After a full year of occupancy, I can now share a full year of electrical data on the Passive Bauernhaus:

   PHPP Predicted Consumption: 8,145 kWh

   Actual Consumption: 8,921 kWh

   Average Monthly Electrical Bill: $87.85

   Highest Bill: $123.21 (February 2013)

   Lowest Bill: $63.11 (June 2013)

In the last post, I talked about cost parity and Passive House.

In this post, I'll take it out of the theoretical world, provide a clear example.

We moved into our Passive Bauernhaus in June 2012, but didn't get our first full month electric bill until July. Since then, the electric bill for our Passive Bauernhaus has averaged 663 kWh/month or $81.04/month. This total includes the typical $25 - $30 service charge.

Since it is an all-electric house, we only pay one bill. There's no propane, natural gas, or firewood. Electricity covers all of our loads:

    Well water (pumping)
    Domestic Hot Water
    Heating / Cooling
    Ventilation
    Lighting
    Appliance Loads
    Plug Loads (computers, TV, alarm clock, coffee maker, etc.)

In the previous year, we lived in a Fishersville area townhouse. The townhouse was built to existing codes, circa 2006. In terms of usable space, it was very similiar to the Passive Bauernhaus---4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. It was a multi-family development, so we were sandwiched between two other units of the same size. It used propane for heating, domestic hot water, and the clothes dryer. And, electricity, of course.

I recently dug into our townhouse financial records to look at our utility bill history. After tallying the numbers, our average monthly townhouse bill came to $243.83 (for a full calendar year). The lowest month came to $122.91; the highest jumped to $429.87.

We haven't lived through a full calendar year in the Passive Bauernhaus, so it may be a little premature to call this one . . . but I can't resist. I say that because we're tracking right in-line with the PHPP energy modeling software.

Here's the bottom line: we're saving > $150 / month.

It's not earth shaking, but it's not too shabby either. It becomes significant when you project this over a typical 30 year mortgage.

And . . . it provides the margin that allows a Passive House to reach cost parity.