Taking charge of my utilities.

[mommy4ever]

Lately there have been some advertisements for adding solar panels to the home. If you produce more than you use, you could get a credit according to the one commercial. Ok, so I thought this could be a good thing.

For a cost of $1500 they could set it up for you, with $40/mo fees to maintain and admin. On average these panels would produce 1600kwh(per year). The average usage per month in my area is 600kwh per MONTH. So, it could average a savings of 133 kwH(for me a savings of $10.64) for the cost of $40 per month. Plus the initial $1500.... but that wouldn't give you ownership of the panels. They would remove them if you don't stick with it.

Doesn't that sound like a DEAL? LOL. There is a 'demo' home here in the city, that is the cadillac of enviro homes, that has a full roof of solar panels, and down the south side of the home. For about 4 months out of the year it might make 600kwh. But the cost of setting THAT house up was WAY more.

So obviously, solar isn't the way to go in my area, with only about 8 hours day light if we're lucky for 4 or 5 months a year. In the summer it would be better... but only marginally.

So I decided to take a look at our bills, to see how we are doing.

AVERAGE family consumes:
Gas - 11.25 Kj /month (by provincial average)
Power - 600kwh/month(by province average)
Water - 17.5 cubic meters/month (by city average)

Our Consumption.
Gas - 2.98 Kj
Power - 1070 kwh
Water - 14 cubic meter.

The average family is 3 here. We are a family of 6, with a home daycare, so day time hours are higher.

So I am pleased with the gas and water(gonna work on that more), but NOT happy with the power. We don't have a peak hour rate, so it doesn't matter when I do dishes or laundry or bake. Flat rate.

Looking for ideas to cut that power bill. Goal is in 1/2.

First thing I did was my printer is ALWAYS on. it's off now. We replaced 2 old dinosaur computers with netbooks. They are off unless being used, but we still have others. I'll be replacing my own with a laptop in the fall. I think ds will invest in a laptop for himself too, college is coming fast.

Today I walked around the house and turned off all lights. I opened the blinds. My youngest went downstairs and played with her little pet shops with only the fireplace lighting her way. LOL. It's warm and cozy.

But other ideas would be great!

[wandap]

I too have been trying to get control on our utilities. I go around turning off lights, making sure to turn off computers at night. Using a clothes line has helped alot. And now that it is getting cold i use drying racks in the den near the fireplace. We heat our home mostly with our fireplace, it has an blower and really puts out the heat. Know we could do better but getting the kids to help is not so easy, they don't see it, because they don't pay the bills and don't understand really what it is all about. But every little bit helps.

[Pianolady]

I think you are on the right track already.

Ahhhh....solar panels, I too looked into it for a bit. The cost is prohibitive for most people. My grandfather built his own diy solar panels in the 1970's to heat his water.... I remember is was such a cool thing when I was a kid. He was ahead of his time.

[mommy4ever]

I think you are on the right track already.

Ahhhh....solar panels, I too looked into it for a bit. The cost is prohibitive for most people. My grandfather built his own diy solar panels in the 1970's to heat his water.... I remember is was such a cool thing when I was a kid. He was ahead of his time.

It is expensive. And the reality is it DOESN'T cost that much to produce it. But it is what it is. I will not spend $1500 and then a $40/maintenance fee to save $10... What is the sense of that!

I'm going to put money in other things. I am wanting to invest in LED lights instead CFL. They are more pricey, but longer lasting, better light. And cheaper to use. We have had poor luck with the CFL, they last no longer than in incandescent for us, at 800% the price, so it wasn't worth it. We have some pot lights I want to try with first. I know it's an investment, but I'm willing to test it out. I always worry about the heat from the old style, so could be a good idea!

[frugalfranny]

But other ideas would be great!

Getting new windows probably helped me the most. (I had already insulated years ago)

I put a blanket on my water heater and that helped.

If you can reach the plug ins for your washer and dryer, unplug them. I now unplug mine when not in use.

There are some things that I won't bother unplugging when not being used.......my digital clock, micro, tv (too much hassle to reset).......but I unplug the computer room each night. It can be 10 hours before I am back on the computer.......so why pay for phantom elec.?

[mommy4ever]

The washer and dryer have phantom usage? I've never heard that before!

[Pianolady]

Cover windows with plastic, insulation around all windows and doors. We took some trim off some windows once, and were shocked by the air coming in there. Insulate the attic more.

Put insulation behind the wall plates on all outside walls. They make special foam insulation pads that go right over the junction box, then you just put the wall plate back on.

Check your windows and reglaze any panes that need it.

This might not apply to electric, depends on whether you have gas heat (I assume you probably do).

Use power strips for convenience except where it's not safe to do so (big appliances, etc.), I just trip the switch on the power strip to shut everything off.

[frugalfranny]

The washer and dryer have phantom usage? I've never heard that before!

I tested my dryer.... prior to them changing my meter to the newer ones that are read in their office (whole other story!)....when I could actually watch it cycle around............there was a difference of 12 for when the dryer was plugged in versus not plugged in........allowing a couple for 'error points'.......even 10 is still phantom elec. (Hope that is clear...........I know it is measured in Kwh........but not sure what it is called when just circling around.......it was 12 marks on the meter FASTER when plugged in.)

I THEN asked the guy when they were changing my meter out and he 'hemmed and hawed'......and said "well, it wouldn't be much if there was phantom elec".......my question was if there was such a thing as "phantom elec"............YEAH, RIGHT.......like they will tell you????!!!

Everything that is plugged in will have phantom usage when turned off; but still left plugged in.........even a power strip. (though it should be a minute amt. on p. strip) It is just how much you want to 'hassle' with it.............with resetting things and etc. For me......some I will.......others not.

[Sassyclass]

Her is an extreme solar idea I read on another forum. A young lady and her roommates were in college and wanted to save on their utilities. They bought several outdoor landscaping solar lights and put them in the sunny areas indoors. At night they had free lighting. She said they really worked well, but I think you would have to buy a lot of those lights to do the job right. You could always burn lots of candles. Make sure you have all the window treatments opened on sunny bright days to use the heat from the sun, then you won't have to use the fireplace until later in the day. You already seem to have a good handle on things, let us know how you do.

Cat

[shoiji]

I really like the whole solar panel idea. But I would probably wait until the technology gets better. Plus I can't help but wonder how safe the panels are. We were led to believe the CFLs were the greatest only to find out the original ones contained mercury. Something that was not advertised right away.

[mommy4ever]

I like the idea of solar as well, and when the time is right, will definitely go that way, but for it to cost us MORE, significantly so, doesn't make sense. So I'll use the passive solar as much as possible and go from there.