proud of my electric bill!!

**freebs** · 04-30-2009, 09:44 PM

3 months ago my electric bill was $185, 2 months ago it was $140, this month it is $111!! i couldnt believe it. I line dry, wash in cold, all cfs and i still run the dishwasher, 2 freezers and numerous fans. I am glad that it is way down as dh hrs have been cut!

**calimomx2** · 04-30-2009, 10:41 PM

That is fantastic!!! Good for you

**Tnmom** · 05-01-2009, 12:14 AM

Isn't it funny how excited we can get over our electric bill now? I was on the phone with hubby when I opened ours today. Last month it was 111and change. and I was so proud of that..This month it was $99.34..I could even tell him for the laughter!! Made me want to call all the neighbors and ask about theirs..but I didn't..

Congrat on getting yours down!

**ladytoysdream** · 05-01-2009, 07:50 AM

Good job !

I been working hard to get ours down and to keep it there.
Just had one under $ 100.00 .
Not sure how much lower, I can get it though. Hubby is adament about
his 3 outside night lights. We have a freezer. Furnace is quiet finally.
Been keeping a heat lamp on the chicks but hopefully soon, we can wean them from that. Hanging clothes outside. Still tracking the kwh each day in the notebook. Keeps me more aware.

**kittykatstrong** · 05-01-2009, 09:16 AM

Great job. You should be really proud.

**tervsforme** · 05-01-2009, 09:31 AM

That's fantastic! Every little bit helps!

**miss_thrifty** · 05-01-2009, 09:45 AM

congrats on getting your bill down.

**Michelle** · 05-01-2009, 10:43 AM

That is awesome. WTG!

**wwe11** · 05-01-2009, 10:56 AM

That's great!!

**ForMiri** · 05-01-2009, 11:06 AM

Awesome! I know the feeling!

**Thevail** · 05-02-2009, 01:11 AM

Way to go! You'll be really stunned at how little things keep adding up and knocking that bill down!

Lowest electric bill ever... $24.78! But it's one of my hobbies.

Tip #1... put TV, cable box, DVD/VCR player, and any game systems on a power strip. Turn it off before bed. 80% of all TV is watched between 4pm and 10 pm (hence prime-time) so the whole thing only needs power for about 6 hours a day. That 18 hours of savings! (most of those appliances use 40% of the power they use turned on..even when they're "off" if they're still plugged in.)

Tip #2..unplug that microwave. They follow the same 40% rule, and most are 700 Watts or better.

**lmbaker520** · 05-02-2009, 05:39 AM

Great job! That is awesome!

**Grainlady** · 05-02-2009, 08:17 AM

Our whole town is in a competition with several others in the area to see which town can reduce electrical useage the most. We've used a Watt A Meter (purchased ours from Amazon.com) to calculate ACTUAL numbers on some of our appliances so we know the cost of running them. It may be wise to replace some older appliances when you know how much it costs compared to an energy efficient newer model.

We learned it cost 21-cents to distill a gallon of water - cheaper than 38-cents a gallon for reverse osmosis water from the store.

Our 3-year old refrigerator is more efficient than we thought - 7-cents a day. That's because it doesn't have a water/ice dispenser and we don't get into it any more than necessary. All those "extras" will cause it to use more energy.

Did you know the lightbulbs in a refrigerator/freezer are a big energy hog? If you can reduce the number of bulbs, or do without completely, that might help reduce energy use. Especially if you have a number of kids home for the summer who like to check the contents of the refrigerator frequently (LOL). The bulbs in the refrigerator are incandescent bulbs which also give off a lot of additional HEAT.

About those two freezers freebs.... If they are in your unheated garage, they have been pulling less electricity while the weather was cold because of the ambient air temperature. Since they are designed to work at room temperature (70°F), you'll find they may turn into energy hogs when the temperatures rise.

Three years ago we eliminated our free-standing freezer and now we only have the freezer in the refrigerator. Getting rid of the extra freezer made a HUGE difference in our utilities - even though it was kept indoors. YES, they are wonderfully convenient, but the bargains we pack into them are generally off-set by the cost of running them - as tests have shown.

I also wouldn't hold too much stock in month-by-month reductions - because we were gaining sunlight the last 3 months and we don't have to turn lights on as early, and the weather was turning from winter to spring, so the temperatures have been going up and your need for heat went down. You should compare it to a year ago to be more accurate. On our last billing we used less KWH than we did a year ago. Since utility prices change, check the KWH used for an accurate comparison of use, not the amount of the bill. Our sales tax went up, so that is reflected in the currant billing that wasn't in last months.

**Sassyclass** · 05-02-2009, 09:48 PM

I'm happy for you. I got our bill today and it was down another $13 from last month which is ok since we still had some really cold days last month and that's for total electric.

Cat