Lowering My Electric Bill
We just paid our last electric bill and it was much higher than it has been on average. We usually pay around $100 a month in electricity and this month it was $155. So, I’ve decided we need to do something to try to get this back under control. It has been cold here, and there have been days in January when we did not leave the house because it was too cold and snowy outside, so I’m sure between the extra heating and using the lights, TV, etc. more added up.
I’m going to start simple and see how much I can reduce our electricity by doing some basic things:
1) Turning off lights – I’m usually pretty good about turning off the lights when I leave the room, however sometimes when I’m in a hurry or have a toddler squirming in my arms I see that a light is on and just don’t turn it off when I leave the room.
2) Unplugging things – Standby power for appliances you have plugged in but are not actually using has been estimated to be around 5% of all of your household power. I know we are guilty of leaving things plugged in that don’t necessarily need to be.
3) Opening the windows – I’m home a large portion of the day since I stay home with Jacob and don’t go to work. But, I know sometimes I turn on lights instead of opening the blinds to let light in.
I’m going to leave it at that, and try to get in the habit of doing these three things before I delve deeper. I’ll try to report back in a month or two when we get our electricity bill and see how it’s going. Of course, it won’t be as cold in March as it was in January so it won’t be a great comparison, but I’m still hoping we’ll be able to see a difference. I’m hoping we’ll be able to become greener and save a little money at the same time with this undertaking. If anyone out there decides to join me, you’ll have to let me know how you do with it as well!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 9:15 am and is filed under Going Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
I've started making sure that I turn off all the lights too when I leave the room. Most of our problem is that the windows in our townhouse really suck (single pane). You can usually feel the cold air seeping in when you stand next to a window or door. If we buy a house, the first thing I'm going to do is make sure the windows are good!
February 17th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Man, I feel your pain. Our gas/electric bill (we have gas heat and hot water) last month was $650! We were shocked! It turned out to be an estimate so they estimated a little high, but it was still over $500. Needless to say we have programmed our thermostats much lower and are bundling up. I'm always a big light turner outer because my dad was a nazi about it when we were kids – now I understand why! Hope your plans work!
February 17th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Ya, our insulation around our windows is horrible too. Jake's room is literally like 5 degrees cooler at least than the rest of the house which is part of the reason I think he wakes up in the night. We got a humidifier to help keep him warmer and put pillows up against the wall where his head is. It is still really cold and drafty though. How were the windows in the house you were looking at?!
February 17th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
That is insane Erin! Makes our extra $50 last month seem measly. Actually, when I lived in Dallas I had a tiny one bedroom in an older building that was really cheap in the summer like $40 a month, but in the winter I got a huge shock because it was like $300! I called the electric company and they said it was right, so i thought my heater was broken but the place told me it was not… I was so shocked too. I hope you guys can get yours down, that is seriously crazy!