Electric Bill

[Denim Deb]

We just got our electric bill in the mail. Now, keep in mind, w/the exception of the wood stove, we live in a house that's 100% electric. Electric stove, electric fridge, electric hot water heater, etc. Plus, my chain saw is electric and I've cut up quite a bit of wood.

Last month, my hubby got a couple of those convection heaters. One he lent to our son, the other is what we've been using instead of the baseboard heat. Plus, until it got so cold out, I was drying most of our clothes on the line. Right now, between the weather and needing to get stuff done B4 my operation, I'm back to using the dryer.

For dishes, I've been putting a couple of inches of water in the sink, getting the worst of the dirt off of them and putting them in the dishwasher. If it's not full, I've been putting a black ribbon in the door so people know they're dirty. Some stuff, I prefer to wash by hand, like pots and pans. For those, I put about 2 inches of water in the sink, and that's all the water I use for washing. I use the direct foam for dish washing soap. (I bought a bottle, and have been refilling it.) The one thing I don't do is fill up the other side of the sink to rinse the dishes. I don't feel that this really gets them rinsed well, so I do use more water doing it that way.

Our bill for the past month? $93.00 and change. I don't recall now exactly what it was. We used 512 kwh for the month-about 1/2 of what we normally use.

We have budget billing. Because of all the work I've done to try and use less electric, we actually ended up not paying last month. We won't pay anything this month, and I think next month, we'll have a very low bill. And, our new budget bill will be $105.00 LESS a month than last year!

I've been wanting to try something to save even more money. I'm going to start saving at least some of the water I use when I'm running it to get it hot. Then, I'll heat that on the wood stove and use my battery operated shower for taking a shower. I'd love to see the bill come down even more!

 

[SSDreamin]

Man, that's fantastic! My house is almost all GAS, and that's what my bill looks like every month! on getting a couple months break on the electric bills too!

 

[FarmerChick]

what is the budget billing you mentioned?


good job

I tackled my bill also. I am happy with how low I get it now. in winter and summer with the pool filter etc.

Oct was like 80, Nov was 93 and Dec was 118. 2100 sq ft and even though I 'try' at keeping bill low I still use the dryer and all that. I don't suffer less electric usage if you know what I mean lol

I am all electric also.

weather so warm I haven't even turned on my propane fireplace yet. but Brrrr on today and I think I will be popping it on tonight cause our weather took that definite winter cold feel today after a big storm the last 2 days.

 

[Denim Deb]

what is the budget billing you mentioned?

Budget billing is available in this area to people whose house is all electric. They take your average bill for a year, and divide it by 12. And, that's what you pay every month. For us, it's easier. I'm not sure how much we pay per kwh, but our bill was around $330/per month for the budget. And, in spite of the heat last summer, we were still able to bring down our overall usage. We may have had only 1 or 2 months that actually went over that, but most were under.

I'm guessing w/your bills, your electric is probably cheaper than ours. Or, because of where you are, you don't use as much electric. If it was just me, the bill would be around that every month, if not lower. But, hubby likes it hot in the winter and cold in the summer. I try and turn off as much as I can when he's not home.

 

[FarmerChick]

oh location and tons of things matters when keeping an elec. bill lower. all of us are different in house insulation, weather, gadgets we use like pool filters and all that mess.

I just know my wallet can handle my power bill now since I went after lowering it with CFLs, power strips and all that.

Plus when hubby at work and kid at school I keep everything off so I do have alot of downtime on elec. in the home. my worst time is like 5-9 pm. seems power is on everywhere in the house lol

 

[THEFAN]

Great job. The electric bill is one of those bills you have some control over. Unplug and turn things off. I think I would go for a gas stove thou. IMHO Not a big savings but it's nice to have a food heating source when the power goes out. Yes, I know there's the woodstove but always nice to have a back up to the back up.

Our bill goes from 65-80 a month. We use to be about 110.00 but have done a lot of conservation in the last 4 yrs. Always aware if what we use. We pay 5 months in advance going into the winter. One less bill to deal with when work slows down. We do the same with our phone too Only a mortgage in the winter. All elese is payed ahead. Then in spring we save again to pay ahead.


Good luck to all.

 

[Denim Deb]

It would not be worth it to put in a gas stove. We'd have to do so much work to the house to even put it in. Plus, there's no gas line down the street, so we'd have to have it delivered. We thought about it B4, and it's just not worth it. If we get really stuck for cooking, we do have a camp stove, so we're covered that way.

 

[Marianne]

Great job, Deb!

 

[hwillm1977]

We're on budget billing too... and I would love to see ours get lower. Right now we're at $305/month... but our winter has been a lot easier than normal so I'm hoping when our rollover time gets here we'll be paying a lower bill. Plus this year we're putting in new windows and a layer of insulation and housewrap on the outside of the house so I'm SURE that will lower the power bills

Congrats on getting yours down that much!

In the winter we use a retractable clothsline in the kitchen where the woodstove is instead of the dryer. We string it across the room when needed and if the stove is going full blast the clothes will dry within a few hours.

 

[stubbornhillfarm]

I feel kind of bad even asking this because apparently, comparred to some, our electric bill is pretty good. However, our bill did double this month! A couple of obvious reasons; 1. Our youngest daughter is home from the Coast Guard living with us temporarily as she is at a temp station near by. So another person using electricity. 2. We added a heated stock tank so that we are not chipping ice, dumping, dragging hoses, cows have fresh water all day, etc and a heated waterer for the chickens so that they can have water all day. All of these are great reasons and worth a little extra. And normally, my husband and I are at about $70.00 per month in the winter.

So...my question; All of the things like microwave, CD Player, TV, night light...do they really take up a noticable amount of electiricity when they are plugged in but not on? In other words, if I unplug all those things that we really don't use and just plug them in when I need them, will I see a difference?

Thanks so much! Staci