Has anyone saved using smart meters?

[KerriMc]

If you figure out the pool thing I too would like to know about it!! We just put the pool in last year (was supposed to be in by June and wasn't done until around the 20th of August - but that is another story!!!) ... just from that amount of time (and from the guys building the pool leaving a pump running to keep the water out) our hydro skyrocketed for those months! I am anticipating a huge leap once we start it up again!!

Maybe we should run it all night to warm it up and then keep it down during the day when the sun will warm it?? I have no idea ... thinking it will be an expensive summer!!! LOL

 

[disneymath]

If you figure out the pool thing I too would like to know about it!! We just put the pool in last year (was supposed to be in by June and wasn't done until around the 20th of August - but that is another story!!!) ... just from that amount of time (and from the guys building the pool leaving a pump running to keep the water out) our hydro skyrocketed for those months! I am anticipating a huge leap once we start it up again!!

Maybe we should run it all night to warm it up and then keep it down during the day when the sun will warm it?? I have no idea ... thinking it will be an expensive summer!!! LOL

Do you heat your water with an electric or gas heater? If so, that will cause your bills to skyrocket no doubt. We turn our heater on at most twice a year for 4-5 hours each time ... usually once around the long weekend in May (to get rid of the remaining winter chill) and once around the labour day weekend in September (to try and squeak out a few more weeks before the snow comes).

The rest of the time we rely on a solar blanket (the pool is always covered when we're not in it) and a series of black hoses that snake along roof and are attached to the pump. As the pump circulates the pool water it passes through the hose and gets VERY hot on sunny days. My dad rigged this up well over 20 years ago.

I asked him about the device for the pump and while he doesn't have it yet, he did explain that it is supposed to "clean up" the eneregy your pump use and contains a series of capcitors that will reduce the amperage by up to 75%. Apparently this "thing" has been around for a while, but the smart meter thing is what has caused him move on it. (I suspect it is not cheap but that the savings would be seen over a few seasons and since the smart meters are here to stay or so it seems ...)

 

[jtdl]

We've been on the smart meter for about a year now and our hydro bill has gone nowhere but up, up and up even higher. I do my laundry in the off-peak hours and on weekends. I work out of my home so I can't turn the lights, computer, furnace off during the day - I guess our lovely family-oriented gov't doesn't agree with work-at-home or stay-at-home moms cause they didn't put in any allowances for that with the smart meters.

We have a pool (in the summer) and we put the filter on a timer to run only during the off-peak hours - through the night. I

t's probably a combination of the smart meter, HST, debt recovery and all the other charges we are having tacked on to our hydro bill. It's just getting crazy - soon nobody will be able to eat and pay their utility bills too - not to mention the price of gas - we're paying $5.86 a US gallon here - luckily I can zip over to Port Huron and pay less than $4.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Our smart meter doesnt start until may of this year and im not looking forward to it.

 

[newdeal]

I have no idea what you are paying for hydro but we installed a geothermal heating system and are paying around $250 a month in the winter including heat, hot water, everything. We have no gas here and when we moved in we had an electric furnace and our first bill was $500 a month (during this time the temp was set to 19 in the day and 16 in the night because we werent living in the house, werent using hot water and had no appliances...now we keep it at 21.5 and of course have appliances etc). Also keep in mind that e prices of hydro have gone up about 25% in the last two years due to the hst and price increases and the geo unit is a huge savings that will pay itself off in 4-5 years

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Ive been thinking of that geothermal.

 

[MedicGoofy]

Wow. I have significantly lower bills. My gas bill is only $50...and that was after they lowered it from $115. I had almost $250 sitting in the reserve, so they had to lower it, with the summer coming, I would of had a HUGE refund. My hydro bill is only $115, with some flucuating by a few bucks. I don't usually adhere to doing my laundry and dishwasher at night because I work shift work and it just won't work. It has to be done during the day. I feel bad for those paying such high rates. Having said that, my parents bills aren't much higher than mine. Their gas bill is about $70, they have an older home.

 

[Alderbrook]

We aren't on the smart metres yet, but we've had it installed since last summer, it's supposed to be turned on sometime in 2011 according to our hydro company. I already do laundry on the weekend & I only run the dryer once a week (socks & underwear), eveything else gets hung up in our laundry room. Once summer is here, I hang everything on a line outside. If it's supposed to rain, it gets hung inside. We only use our AC at night to sleep comfortably & our familyroom is in our basement so it's nice & cool down there. Dishwasher only gets run at night as well.

Right now on a flat rate we average about $150/month for water & hydro. We'll have to see what happens once the metre gets turned on, but I don't see how I can cut down anymore. I am a SAHM too so I am here during the day, there's only so much I can do.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

Ive been thinking of that geothermal.

We have a geothermal furnace and have been slammed this year once we switched to time of use. Once the temp gets below about -20 the electric backup on the furnace kicks in fairly regularly. Not something you can adjust for on those cold days. Our bill had been about 300 to 350 per month before Time of Use billing. With TOU our December bill for 30 days was $770 and January bill was about $740.

Between the hst and the increases and the Time of Use charges I really feel for those who are on fixed incomes.

Having had a geothermal furnace for 11 years there is no way I would recommend them to anyone where the weather can get extremely cold. You're choices for service go way down (not many companies service them), parts are very expensive and with the higher Hydro costs the savings just aren't there.

