Need ideas on saving money on electricity!

vacuum under the frig 3 or 4 times a year also ..that makes a huge difference..i forgot that and my mtc guy told me it had cat hair in it and he vacuumed it out..vacuum out the dryer vents too if you use one

:like Palani said, check your well pump, i had that problem once, it was running all the time...

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LIVE LIKE SOMEONE LEFT THE GATE OPEN

There are many good suggestions here. Here things are the same. Power rates go up for basic charge and kilowatt charge. I tried the energy efficient bulbs but the one in the kitchen over the sink gave me a head ache. I use regular incandescent bulbs at my desk and over the sink counter where I spend a good amount of time. I use the energy efficient ones in lamps and ceiling lights. In day time we keep the lights off.

We have an upright freezer we inherited from a family member so put it in the back porch of the house on the north side where there is no heat.In winter it hardly runs at all. In the summer we open a west door and let the wind from the north west blow in and keep the freezer cooler. Luckily we have a lot of wind here.

Until two years ago I didn't have a fridge or electric stove. Then well meaning friends passed us some when they bought new because they thought we were deprived! I use the electric stove only in the summer. The oven gets used once a week for baking. I bake ahead and freeze enough for the week. If I decide to bake something during the week I use a toaster oven.

I use a slow cooker to cook roasts and stew, soup or beans as they use little electric. An electric teakettle will boil water for tea in the summer. In fall and winter I can do everything on the wood kitchen stove.

Both the fridge and stove are atleast 20 years old.We don't plan to replace them whenever they quit. The fridg is usually just used to store milk and eggs or left overs. Before I had it we used a small fridg that sat on the counter and it was enough to keep milk and butter.Anything extra like eggs were kept in a cooler in the back porch or cellar. If the freezer quit I would replace that as we use it more than the fridg.

We only hooked up a hotwater heater three years ago. Before that I started up the wood stove even in the summer to heat bath water. The kids used to bath in a lake near us. The hotwater heater is 12 gallons and we wrapped it and the hot water pipes with insulation. It is only hooked to the bath tub, sink and kitchen sink. I wash clothes in cold water.I dry them outside or when weather is bad on drying racks by the stoves.

Our desk computer is old and only used for writing and unplugged when not in use as is the TV. I have a ten inch lap top hooked to the internet which I am using now. It too is disconnected when not being used.

Heat for the house is from the wood heater and kitchen wood stove. Neither have a fan on them. Occasionally I use a ceramic electric heater in a room upstairs but not often.

Before I had a freezer, stove, fridge, hot water heater and ceramic heater our power bill was about $40 for two months. After adding these electric things the bill went to $60 every two months. I have changed nothing else the past three years and our last power bill was $97 for two months because rates are going up constantly.

The meter reader told me we have the lowest bill in our area. Neighbors tell me their bills run between $200 and $300 every two months but they all have bigger water heaters, clothes dryers and more electronics.When the bill goes beyond $100 every two months The fridg, stove and hot water heater will be going!

My dad reduced his bill by switching from a stand up to a chest type freezer. Keep in mind the cold air sinks and it reduces the losses when it it opened. I will def. have to pass on the unplug or stut down time idea as a way to save more.

Also, we shaved a LOT off of our bill by going tankless on the hot water heater. It has paid for itself many times over.

If you have outdoor trees, plants, etc. Look up Passive solar Landscaping. If you keep the lower 3-4 feet clean under your trees it creates a natural wind flow even on calm days.

If you open windows, remember that heat rides and cross ventilation is needed to help bring a breeze in. I am building a house with a vaulted ceiling and windows above a catwalk to facilitate hot air removal. I also have a metal roof set up with a 1" gap between the metal and the wooden sheathing on my roof. This winter you could feel the temperature fifferential between the top and bottom of the roof metal, so I know this summer will be when the real reward comes.

If you need ideas, go look at some OLD homesteads. See how they were set up in the Pre A/c days... Might give you some ideas!

I haven't read all the posts so sorry if this is the same ..

We put a small window AC in our bedroom so at night if no one else is home we can just cool our bedroom. It paid for itself the first few months..

