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any ideas how to keep our electric bill down? Being at home and running the AC is killing us over here. The bill was so high, I think my husband almost fainted. He keeps the house chilly at night though and won't budge on that so its partly on him.
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Ours was through the roof too...we just got solar and now they owe us money each month!
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Nothing short of turning the AC down and off at night sorry. The only way to keep the electric bill down for us is turning the lights off inside during the day, keeping the AC off unless it extremely hot (over 90), keeping our ceiling fans off unless we are in that room, not washing unless it's a full load and tumble drying for 10 minutes (to get the wrinkles out) and then line drying our clothes. That seems to be the major things that use up our electricity.
Oh and we unplug all of our appliances that we are not immediately using (washer, dryer, toaster, stereo, computers etc).Comment
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I don't run mine constantly - have it on until it's cool then I shut it down for a while. We crank it before bedtime and turn it off. If it's too horrible we'll put it on for an hour or so during the night.
My husband doesn't like anything running when he goes to sleep. Sort of paranoid that way. But.. our electric bills aren't horrendous. We've got a small home and that can be a good thing.
If it's not central air, closing off rooms that aren't used during the day can help. We only have 2 air conditioners and a small oscilating fan to blow the air around corners.
78-80* isn't horrible if you can run the air long enough to wipe out the humidity.Comment
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I am the same way. I like it cold when I sleep. Suggest you get a fan for the room and up the temp 4 degrees at night.Comment
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We have c/a, keep it set on 77, so it does not run constantly unless hits the 90+ mark. Energy efficient bulbs,hang laundry when can, turn lights off once daylight is here.
We have ceiling fans and floor fans, and use them all the time. Fans cool bodies, not things, so we can be very comfortable with the air at 77 with a fan blowing air. I too know that our electric/utility bill would pry be cut considerably if I wasn't working at home. Seriously, the 41% I can take on our utility bill for tax purposes, doesn't come close to what I actually spend on utilities for daycare, considering by 9:30 at night the lights are out.Comment
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Ours was $460 this month....
We have two refrigerator/freezers, two AC units (one for the daycare playroom), a large deep freeze, 5 computers, a water filtration unit, heat pump and all electric appliances though. 
I want to switch to natural gas appliances/heating so bad, but it is price prohibitive this far out of city limits right now.
Ceiling & floor fans, light limiting blinds, unplugging anything not in use, using efficient bulbs, insulation, weather proofing, doing laundry late at night/early morning and not cooking every day help here.- Unless otherwise stated, all my posts are personal opinion and worth what you paid for them.
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That sounds wonderful...
What kind of initial investment was this??
Is it as efficient with standard appliances?
How well does it work through a snowy/icy winter?
Sorry for all the ??? but I don't know anyone who actually has gone this route.
- Unless otherwise stated, all my posts are personal opinion and worth what you paid for them.Comment
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270 last month which was a month of hellish hot weather. Highest bill I have ever had in this house.
Money well spent. I HATE hot weather. I would rather pay then be miserable. I keep my house at 64 so it runs all the time.
We had the first night in many months last night where I could sleep with the windows open. I feel like a new woman.
Fresh air... lord I love it.
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Here's some ideas:
~Programmable thermostat (Keep it cooler during the day and warmer at night...or in your husband's case...vice versa.)
~Ask your energy provider if they have a program that you can enroll in. (Budget billing so your bill is the same each month. Or here, we have a cycle program that will cycle the air in your house rather than your A/C cycling each time.)
~If you can, use the basement more, it stays cooler down there and you can keep your thermostat set higher during the day.
~Don't do much baking or cooking during peak hours.
~Close closet doors.
~Close doors to rooms you don't use often.
~Close vents to rooms that aren't used often.
~Use room darkening curtains or blinds. If you can't afford new, hang up a blanket to keep the heat out.
I keep curtains drawn most all summer until the sun goes down. It's helped by $45 a month sometimes!
~Keep your bills! They are tax deductible!Comment
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here we go on a budget plan. So every month we pay the same, so in aug. we either owe money or they owe us money. Also, if you keep turning your ac on and off its more money too.Comment
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Lights off during the day as much as we can (which is a lot because the playroom gets lots of natural light)
Learning to live with it being warmer in the house so the thermostat can be set higher. I think ours hovers around 80.
Fan at night if you want it cool.
Ceiling fans...I need to make better use of ours, but the room that needs them the most doesn't have them. They help a lot though.Hee hee! Look, I have a signature!Comment
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We also switched all our light bulbs to the coiled florescent lights. That's saved us about $8.00 a month in energy and we don't have to worry about changing bulbs every other week!
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I HATE those CFL bulbs. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. They are a serious hazard if they break because they have mercury in them. You have to be really careful how you clean them up. Plus, the ones we've ever used don't last nearly as long as incandescent bulbs; I think it's because we don't leave the lights on long enough in most of the rooms. Half the ones we get take a long time to turn on, some of the rest give a strange light that I can't stand. They're expensive and I just don't like them.
Has anyone tried LED light bulbs?Hee hee! Look, I have a signature!Comment
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If you don't get your power through the TVA this might not help you, but I was able to get a free Energy Conservation Kit here, and the site offers a seriously detailed energy audit, which is also free. If I remember correctly (it's been a while since I filled it out), it asks you all sorts of questions about the capacity/energy efficiency ratings of your major appliances, and tells you where upgrading something (like your water heater) or making adjustments (shorter showers, turning up the A/C) will benefit you most and how much money it will save you. There's an online version and a paper version. I was pretty impressed by the online version, but the paper version supposedly gets good results also when you send it back for evaluation (according to the local utility company guy that recommended it). If this doesn't work for your area, you might try Googling around a bit and checking your utility company's website to see if your locality offers anything similar.
It's probably also worth a call to your local utility company to find out if they offer (or can recommend) any sort of energy audit service. Ours doesn't do it that I know of, but I've seen news reports here and there of companies offering to come out to look at your house and advise you on how to save energy -- tell you if you need weatherstripping at your entry/exit, new windows, more insulation, or that kind of thing.
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