My electric and natural gas bills went down!...

**peanut** · 05-27-2007, 12:14 PM

I can't believe it! Electricity was down $25 from $95 to $70cdn. this month. Natural gas was down to $35cdn! I am hoping they will be even lower this coming month. We are in the process of taming the electric monster. I'm replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFs. I only did the basement half way through May, so I'm surprised to see that big a change.

The other thing I'm doing is using minimal lights when I'm in the basement.

This month I am also putting power bars on TV equipment to make sure everything is turned off every night. Seems people remember to turn off the TV, but leave the VCRs on.

Also had a chat with DH and DD#2 about their computers being left on during the day. Now everyone is up to speed and they are shut off when they leave the house...unless they are downloading big files.

And I'm hang drying all my laundry...but that just started this week, so shouldn't be reflected in our bills yet.

As for natural gas, I have this nice warm merino wool aran knit sweater I'm wearing now. I don't notice the cold when the thermostat is turned down.

Also, our water is heated by natural gas, and I just had my upstairs shower fixed. It was not giving a proper mix of hot and cold water, so we'd have to let it run to get cool enough to shower in (ie. empty the hot water tank). Now we can shower comfortably and use less hot water.

Now to fix the kitchen sink tap leaks...

**banana** · 05-27-2007, 05:52 PM

That is Awesome!!!!

**peanut** · 05-27-2007, 07:12 PM

Thanks Banana! They often go down this time of year, but not by that much! I'm very happy.

**Neeley** · 05-27-2007, 08:06 PM

Good job!!! Ours is on the budget plan and we have been paying $251 a month forever. Well, this month they sent us a notice and ours is going down to $235.

**kabin63** · 05-28-2007, 12:10 AM

Great job Peanut! Ours goes down this time of year too, but with the budget plan they wanted to make our natural gas so high. I am thinking I am going to go off the budget for a while to see how we do next winter.

**monkeywrangler71** · 05-28-2007, 01:53 AM

Wow! You're gas bill is incredible. Even in the summer ours is almost $60 a month just for hot water. I wonder if I need to look at upgrading our hw tank?

I bet you will see a big difference in the electric next month after hanging laundry out (although, I don't know if you do 60,000 loads of laundry a month like I do

) We did most of the same things you're doing, clothesline, cfls, powerbars, shutting off computers, and we are down to just under $40 a month now. All those little things add up quickly.

**nuisance26** · 05-28-2007, 03:27 PM

~Great news! Your diligence is paying off!~

**Mom23boys** · 05-28-2007, 03:47 PM

Looks like you are doing a great job at reducing your energy and gas bills! I wish mine were that low!

**Luv2BeFrugal1** · 05-28-2007, 09:28 PM

Hey, that's super!! Our electric bill went down $30 from last month!! Sure feels great, doesn't it?!

**mmosier** · 05-29-2007, 10:45 AM

great job!!! I had never even heard of powerbars until you mentioned them! We just moved so I have no idea what our electric bill will look like, but I need to call about propane and I'm dreading it! Congratulations and good luck on getting them down even more!

Mika

**PeacewithMyself** · 05-29-2007, 12:24 PM

And I thought I was on board with power frugality. You taught me something. I'm going to get power cords for the tv's and turn them off at night. Good idea!