It pays to pay attention!

**RuthNY** · 10-11-2005, 06:36 AM

I've been very careless about my electric use this summer. It was a miserably hot humid summer so I ran my A/C pretty much all the time. I watched my electric bill double.

When it got to the point that I could tolerate leaving the a/c off I started monitoring my electric use. I live in an apartment where I can go read my own meter so I was checking it while using my dishwasher, certain lights, etc.

I even found those energy saver bulbs on sale for $1.99 and replaced all of my bulbs with them.

For the last close to two weeks I've been taking my own meter read at the same time everyday and keeping a record just to get a feel for what I was using. I went away for a 3 day weekend and yesterday at my designated time I went downstairs to read my meter, confident it would be low.

I got down there and the wheel was going like crazy round and around but I had nothing on in my apartment. I came back up and saw an extention cord plugged into an outlet outside of my apartment door and someone doing repairs in the apartment across the hall. I yanked the cord and ran downstairs to look at the meter (guy was yelling but I didn't care, I needed to find out!). The meter went back to normal.

I told the guy that was working on the other apartment that he was using MY electric! He appoligized and did go get another extention and went to a different outlet in the lobby. (he's one of the new maintence guys and the empty apartment had no electric, he really didn't know, heck I didn't even know that outlet was on my circut and I've been here 19 months.)

I called the manager, hoping to get them to make it right. I was shocked and pleased with her response. They are going to rewire the hall outlets onto their own circut AND she's giving me $100 of my next month's rent! WOW! I just wanted compensation for that electric! I'm pretty sure that outlet was only used VERY occasionally for vacuuming the hall and I am pretty sure that didn't add too much on my bill.

So it does pay to pay attention!!!

**Jellybeanz** · 10-11-2005, 07:37 AM

Wow, it looks like paying attention paid off! I'm trying to get my electric bill down too. I had gotten bad about drying a load of clothes now and then ( even tho I normally hang them out). I'm also turning off my hot water heater most of the time, leav ing it on only long enough to heat up our water.

Still waiting for an electric bill I can use to compare against current usage tho, we haven't gotten one since Katrina and they say when we do it will be a two month bill.Meanwhile I'll start tracking my daily usage like you to get an idea of how much per day Im using now.

Congratulations on getting $'s off your rent,that's so cool :-)

**Michelle** · 10-11-2005, 08:49 AM

Good for you! I probably wouldn't have noticed. That is awesome that they are going to credit you $100 off your rent too

**Darlene** · 10-11-2005, 09:08 AM

Good for you Ruth! Inquisitiveness, timing and not being timid paid off well.

Make sure they follow through with that hall outlet change.

**psjkmom** · 10-11-2005, 09:24 AM

Good for you Ruth! Even if I had noticed, I'd have been too shy to say anything. Sounds like you handled the situation splendidly!

**dolphin** · 10-11-2005, 09:49 AM

Great news! I bet that little ususage really added up over a few months even if they only used it to vacumn and such.

**PrairieRose** · 10-11-2005, 09:57 AM

Great going there Ruth. I'm happy you spoke up and they are going to compensate you for this.

**SHOPGIRL** · 10-11-2005, 11:43 AM

Way to go! Attention to the little details can end up paying big!

**hollyhill** · 10-11-2005, 12:35 PM

Wow, it has never occured to me to read my own meter! I am going to go out and read mine (even if it is a hike down the driveway and I may meet a bear......

)

Last year our water heater's (natural gas) lighting mechanism broke. We couldn't afford a new heater (Dh had lost his job 2 months earlier) and we couldn't afford a repair man either. We were without a water heater for 6 weeks

. We went back to heating our water on the stove and washing in a few inches of water while Dh tried to figure out how to repair it himself (which he eventually did). In that period of time terasen gas dropped our monthly payment by $47 dollars because our useage dropped so much! and it stayed that way for 8 months before it went up again!

You inspired me to keep a closer tab on my energy use! There must be someway I can save a bit more!!!