Holy crap we've been spendy with the power bill

[TVRodriguez]

I admit it. Once DH installed the programmable thermostat, insulated the attic, and we got better energy star appliances, I stopped paying attention to the power bill.

Then, in cleaning out the file cabinet, I saw an old bill and noticed that our electric bill (all our power is electric--no fuel or gas) is about the same as it was before those power-saving features were added.

So I've turned my attention back and I realize that we have been using a crap-ton of electricity! I went online and saw that the "budget billing" feature that was supposed to give us roughly the same bill each month was actually not encouraging us to think about our use of power, since there was no feeling each month of "oh, I guess we used more/less b/c the bill is higher/lower than usual." Nope, instead the bill was about the same all the time, making it seem (to the wilfully blind) that it didn't matter how much electricity we used. So DH canceled the budget billing, and I'm going around turning stuff off when not needed, without making us uncomfortable.

In one month, we dropped our use by nearly one-third. Like I said, Holy Crap, right? Now that I've opened my eyes to it, though, I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can keep the bill down.

[Float On]

I sent my kids to college and my budget billing has gone down $20 a month. Not bad considering rates have increased over the last year.

[TVRodriguez]

I sent my kids to college and my budget billing has gone down $20 a month. Not bad considering rates have increased over the last year.

Ha! That's great. I bet your food bill went down, too!

[Float On]

Ha! That's great. I bet your food bill went down, too!

By two hundred dollars!

[Williamsmith]

Does the savings make up for the added miscellaneous expenses of sending two kids to college?

[razz]

We have the highest power rates with smart meters supposedly helping with choosing our times of power use but the base charges of delivery etc., are more than my actual consumption and they appear to be a fixed amount for a base rate so reducing my consumption further makes little difference. I have everything energy efficient as well.

[lessisbest]

Did you take into account any price hikes? You may have had savings but they were offset by price increases for energy.

I've been tracking our use since 2009, the total use (electric and natural gas combined) is between $1,900-$2,200 annually. Each time we get an energy price hike, we try to figure out something else to do to try to lower the energy use. We've replaced our ceiling fixtures with LED fixtures, and have all LED lights throughout the house. Had one solar panel installed, which is a nice source of heat.

I refuse to get a programmable thermostat because I can do a better job than it can. In 2011 we didn't turn the whole house furnace on at all (other than when the technician checked and serviced it in the fall). We heated the public spaces with a Sun Cloud Infrared Heater (which costs about 2-cents per hour when we checked it for over 500 hours with a Kill-A-Watt Meter) and occasionally turned on our small gas fireplace. That was a winter with moderate temperatures.

I can save in the winter, but the hot Kansas summers are a whole other thing. We've installed UV blocking screens, awnings, and insulated blinds and curtains indoors. If there is one thing we've done that we believe makes a difference, we put bubble wrap over all the windows during the coldest part of the winter (2-3 months). Using bubble wrap on windows is a good way for anyone who is renting or living in an older home with drafty windows to help keep some of the cold our. It's simple to do, and completely reversible. As a bonus - you avoid moisture accumulating on your windows.

[SteveinMN]

I refuse to get a programmable thermostat because I can do a better job than it can. In 2011 we didn't turn the whole house furnace on at all (other than when the technician checked and serviced it in the fall).
If I tried that I'd soon be posting as a single person. :~)

We do have a programmable thermostat and I'm pretty aggressive about changing the program ad hoc. On workdays, the thermostat is set to a temperature DW finds comfortable enough for the mornings (the heater in the bathroom that lets us get away with a lower temp in the rest of the house). About 15 minutes before DW leaves for work, the thermostat drops the morning program and goes to the day program -- 63* during the day. If I'm leaving the house, I'll set the 'stat manually for 60*. On weekends, the 'stat defaults to 60* during the day, but if DW is home, we push the temp up to 68* or 69*. In the summer, the default "gone" temperature set is 83 degrees; we'll push it down if fans are not keeping us comfortable.

My experience with programmable thermostats is that they pay for themselves within a year and the occupants of the house are much happier. In a climate like Minnesota and without other options like an auxiliary stove, having a computer mind the thermostat really can save some money.

[Gardnr]

In one month, we dropped our use by nearly one-third. Like I said, Holy Crap, right? Now that I've opened my eyes to it, though, I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can keep the bill down.

You are such an aware person. I am curious what changes you made to drop your use by 1/3?

[Float On]

Does the savings make up for the added miscellaneous expenses of sending two kids to college?

At this point yes because of some great scholarship and investments the grandmother made for each child when they were born. Ask me again if they lose their academic scholarships or run out of grandma money.

[TVRodriguez]

You are such an aware person. I am curious what changes you made to drop your use by 1/3?

Gosh, that's a sweet thing to say! Sadly, the answer is that I was being blissfully unaware before. I've started turning off the ac entirely some days instead of relying on the programmed thermostat. It had been at 80 when we're not home, but even that was too much to cool an empty house. We are in Miami, so it's still ac weather here. When I work from home, I now either set the temp to 78 or turn it off and use the ceiling fans and open the house doors for a breeze. Mostly ac reduction bc it's the biggest energy hog we have. DH already put led bulbs all over. I've been using a Kill-A-Watt from the library and not much else uses much energy. It's the ac and the pool pump, which is on a daily timer already.