Electric bill keeps dropping

June 7, 2007

My electric bill for May dropped even more. As you might recall from a previous post on the topic, I cut my electric bill in half by shutting off my hottub and switching from incandescent light bulbs to Compact Fluorescents. My goal was to drop my kilowatt hours (KWH) under 1,000 and last month bills had them at 758 and now they 717 (see photo of my bill below)!! We're well under half my peak bill in January at 1,841 KWHs. Anything generating heat is a killer!! Imagine if everyone tried a few things like this. The electric companies would be begging us to use more power.

Well, I have to confess, our 25-year-old electric dryer broke down about midway through May and given a graduation and other stuff, we have not replaced it. The clothes dry outside and end up like cardboard. Anyhow, our two college age kids are home for the summer so we've probably hit bottom in terms of KWHs. But it's not that hard to reduce your electric bill.

BTW, I'm keeping the old Hotpoint dryer. All it needed was a new belt and dryers aren't much more energy efficient than they were 25 years ago (washers are, though). Heat is heat. And don't throw away your old appliance either. In the words of one repair and parts site: "A good rule of thumb is, if it can break, melt, dull or wear we can order it for you."




	My goal was to drop my kilowatt hours under 1,000. Last month's bill had them at 758 and now they're at 717.

Posted by John Dodge on June 7, 2007 | Comments (1)

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July 2, 2007

In response to: Electric bill keeps dropping
NewEnergyWorks commented:

Great job in reducing your electric bill by 30%! If you use fabric softener for the washing machine, the clothes will be soft again. Don't forget about standby-losses: all of those appliances with an adapter or a 'standby light' are all using electricity, even without anything running on them. Unplug them or use a powerswitch to turn them off completely. If you want to save more money on electricity, consider photovoltaic panels that you can rent for your home, starting in 2008: www.NewEnglandSun.com

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