Knocking Cents Out of the Electric Bill

I shut down my computer and monitor and printer at night.

Nope. Doesn't work that way. If you leave it on, every time the water drops a single degree, the thing will kick back on. If the thermostats had more of a range on them it would be great. Like, if you wanted it set at 130 but it didn't kick back on till it got down to 110, they would be much more efficient. As it stands now, if you want it at 130, every time it hits 129, the thing kicks back on... That's all day long.

I wouldn't replace your hot water heater. I would get the water hot, then shut the breaker off and see how long that hot water lasts you. Then, from now on, I would use the water that's already hot and form your off/on schedule around that. Most hot water heaters these days have enough insulation that they will keep water hot for 2 or 3 days if it doesn't all get used up.

I wasn't going to say anything about that... lol. But, someone had mentioned also that they wear clothes till they're dirty. I have been known to wear a pair of jeans for 3 or 4 days and our towels get recycled as well. To me, that's not really stuff I tell other folks. lol... but since we're saving money here, yeah, I do it too.

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Dahc.

It took me a long time to teach my husband to wear his jeans 2 days and change into work pants at night....and the new towel thing...
SOOO I stopped doing his laundry.
Then we ditched the dryer 8 years ago....and I left him home all summer to do his own laundry AND hang it out...Now he knows why the same towel isnt dirty until it smells funky and the jeans dont get dirty in one day....
We have achieved debt free status by doing all the little things in a big way. We adults do shower 1-2 tmes a day and change our "unders" daily. I even wear his dirty shirt down to the barn for morning chores...then I get washed and the shirt goes into the laundry....I have 2 pair of "sweats" that I wear a all week for morning chores....and they are removed before entering the main house...'cause I dont like barn smell in the house.

If you are on a well and pump also check for water loss through drips and toilet runover. Even a fairly small drip can cause a water pump to kick on and off to keep up pressure. In a toilet there can be overflow on the upright pipe (water level set too high) or leakage around the lift up stopper. Here on the guest bathroom I noticed a bit of water stirring in the bowl. Took off tank lid and water level was OK. However when I check the stopper I found it had crudded it (I get my water directly out of a spring with only a paper-type filter). I shut off the water supply, took off the stopper and washed it. Water loss there stopped.

I have considered putting a black painted water storage tank in direct sunlight but, for me, savings would likely be minimal. I use water normally only in the early AM for a shower (and that isn't every day either) or a load a laundry. Need for hot water afterwards is minimal. A solar tank would be providing water at times I simply don't need it. Sometimes the effort required doesn't justify the end results.

Our house is ICF and in the winter we heat with wood. Summer and heat gain in the thermal mass is the big problem so this year we cut blue foam insulation board to fit the west windows and and second floor windows. The plan is to cover them in cloth. The difference was immediate and impressive. I haven't gotten the first months bill but I'll let you know when I do. We've shut down the upstairs AC and put a small window unit in DS's room for use at night. My business is in the basement but there's neither heat nor AC there but the main floor unit's air return is in the basement so the air recirculates. Lighting has gone to incandescent (mostly) and the next step is to get everything on power strips so we can turn off groups of things when not in use. AC is set on 78 and seems to do the trick. In the loft we crack a window to help draw hot air out and cool air in through a peripheral basement ventilation tube. Laundry wise I'm guilty of running it fairly often; my business requires it. The family is well versed on wearing clothes until they are truly dirty (except for DH's work clothes). I'm still trying to decide where to put up a decent clothes line, in the mean time the porch railings work well for larger items.

My electric company offers a night rate that is about half of the day rate for electricity. In the summer the time is 12:30 to 8 am (it changes with the daylight savings) the winter is 11:30 pm to 7 am. I do all my laundry, run the dishwasher, fill water tanks etc... during those times. It's a large savings.

Stacy

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People say I can't multi-task. Well, I can tick you off and amuse myself at the same time.

One of the biggest savings was when our old refrigerator in the basement had died. I didn't even know it until we had got our electric bill and noticed a big drop. It was about that time I started to notice an odor in the basement too!!!!! YUCK!!!!!

But actually, we hardly ever used it anyway so it ran for no reason. It must have been at least 25 years old and I'm considering buying a new refrigerator for the kitchen as it is at least 15 years old and is really too small for our family of 3.

I'd like to save more, but it's hard to get the wife and son to save. They have a habit of leaving a room and just leaving the light on. Watching tv, and go outside for something with no one watching the tv!

I have installed the energy saver bulbs in our lights and have also put the tv, vcr, etc. on a power surge that at night I shut everything off with one switch.

Lastnight when I was home by myself, I even decided to turn off the main breaker. I was going outside anyway but was back in before my wife got home to turn it back on. The refrigerator and freezer stay cold enough for that long as long as you keep the door shut. So I used no electricity for about 2 hours lastnight.

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Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania

"Everything happens for a reason."

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I keep the curtains and drapes pulled, open everything at night to allow any cooler night air in, and close up before the sun hits the south side of the house.

Oh yeah, $27.42 mo. (two fans) live alone / 4 bedroom house / attic closed / basement/ root cellar. One fan at the basement stairs blowing the cool air up into the house, while the other at the top blowing it through the house. ALL phantom electric loads are actually unplugged. Stuff like the light and clock on the stove. Only plug in when used. VCR, stereo etc. unplugged unless being used. You'd be surprised how much trickle power those "phantom" loads draw. Hang the clothes, lights off except the room I'm in. L.E.D. night light allows enough light in the other rooms to at least find the light switch if needed.


gotta love those hills.....

Ozarkguy



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* Homesteading information at:

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i wrapped our hot water heater with r13 house insulation, held on with duck tape. i think that made a big difference in our electric bill.
How does the timer effect hot water heaters in the winter. Could the ones in basements or out side freeze and break?

I bought a Sears dehumidifier about 6 years ago thinking that it would help when it got really hot and humid here. It puts out an unbelievable amount of hot air as it pulls the humidity, it really heats up the room. Do the Energy Star units do the same thing?

My living room in actually on the second floor and has a big patio door that faces southwest. That wasn't too bad until the big shade tree died. Then it was so hot that I nearly died, too. We couldn't even use the room in the summer. Then I found out about Reflectix radiant barrier insulation. I put it over the glass and was able to use the room even when we had that 99º heat wave a few weeks ago. I'm sold!
http://www.reflectixinc.com/

Our dehumidifier is made by Delonghi (sp?), and is energy star certified. We've had it for about 5 years, and it doesn't put out any significant amount of heat.