Can you help me w/ electric bill?

[Ima saver]

Thanks, Rusty, i will try that!

[dshep]

Scrava,

Your electric bill is nothing compared to what we pay up here in Maine.. My bill came in a week ago, at 176.00... and that is low... we pay ..083840 per kilowatt... and then we also get to pay a delivery charge.. bases also on the kilowatts used.. So last month.. my electric bill was 100.65 for the electricty and then another 75.83 to have it delivered to my house. I have a 1300 square foot house... and the only difference between us, is I have no dehumidfer and no mini fridge. The Maine Slogan is "the way lifes suppose to be" HA HA... We are the highest taxed state in the nation.. and everything else is higher too! So I am paying attention to this thread, hopefully I will learn something too...
For those that turn their electric water heater off......I was told by my plumber that it actually costs more to turn it on and off.. if you have to keep heating the water up.....and it wears out your heater faster... apperently from the sounds of it... my plumber is wrong!

[scrava]

dshep that is exactly what my DH says about the hot water heater but I would still love to try it & find out myself!!

Wow, I thought we paid the most taxes being taxachusetts.
Maybe you should have a tourist tax, LOL.

[dshep]

I lived in Taxachuessetts till 20 years ago... then I moved to Maine, house taxes got to high... what was I thinking? It is now cheaper there then it is here, on all counts... I almost went into heatfailure when I read the report a few months back we lived in the most expensive tax state.. then again.. the fresh air, small school system, made it all worth while to raise my kids here... As for the tourist tax... our grocerys, go up 10 cents to over a dollar a item during tourist season! Then the state gets more tax... come november our groceries go back down again.. but not as much as they went up...

[zoe]

OMG Ima here in Australia our rate is $0.15 / kwh! Even with the currency conversion that is sooo much cheaper!

[shadowfax]

Some points I have learned.

Florescent lighting does save a lot of money. I use the compacts it's been about 3 years since I changed a bulb.
When you turn on a florescent it uses more energy than it will use being on for an hour comming on so only turn your lights on if you plan to be in the room for long. Use a flash light if you really need a light.

Apliances that are on timers ar similar. Fans and dehumidifiers and air conditioners that are constantly comming on and off use more power than one running full time. Keep your thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer and your apliances will switch on and off less or set them to run full time and turn on only during time they need to be on.

keep refridgerators and freezers full they will run less. If you don't have food to fill them place pots and pans or gallon jugs of water inside them to fill up the space.
Make sure you defrost freezers regularly as frost buildup will cause them to run more.
Make sure your door seals are in good condition na not leaking cold air.

Cover all windows with plastic in winter. Even the double insulated ones that seem to be really tight. You'd be amazed how that inch of air between the plastic and window can help insulate the house.

Check wall outlets for air leaks. I have found major drafts comming from light switches.

Only turn off your computer if you will not be turning it on again for say a day. I turn mine on in the morning and off at night only on days when I will be using it later in the day. If I plan to only use it in the morning I turn it off when I'm done. This saves a lot. Pluss it is easier on your hard drive and cooling fans. But frequent on and off is also hard on them and uses a lot more power.

My power bill at it's highest was about $40/month and that was with 3 adults and a child living with me. I am alone now and run a fish tank all day have several pets and have a power bill of around $20/month.

[Ima saver]

Sorry, but your plumber is wrong. I have been turning the hot water heater off for 30 years. I have never had to replace it. My husband does plumbing too. It makes a lot more sense to me to run the hot water heater for 20 minutes a day than 24 hours. (20 minutes to warm up for a shower)

[Ima saver]

I got my bill today. It was barely under budget, but I am still happy. It has been so hot, I was expecting it to be a little over budget! I used less kph than I did last year. (Plus our rates went up this summer)

[Diolla]

Ima- I keep reading about you shutting your HWH off so I checked into it. If you have an electric HWH it can save a significant amount but I have a gas heater which is much more efficient. I thought about turning it down but it wouldn't make much difference and you can't just turn it on and off like you do maybe if it had electronic ignition?? (Will look into that). Everything in my house except lights, small apps, cooling and fridge is gas and my gas bill last month (not heating) was $24. Line drying my clothes makes more difference than messing with the HWH (dryer is also gas).

Are all electric homes the norm in your area? Here they are very unusual. Gas is a much more efficient heating fuel.

[Ima saver]

Most homes we build have electric hot water heaters, but propane gas heat. You are right, your hot water heater has to be electric in order to turn it off. It does save quite a bit of money!

[Great to be Debt Free]

My water heater is gas, too, but I have turned it down. I may not save much money, but it will conserve a consumable energy source. Oh, and here in Maryland, BGE raised the rates 83%. They had been capped some years ago I guess (I just moved here in Dec.), so they uncapped them. Fortunately, the gov't is making them hold the comsumer cost to just a 15% increase for a year or two and then phase in the rest of the hike. And we'll be gone to Colorado by then! Thank Heavens!

[greedy4chips]

I am going to purchase a 1,800 ft extension cord and get my electricity from Idaho!

We bought several flourescent light bulbs to help cut down on electric costs, but the bulbs are much more expensive than the regular bulbs which are free after rebate at Menards when on sale.

[shadowfax]

Sure they cost more in the beginning but what they save you in electricity makes them end up more than paying for themselves. I hatted to spend that kind of money for a light bulb but it was worth it. I just bought them one at a time as I had a few extra dollars to spend.

[Ima saver]

I justpaid my bill, it was $155, but still under budget!