People always ask me why my electric bill is so low. In summer, it’s about $30.00, in winter, maybe $40. When my older daughter comes home with her electric hair straightener, blow dryer and other gadgets, it goes up, but never past $50. Friends tell me their bills are $100 or more all year round. As much as you ask me why mine is so low, I have to ask why yours is so high!
Here’s my electricity scenario.
> I have CFLs in fixtures that are on a lot. That is where they do the most good.
> I have two TVs. One is on a power strip that gets turned off when it’s not in use (and it’s not used much). The other is in my daughter’s room and is on most of the evening.
> We have two laptops that are plugged in most of the time.
> We have two cell phones that don’t need charging every day.
> I have a toaster, microwave and coffee pot that are unplugged when not in use.
> I have satellite dishes for TV and internet.
> I don’t have a clothes dryer. I hang laundry outside in good weather and on racks inside in bad weather.
> I have a Sunfrost refrigerator. My energy audit said it ‘squeezes kilowatts until they scream’. When I put this fridge in a rental back in 1998, it cut my electricity bill in half! I’m guessing a conventional refrigerator would jack up your bill.
> I keep lights off in rooms or areas I’m not using.
> I have a lot of windows for natural light so I don’t need to turn on lights during the day. I shared an office with a woman a few years ago. She would close the blinds and turn on a lamp! It made me crazy!
> My solar hot water system has a pump to move the glycol around the panel and the hot water tank.
What’s your scenario? I’m curious to see the difference!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello Nan,
Spring is here and we are finally starting to get several nice days in a row. I am anxious to get to all of the outdoor projects that have been on hold through the rainy season.
Your note caught my eye. We have been using the CFLs for a long time as well. We have found that they don’t last as long as advertised and are slow to turn on once they are aged a little. Still they are a good savings as we work to get untied from the grid.
On our last trip to Costco we noticed a new offering. They now have LED lights in 3 packs for 12 dollars. This is a great sign of things to come. We are trying them now. The LEDs make a clean white light that comes on instantly. They are not super bright but are very pleasant and only use 4 watts of electricity.
Once we get off the grid we will use DC LED lights direct from the batteries to avoid the inverter losses.
I hope you enjoy the good weather but don’t let it slow you from the writing.
All my best,
Nolan
Hi Nolan! Nice to hear from you! I didn’t know that about LED lights. Perhaps prices will start coming way down. I’m not in the market for light bulbs at all right now. I have a few incandescents left, but they don’t get used much. When they go, though, I’ll be looking at all the alternatives. Thanks for the heads up! Yes, spring is here, farm season is in full swing, and we picked fresh kale tonight out of the greenhouse. It’s amazingly and weirdly warm this spring. It feels like late May. I do most of my writing at BuildDirect now: here and here. One of those blogs just won a writing contest, and I provide most of the content for it. That was quite an honor, since Jetson Green won last year. :) Thanks for writing!