Need ideas on saving money on electricity!

My sympathies. I had a bedwetter too.

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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 didn't read all of the posts so if these have been suggested...

Replace your lightbulbs with the lcds

Unplug everything when you aren't using them.

shorter showers and baths - wash in cold water and dry your clothing outside on the line.

We have alread turned off our heat for the year. If after coming home from work it's cold in the house that is when a do a bit of baking to heat up the house for the night.
In the summer when we might need air it's set at 80. Otherwise the windows are opened at night to cool off the house and the drapes are closed to keep the cool air in during the day and the hot out.

In the summer we bbq a lot. No baking in the oven or cooking on the stove. It's all outside on the bbq. Keeping the heat out.

Many people in America would like to heat their homes to a comfort level where sweaters and coats become unnecessary. However, Obama and the Democrats want to impose ruinous taxes and penalties on energy production and fuel that produces carbon dioxide — a naturally-occurring element — and make that choice economically unbearable for us. In fact, candidate Obama spoke directly to that end:

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.

“That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,” he added.

I am so excited...as i posted earlier on this thread we had brought down our elec bill by $40 a mo..well the new bill came and was down well over an additional $16..woo hoo

That's great! Do you know what made the difference?

If your really serious about saving electricity you can convert a chest freezer into a refrigerator by changing the thermostat. It's inconvenient but the chest design avoids letting the cold pour out every time you open the door and the freezers have FAR more insulation. It's a common trick for off grid homes running on solar.
Also you could switch to a laptop computer some run on only 50 or 60 watts.
It also occurs to me that nobody asked what kind of TV you watch. LCD's use far less power then other types. Plasma's are the worst choice they use a ton of power and practically act like an electric heater hanging on the wall.

Do you use protective undergarments so the bedding won't get wet? There are new options on the market now meant for kids that look a lot like regular underwear. The newer products are designed to look like regular underwear so kids won't be ashamed to wear them, especially when at a friend's house. It is a trying thing to deal with, and the shame aspect usually just makes it all even worse for the poor kids suffering from this.

If they are not too embarassed at home, you can use underwear pad inserts if they will do the job.

We did use them and two different docs said to not use them because they keep kids feeling dry and their brains do not register they are wet which does not help them learn they are wet and should get up. DS has Aspergers and it sounds like a common thing. We are using an alarm and hoping that will help. We have tried medication, a potty alarm, waking him up at night and so far nothing is working. I am thinking about making some "pull up" type pants that are lined with cotton and flannel since he would feel wet and it won't end up getting everything else wet in the process.

Anyone have one of those coffeemakers that keeps the water hot all the time? Dh does, and I've been wondering for years how much electricity that thing must use (of course he's one of those people who doesn't think phantom loads are worth worrying about , he just wants hot coffee NOW when he gets up in the morning).

I'm thinking of putting his coffeemaker on a timer, so when he gets up in the morning the water will be hot, but then after he's gone to work it won't keep the water hot all day and all night.

Has anyone tried this and know how long it takes to heat up the water?

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Kris
http://thislittleplacehere.blogspot.com/

There are only 2 things I've ever done that seemed to make the utility bill go down; turn the gas water heater to the vacation setting (year-round) and install CFL light bulbs. the hot water trick saved the most: avg. 30/month. I boil water on gas stove to hand wash the dishes. ldc

Youcan do that.
But this is what I did when I was working. i would get the coffee READY, now this was in a "Mr. coffee" Type of coffee maker. Get the grounds in pour the water in and turn the Switch ON. THEN have The Plug in the timer~!
So when you get out to the kitchen, say after you AM shower lol, it is either Done or just getting done.
Which would be even quicker then making the coffee right away even if it is in one that holds hot water.
No waiting for water to heat up, no need to have a brewer type that "holds" the hot water either.
Just another way to do things, and save electricity at the same time.

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Oh my, dishes yet to wash and dry

See My Pictures at
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/0903/arabianknight/

In a small house a water heater will eat up 50% of your power.

You really don't need hot water on demand. flip it on an hour before you actually NEED hot water. Then turn it off.

Also, all the motors in the home waste power. There is a box you can install on the breaker panel to cut that power waste called a power saver.

Old refrigerators sometimes use a lot of power, BUT, not always. I have a fridge that's 20+ yrs old and by the killOwatt meter, it uses less power over a week than a new one does.

You really need a Kill-O-Watt meter to isolate and find where your power drains are coming from.

You can buy bigger ones to wire right into the main breaker, and track all the cool data the little unit does but they are really, really expensive.

Couple of random things:

- for the bedwetter - what about getting the pads the hospital people call 'chucks'? They are flannel on the top side and waterproof on the back. Bed will feel wet to the bedwetter, but probably the entire bed won't be soaked and you can just wash the pad, not all the sheets. I used them when potty training my kid (had 'em already for other medical issues from other family members). Much less laundry that way.

- when you heat water for tea or whatever, boil the water then put it in a thermos for use over the course of the day. I also think (but I'm not positive) that microwaving a cup of water is less energy than boiling it on the burner - but that depends how you feel about microwaves, too

- have you looked at a solar oven? where you live, even preheating water for tea would be handy in one of those (lots of sunshine!) or you could cook in it

- someone mentioned using a chest freezer as fridge: check the archives in alternative energy forum, there are threads on that. I actually had that for several years, and now I have an *upright* freezer with the same thermostat thingie making it into a fridge. waaay less power than a regular fridge, more convenient than the chest freezer, good compromise for us

- heavy drapes to cut the light will ease your cooling problems in summer - we found cotton duck drapes dyed in dark colours at Ikea, they are very long (so like, floor to ceiling kind of length) and make excellent window insulators, blocking that hot sunshine in summer and the cold in winter

- bubble wrap on the windows in winter is AWESOME for insulation. I have almost zero experience with excessive heat, so can't help you there (northern Alberta doesn't really GET that hot, not for long anyway!) but I'll toss it out there

- try a seasonal diet... stuff that needs long cooking times is for cold days, stuff you can eat raw or with minimal heat is for hot days. I prefer salad on the (few) hot days we get here ... and soup when it's cold and rainy.

Solar Gary's website has some great info too - things like living screens to provide shade for cooling and so on.

Oh, have you looked into a solar battery charger for things like flashlights and so on? Every little bit helps.

Oh and for laundry - we don't have a dryer. In winter/rainy weather we hang it inside on a drying rack, and sheets and towels are hung on hangers that are suspended in a doorway (we just hook them over the door trim). Works awesome, but we have a very dry climate. If you can eliminate the dryer entirely I am sure it would help ... if stuff will dry before mildewing in your climate, anyway.

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Apple Jack Creek
near Edmonton Alberta
author of Just Keep Knitting: a journey of healing through forgiveness, faith, and fibre and The Rookie's Field Guide to Supported Spinning

Just breezed through the previous posts & didn't see a water heater insulation blanket mentioned . They are fairly inexpensive , helps reduce standby heat loss from the tank & easy to install .