Advise on our Electricity Bill

**Precious26** · 12-12-2007, 11:42 AM

I am currently living in a 2 bedroom apartment with my Fiance', I was curious to find out if any of the villagers out there had any great tips on keeping our Electricity bill down(We don't pay for our water or Gas)? Considering it has reached the max of $50.98 this month, I probably should mention that my other half watches alot of Television even if it's background noise, as for myself I am started working on being more productive at home with having more free time:-) in fact I started that this week.

TIA,

**KJayEsq** · 12-12-2007, 12:15 PM

There is a similar thread on electricity and one villager dropped her bill significantly by unplugging all appliances when not in use (TV, microwave, etc). Apparently they use "phantom energy" or something even when they are turned off.

I have started unplugging, but have not yet received a bill to determine if it has worked for me yet. Give it a try - it can't hurt!

**mommy4ever** · 12-12-2007, 12:19 PM

Wow, what are you rates? We pay a little more than you, we're a family of 6, plus run a dayhome. TV is on either music stations only or kid programming during the day. 2 computers on all day, an upright freezer, a chest freezer, fridge, I bake alot, I sew alot, i use other heating appliances.

I think rather than cost, what is the usage? It's hard to compare that when everyone pays a different rate.

**sdrjeolsen** · 12-12-2007, 12:27 PM

I'd replace as many bulbs as you can with CFLs.

**Precious26** · 12-12-2007, 12:29 PM

I do believe my usage was 1660kWPH, an average cost to run my appartment per day was $1.59/ 32 days if this helps any? I unplugged quite a few cords last night after recieving my bill yesterday:-) to see if it makes a difference.
Would dusting the back coil on the fridge make a difference? We also have already replaced most of our bulbs with CFL there maybe one or two that are not.

**monkeywrangler71** · 12-12-2007, 12:30 PM

I have to agree with mommy4ever on this, that sounds incredibly high to me - what is your average kwh usage? We have a three storey house, 5 people, and I also bake and sew a lot, plus we have a 42" television that is always on. Our bill is about $40 a month.

You either have much higher rates, or you've got something a lot more serious than phantom users sucking electricity. Do you have electric heat? Old appliances? Incandescent light bulbs burning all the time? Water cooler? Giant old deep freezer? Clothes dryer?

Was that an actual reading? If not, look at your meter and see if it's close. Our electric company estimates every second month, and sometimes the estimates are way off.

**Precious26** · 12-12-2007, 12:35 PM

I guess I will have to take a look at the bill when I get home:-) I know what they estimated and our usage for the month for the second reading was off by a bit but honestly not much. We don't have a dryer in our suite, we have a brand new 7.5ft chest freezer that we have had since September. I honestly couldn't tell you how old our fridge or Stove is considering they don't belong to us we are currently renting.

**monkeywrangler71** · 12-12-2007, 12:54 PM

The deep freeze shouldn't use much, since it's small and new. That's the same size mine is.

- Keep your deep freeze full, and your refrigerator empty. Make sure the coldness setting is appropriate on the fridge.
- Replace old light bulbs with CFLs. Start with lights that are on the longest and ones that have the highest wattage.
- Keep your computer and peripherals unplugged when not in use, especially if you have an older monitor.
- Put a lid on pots when boiling, so they heat up faster. Don't preheat your oven for casseroles
- Make sure everything is off, unplugged if possible, when you leave for the day.

**Precious26** · 12-12-2007, 07:47 PM

I just thought I would let you know my usage for last month was 272.28KWH is this alot for two people?

**monkeymia** · 12-12-2007, 08:23 PM

Try to do washing or drying at night due to off-peak rates, unplug appliances when not in use, change to energy saving globes, turn off lights when not in use.

Hope these help.

**monkeywrangler71** · 12-12-2007, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by Precious26

I just thought I would let you know my usage for last month was 272.28KWH is this alot for two people?

No, that isn't a lot. You must have high rates, mine is usually between 350-450 kwh and I have a lower bill - you seem to be paying nearly twice as much. If your rates are high, then every watt counts, so you should see a difference if you're vigilant about unplugging and turning things off.

**mommy4ever** · 12-12-2007, 09:27 PM

No it's not that bad. That's a 1/3.

Look at the carrier charges etc. We pay $52 in various charges, admin, carrier, blah blah even before we pay our usage. So look at that. That could be factoring in.

**mommy4ever** · 12-12-2007, 09:29 PM

Oh, we don't get a price break for different time of day use. We try to do stuff at night when we can simply because there's a power shortage here, supposedly. But there's no monetary advantage to doing so. Our meter isn't set up to monitor time of day use either.

**Precious26** · 12-12-2007, 10:28 PM

Mommy4ever,

Do you think that this would probably be the same for any where in Alberta with not having peak hours? Yeah I will agree with you there that in regards to the added distribution charge, and Transmission Charge?