I'm not sure anyone mentioned this:

Insulate your pipes from the water heater. There is an enormous amount of water and heat wasted while you wait for hot water to come out of your tap.

You'll not only save heated water, but water itself, as well as the electricity it takes to operate your well pump.

Am I reading this right? You do 1 or 2 loads 5 days a week? Unless you have a large family or lots of babies, you can probably cut down on this. Use towels more than once, ditto wash cloths, hang up good clothes after wearing & wear them again. If you use cloth napkins, everyone should have a napkin ring. Wash with cold water, not warm or hot. If something really needs warm water to get it clean, rinse it in warm water in a small basin before washing.

We hang clothes outside in good weather & inside in bad weather. We have a couple of lines in the laundry room (which means we duck under them to get to the bathroom, but we're used to it). We also have a drying rack when there are too many items for the lines.

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God bless,
Bonnie
Opportunity Farm
Northeast Washington

"While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all." Galatians 6:10

"I cut down $15.00 a month by putting the hot water heater on a timer that comes on twice a day for an hour."

I've been interested in doing this but have wondered how to rig it up. Can you please explain?

Turning my gas hot-water heater down to "vacation" mode saves me about $20 per month compared to leaving it on a "medium" setting.

I've been turning it up to a medium setting only when I take a shower or need "hot" water. However, yesterday I forgot to turn the heater up to medium from vacation mode before I took a shower, and guess what? The water was plenty warm for a shower. In fact, I'll probably not ever readajust it unless I really nedd some "hot" water.

Anyway, cutting the setting back on the hot-water heater has been a been savings. What I'd like to know is what kind of timer can I put on this thing?

Don't use your air conditioner until you really NEED to. And close the doors to rooms not being used - they don't need to be warmed or heated at all. I live in the fierce heat and humidity of the subtropics, and only last summer had AC installed for genuine health reasons. I found that running it for just an hour or so once or twice a day in extreme temps was quite enough to see me through the worst of the summer. I'll do the same this winter with the heating - only run it when really needed for comfort.

Consider your usage of hot water. It is quite unnecessary to use hot water to wash your clothes. You can save megabucks in that way, also by reducing each person's shower time (use less water), and by not allowing hot water to run wantonly down the sink (eg while you're peeling veges).

When rinsing cups, use cold water, and not much of it. This is not necessary if you have a dishwasher, and if you wash-up by hand, pre-rinsing in hot water is just wasteful.

Do you fill the electric jug to full every time you make yourself a cuppa? Or just boil what you need on each occasion?

Have you checked the temperature of your hot water? It can probably be decreased by several degrees. You always cool it down with cold water anyway, don't you?

Dishwasher? Connect it to hot water instead of cold, and use only when it's fully loaded.

I agree with those who have said that older appliances like fridges and freezers are far less economic to run than the newer versions. Also, consider whether your AC is an 'inverter' model or not - they are cheaper to run than the older style AC.

Switching off at the power point for things like computers, TVs and the like can save massive amounts of electricity. And of course you know that no lights are needed in an unused room or area in the house. If you have garden or other outdoor lighting, only switch it on when you're expecting visitors or when needed. Movement-sensors aren't all that expensive and use power only when required.

And back to the AC. Sometimes we can be blind to the most obvious, but it's worth mentioning just in case! Do you keep the windows/doors closed while the AC is running? Do you keep curtains closed to insulate your windows? Are there draughts coming from under the doors leading to outside in cold weather? Do you make the most of the sun-on-glass in winter, and cover the sun-on-glass in summer?

Do you have proper ceiling insulation?

You can install one or two of these to cool your house in summer. We commonly call them Whirlybirds, and they do not use power to work. You just stop them 'whirling' when you want to keep the heat in:

http://www.gaileshardware.com.au/htm...ntilation.html

They can also be combined with skylights. In fact, if your house is dark and you need lights during the day, installing a skylight can save you megabucks.

And BTW, if your power bill is only $130 a quarter, do not consider moving to Australia, where electricity is much more expensive!! My most recent bill (summer) was for more than that - and I'm a family of one who does laundry at a rate of one load per week, who never uses a clothes-drier, and who never cooks - being disabled, I have meals delivered.

FWIW, I am surprised to hear that people saved money with a window AC unit versus using their central air.

