heat pump costs about 60 cents. Left on Emergency Heat all day in a cold snap, the strips could run up about $44.
The strips can run two ways:
Aux (backup) heat comes on by itself to help the heat pump. Trane says that's normal below about 40 F, during a defrost cycle, or after you raise the thermostat more than 3 to 4 degrees.
EM (emergency) heat shuts the heat pump off and runs only the strips. Lennox says it's for a heat pump that has failed, an outdoor unit that's frozen solid or damaged, or when a technician tells you to use it.
Here's the check:
Read the display. On Honeywell thermostats, "Em" means emergency heat is on and "Aux" means backup heat is on, per its manual.
Switch EM back to Heat or Auto if nothing's wrong with the outdoor unit.
Raise the temperature one degree at a time. Lennox says bigger jumps call in the strips.
Watch for Aux above 40 F. Trane says if it stays on for more than an hour or two in mild weather, check the outdoor unit for snow or ice, then call for service.
Clear snow from around the outdoor unit after a storm.
Steam rising off the outdoor unit for 5 to 15 minutes is normal. That's a defrost cycle, per Lennox.
Renters, the mode switch is yours. Report an iced-over unit to your landlord.
Worth a Look
A Glass Kettle That Shows How Much You're Boiling
If you heat water on the stove for tea, oatmeal or a French press, the COSORI Original Digital Glass Kettle is the one we'd point you to, at $53.99 at time of writing.
The glass body shows exactly how much water is inside, with marked fill lines up to 1.7 liters. That's the part that saves money, and the last section of today's email has the math.
It runs at 1,500 watts, has six temperature presets from 165 F to 212 F for tea and coffee, and shuts itself off if it boils dry. Here's the kettle on Amazon.
We haven't used this one ourselves. The specs come from COSORI's manual, and the price matches COSORI's own store.
That said, it keeps water warm for up to 60 minutes after it boils unless you switch that off, and keeping it warm uses power. If you pour right away, turn it off.
Links in this post may be affiliate links. The Home Wire may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you.
The $180 a Year on Your Internet Bill
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Look at your internet bill for a line called modem, gateway, router or equipment. On some plans it's $15 a month. That's $180 a year to rent a box you could own.
Here's what the big providers say on their own pages:
Xfinity: an Xfinity employee on its support forum says the $15 monthly modem rental comes off when you use your own, unless your plan already includes the modem.
Spectrum: plans include a modem at no extra cost, and its WiFi router is $10 a month unless your plan includes it, per Spectrum.
AT&T Fiber: equipment fees are included, per AT&T.
Verizon Fios: router rental is included in its $10 or $15 Whole-Home Wi-Fi add-on, per Verizon.
Paying a fee? Here's the switch:
Find the fee on your bill and multiply it by 12.
Check your provider's approved-device list before you buy anything.
Ask what you'd give up. On some Xfinity plans, dropping the gateway means paying separately for unlimited data, the same employee notes. Phone service on the gateway may need their box too.
Return the rented box once yours works. The rental charge keeps running until you do.
Renters, this one's all yours. The internet account is in your name.
What an Estimated Meter Read Means
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If your electric or gas bill says estimated, nobody read your meter this month. In winter, snow, ice, a locked gate or a dog in the yard can keep the reader away.
The estimate is built from last year's usage and this month's weather, per LG&E and KU, two Kentucky utilities. The next real reading corrects the difference.
That's where winter can bite. A new space heater, a house full of guests or a colder week than last year won't show up in the estimate. When the real read comes, the catch-up lands on one bill.
Here's how to stay ahead of it:
Look for an "E" or the word "estimated" next to the meter reading on your bill. Labels vary by utility.
Find the next read date, usually near the top of the bill.
Photograph your meter with the numbers readable.
Send the photo in with your account number. Con Edison and National Grid in New York both take readings by email. Check your utility's site for its method.
Keep the meter reachable. Unlock the gate, keep pets in and clear the snow.
Several estimates in a row? Ask your utility for an actual read. Con Edison charges $19 to schedule one.
Renters with their own meter can do every step. If it's in a shared basement, ask the landlord.
Boil Only the Water You Need
A kettle, an electric stove and an induction burner all cost about the same to boil water. What you're really paying for is how much water you boil.
ENERGY STAR puts induction cooktops at about 85% efficient, electric coil and smooth tops at 75% to 80%, and gas at about 32%. An electric kettle is about 80%, per a federal lab researcher quoted by Inside Energy.
At national average prices, that's about 2 cents to boil a liter in a kettle or on an electric stove, and about 2.6 cents on gas.
Now the fill level. A full 1.7-liter kettle costs about 3.5 cents to boil. One mug's worth costs about 0.6 cents.
Fill it to the top twice a day when you only need a mug, and that's roughly $21 a year spent heating water you don't drink. Inside Energy found that boiling a full pot for every cup uses about 4 times the energy you need.
So measure with the mug. Fill your mug with cold water, pour it into the kettle or pot, and boil just that.
Renters, this one's all yours, and it works on any stove.
One quick tap
Which part was most useful today?
That's Tuesday: emergency heat, a glass kettle, the internet equipment fee, estimated meter reads and the cost of a full kettle.
If you only do one thing this week, read the word on your thermostat's screen.
Forward this to whoever in your house pays the internet bill.
See you tomorrow.
The Home Wire
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