I've just read a bunch of posts around the net in which people are saying Geo might cost as little as $60 for the year for cooling.  Last month, the geo portion of my bill was $90.  My house isn't bad (blower door/energy audit found nothing significant)...I don't leave windows open.  The thermo is set to 79 downstairs during the day, and the upstairs 82 during the day (it's just bedrooms).  At night, it's reversed (82/79).  I live in SE Pennsylvania with a 4 ton GeoMax 2 system.  House is about 2000 sq ft.

I've estimated (now that it's been almost a year with geo) that during the cooling season, geo cooling accounts for HALF my elec bill ($200 bill last month, $105 is non-cooling use) and during last winter geo heating was 2/3 of my bill ($300 bill, $105 is non-cooling use) (heating thermos set at 68)

Is this reasonable for a geo system, or out of line with a typical (I know, that's a tough word to pin down) house??

Also, I just looked more closely at my elec. bill and also the number of heating/cooling days.

July 2009 - 250 cooling degree days - electric bill in July 2009 - $190  (Old A/C system - 10 years old - air-to-air- )
July 2010 - 453 cooling degree days - electric bill in July 2010 - $195  (new Geothermal system)

This seems to show (if reading correctly?) that the amount of cooling needed basically doubled that month, but the cost remained about the same, so the Geo costs 1/2 as much to run as the old a/c.

Still, the dreams of people who say a dollar or two a day seem out of reach for me.  The above is $4/day and in winter, it was about $5/day heating.

Hi Stuart. Have you looked at cooling degree days for the last few years to see if that sheds any light on this? Interesting results where we are (SW VA) for July -

July 2010 compared to July 2007 is 31.1% higher,
July 2010 compared to July 2008 is 26.1% higher,
July 2010 compared to July 2009 is 63.9% higher!

I guess my concern is that there seems to be so little data out there to compare. I mean, my electric bill was $200. Electricity here is about 15 cents/KW. For a family of 2 living in SE PA, is that one amazingly low bill, or average, or high? We don't have a multiple TVs on all the time or video games, couple computers, regular cooking/cleaning/lights).
Readers...anyone willing to just tell us your most recent electricity bill, where you live, and how big your house is? Not to be judged, but for the greater good?

Well, for a Who fan :-)

Total electric bill $172.95, total kWh 1184, total cost/kWh $0.1461 (172.95/1184), from June 26 - July 26.
CDD from Roanoke, VA using a base temperature of 65f = 476.1 (using same dates as electric bill).
Roughly 2,400 sq ft house with 2 1/4 people (1/4 by weight of the little one) :-)
Propane usage for dryer and range is approximately 7 gallons/month @ $2.099/gallon = $14.69.month.
Two geothermal units (one for each floor) with cooling thermostat settings of: Main floor 76 day/75 night, Second floor79 day/75 night.
Figure $90 per month for the non-cooling portion of our electric bill.

Thanks Geome,
I mistakenly computed cost per kwh, fixed now...it's about 15 cents per.
Comparing to yours,
For the same time period, eerily similar CDD (base 65 also), I have a 2000 sq ft house, 2 people. You've also set them cooler than mine. My kwh was 1162. but your electric is a little less. Ok, I feel a little better. But how does anyone actually get $90 cooling for the SEASON???? Maine??

3400 SF, north Florida

heating and cooling peak at 15-20 kwh / day in June, July, August, and January, substantially less other months.