We bought a new, more efficient window unit. None of them are efficient, but we spent some extra dollars getting a unit that was more efficient than others.

We cooled our bedroom with that unit, and it worked great.

We had a central air installed in our home, and the monthly bill for cooling the entire house was nearly the same as cooling just our bedroom.

(It is very humid in the summertime in Indiana...as long as I can pay the bill, I'll have AC. I lived my entire life without it.)

So, the cost between using a window and central air:

Is it the type of house? What gives in this equation?????

We are dealing with a bedwetter so it is hard to cut down otherwise we would have 3 loads a week. Someday...

If anyone answered your question I missed it . I assume you have an electric water heater , otherwise a timer won't work . Timers are made specifically for water heaters & you can buy them at Lowe's , Home Depot & many other places . The electric wire that goes into your water heater gets unhooked from the water heater & gets hooked back up in the timer . Another wire is then run from the timer to the water heater . The timer normally gets mounted on the wall near the water heater & runs like a clock . It has movable pins or thumb screw type adjusters that you put on the clock face in the timer & as the clock face rotates it turns on or off the electricity going to the water heater . These timers are really very easy to install . The # 1 thing to remember is that the breaker , in your breaker panel , for the water heater must be turned off before working with the electric wire or serious injury or even death could occur . Also , many times while working with breaker panels , I have found breakers that were not labeled correctly so a volt meter should be used at the water heater to verify that there is no electricity on the wire after the breaker is turned off .

ETA---I went back & reread your post & I now believe you have a gas water heater so my post won't help you but I'll leave it in case someone else is interested .

Try rearranging the furniture to take advntage of natural light coming in trough the windows. Also watch where people sit to read in the evening. Two people can share one lamp if it is between 2 chairs or a chair and a couch. How many TVs are on in the evenings? How many people watch the same show but in different rooms? Could compromises be made so that everybody watches the same show in the same room?

Check with your electric company, if rates are cheaper at night then put the freezer on a timer so it only runs at night. If you keep it full it should be fine if it doesnt run during the day.

Have all the kids do homework in one central lecation.

I dont preheat the oven.

In the morning I pour the fresh coffeee into an insulated carafe and turn the coffee pot off.

Thats all I can think of for now. I tried to come up with neww ideas.
Carol

I was looking at my elec bill this past month almost $30 of it was taxes and other charges (not sales tax). so it looks like even if I turn off every darned thing and use no elec I'd still pay $30 a month to have it available. that's way too high.

I turn my hot water heater off entirely usually in april and don't turn it on again until november. I plan on getting an on demand one when I next have to get one.

I read an article this winter that said if your fridge and freezer are over 10 years old that they will pay for themselves in just one year in reduced elec. (I think this must be for the cheapest units though).

Thanks I think we will be getting one of those!

Wash in cold water and put your water heater on a timer so it doesn't cycle when it isn't needed.

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"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

1:30 pm on November 2, 2008 by Ed Morrissey

In a clip from a January 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle Barack Obama promised to bankrupt anyone foolish enough to build coal-burning power plants, he also made an interesting admission about his entire energy plan. Obama told the editors that his policies would make energy prices “skyrocket” as the energy industry passed along the exorbitant costs of his cap-and-trade policy.

Social engineering at its very best - we will all learn to "save" even more money on our electricity bills as we accommodate Barack Hussein Obama's quest to make us into a third world country.

I hate to tell you this but all the extra fees and crap have been on my electric bill for about 4 years now so you can't blame Obama on this one!

So true. Some like myself have had very little raise over the past years, but when O gets his way and coal plants start to close, then Watch Out~!
Over 65% of this country gets its power from Coal Fired Plants. That number is huge. And nobody has seen yet what closed coal plants will make but If O gets his way lots of us will.

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After reading all the replies, DH and I have decided that it's time for a new refrigerator. DH brought it to Missouri 10 years ago when he moved here from Oklahoma. Not really sure how long he had it before moving. I think we also need to replace our oven unit. It's a separate, built-in-the-wall unit that looks to be original to the house. The house was built in the late 80's. Those two things would probably help us quite a bit. I've really enjoyed reading all the suggestions.

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