Alright, so, it’s summer in the South and the AC is driving our power bills through the roof. Last month’s bill was kind of high, so we started doing stuff like raising the AC to 78-80 instead of 75 and turning off the computers instead of leaving them running all the time. So we get this month’s bill and it’s about $30 higher(?!) and our useage is up too. So, since I don’t like paying Georgia Power gobs of money, anyone have ideas for keeping the power bill down?
We live in an apartment, so we can’t make major modifications (like putting in new windows, caulking around them, etc.) to the building.
GMRyujin, you have to remember that most electric companies bill weird, so that $30 dollar increase may be well before your energy saving measures.
An additional measure that my husband and I have taken is getting the flourescent bulbs that screw into a regular light socket. Flourescent uses far less energy than an incandescent bulb. They are more expensive, but once intsalled, last for a long time.
It might be helpful to measure not by the previous month’s bill, but by the billed amount from the same time last year. Our electric company includes it on our statement, so we can compare June of 2002 to June 2003. Since we started our flourescent movement, the difference between last year and this year was almost $50. That was for just one month, too, so the savings have more than payed for the extra cost of installing the bulbs.
I was pretty amazed once I looked close at our windows and doors. I’m drawing a mental blank on it’s name but there’s that foam tape that fills in the gaps. Aaaargh, what’s that called???
The lightbulb idea FaerieBeth sugested is a great one. Saves a ton of cash, but it does cost a little more up front. Some other suggestions.
Make sure you turn off lights when you leave the room.
Turn of TV/Radio if you are not watching/listening. If you are like me and need background noise all the time use a small radio in the room. It uses less power that a full stereo system.
You mentioned turning the PC off when not in use. Don’t forget the monitor, speakers, printer, etc.
If you can, change out the thermastat with a programable one. Let the house warm up during the day, and cool down just before you get home. If you have pets this may not be a good idea.
Get some of the styrofom insulation sheets. Get this at the local hardware store. Cut it to fit in the windows.
Close the vents to any rooms you don’t use (guest bedroom), close the door, and put a towel or something at the bottom of the door. If you don’t use the room why cool it?
All I can think of for now. Maybe I can come up with some more later.
Number 4 is arguable. Some people say that cooling the house down after it warms up uses the same if not more power than keeping it cool all day. Depends on tempature I guess. Also it can be expensive to get a programable thermastat to begin with.
You didn’t mention if you had an electric stove or not. I understand they’re big electricity eaters. Try to cook using a crockpot, microwave, or grilling outside more often. (Or have a cold sammich, haha.)
Line dry your clothes, the sun is free. (For now!) Fluff the towels and socks in the dryer for a few minutes if you hate the “crunchyness.”
We did the flourescent bulb thing a couple years ago during the rolling blackouts and they dramaticly reduce your electric cost. (They’re not nearly as expensive as they used to be, and supposedly they last 7x longer.) If you don’t like the “look” of the floursecent light you can mix them with regular lights to make the lighting less drastic while still reducing power consumption. (For example our bathroom fixtures are a row of globe lights, we replaced half and the light still seems fairly natural.)
Consider all the stuff that has a clock, lit “standby” button, or backlit readout even when it’s not on/in use (VCR, stereo, etc) and consider unplugging between uses.