 

[treehugnmama]

i don't have a smart meter for gas.

I have a smart meter for hydro and mt bill doubled!! I am scared for summer. We have all high efficency appliances, fridge,dishwasher and washer dryer.

I run dishwasher and laundry durring non peak times (use timer)
I even have a charging station that charges cell phones ipods etc on non peak times (timer)

I have sensor lights in many areas so they turn off 30 seconds after I leave a room so nothing is left on and my bill DOUBLED! not a happy camper.

we watch very little tv 6-7 hours a week. I do not know how my bill doubled?? I am as environmentally friendly as I can be but I have a vice AC I keep it low in the summer and I keep my heat low int he winter so I figure it balances out HOWEVER this year I am going to either be cool and broke or hot grumpy and have a decent hydro bill

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

We have a geothermal furnace and have been slammed this year once we switched to time of use. Once the temp gets below about -20 the electric backup on the furnace kicks in fairly regularly. Not something you can adjust for on those cold days. Our bill had been about 300 to 350 per month before Time of Use billing. With TOU our December bill for 30 days was $770 and January bill was about $740.

Between the hst and the increases and the Time of Use charges I really feel for those who are on fixed incomes.

Having had a geothermal furnace for 11 years there is no way I would recommend them to anyone where the weather can get extremely cold. You're choices for service go way down (not many companies service them), parts are very expensive and with the higher Hydro costs the savings just aren't there.

We do hit -20 a couple of times but not many and usually not for long. I do however have 2 fireplaces that can help.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

We do hit -20 a couple of times but not many and usually not for long. I do however have 2 fireplaces that can help.

Your mileage may vary.... We're in Ottawa so it's not like we're worlds away from you and we also have 2 fireplaces. It's just a heads ups that it's not quite as rosy as the some of those who would like to sell you one would suggest. Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Thanks.

 

[mollyseven]

I have to say that our bill has just gone up and up again. I am home in the day and have kept the heat at 67/68 tops all day long and if I am going out I lower it more. I do my laundry after 9 and ONLY ever run my dishwasher through the night.
Another thing I noticed is that where they used to bill us every like 60 days they now bill us every 30-35 so that we can easily think we are paying the same but we are paying twice as often.....I have noticed that on another utility also.....do they think we are stupid or what?
Our water bill has doubled in the last year also because they put a new water treatment plant in town and we are paying for it. Our water bill used to be 70 dollars a month and my last bill was 148!!

I don't know how young first time homeowners can do it anymore.

 

[seashoreCM]

Put sheet styrofoam insulation on the sides, top, and even the doors of a refrigerator to reduce the running time and power usage. (But there must be air space behind and under the refrigerator with air space continuing over the top to the front and around the lower sides to the front so the machinery can operate efficiently.)

How many of you use a clothes dryer regularly? In winter, putting the clothes on racks in the house not only saves on dryer usage but also saves on humidifier usage.

 

[disneymath]

Put sheet styrofoam insulation on the sides, top, and even the doors of a refrigerator to reduce the running time and power usage. (But there must be air space behind and under the refrigerator with air space continuing over the top to the front and around the lower sides to the front so the machinery can operate efficiently.)

How many of you use a clothes dryer regularly? In winter, putting the clothes on racks in the house not only saves on dryer usage but also saves on humidifier usage.

Good tips ... Also, stop dishwasher before drying cycle begins ... Open door and let drip dry overnight ... Put away in the morning.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Wow this thread is making me nervous. Our smart metre was installed last summer...the idiots failed to give us notice that they would be in the neighbourhood, I was at work so of course my kids were petrified when the power went out and there were men right at our front door banging around. Anyway, ours get turned on in June. We've been doing laundry on the weekend for ever and we never leave anything turned on when not in use. So it seems to me like there is very little if anything we can do to further reduce our consumption. Last year we got new high efficiency appliances and furnace. We do still want to replace our A/C so maybe that should be done ASAP.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Wow this thread is making me nervous. Our smart metre was installed last summer...the idiots failed to give us notice that they would be in the neighbourhood, I was at work so of course my kids were petrified when the power went out and there were men right at our front door banging around. Anyway, ours get turned on in June. We've been doing laundry on the weekend for ever and we never leave anything turned on when not in use. So it seems to me like there is very little if anything we can do to further reduce our consumption. Last year we got new high efficiency appliances and furnace. We do still want to replace our A/C so maybe that should be done ASAP.

Its the stand by modes. Like the vcr, pvr, stereo, powered sub woofer, adapters left plugged in like phone chargers that waste power. No matter what they say electric bills will jump big when it starts working.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Its the stand by modes. Like the vcr, pvr, stereo, powered sub woofer, adapters left plugged in like phone chargers that waste power. No matter what they say electric bills will jump big when it starts working.

Hey Thumper....I'm also in Oakville so good luck to us both.

We don't leave many things plugged in at all. Just a lamp in each room, 2 TV's with DVD players and a cordless phone. Aside from that it's the major appliances. We don't even have a dishwasher. In my living room the lamps and stereo are on an outlet that is powered by a wall switch so it's off when no one is in there. Same goes for all the bedrooms....each room has 2 lamps, one on the wall switch and one in a regular outlet. We store our chargers in a drawer so they are only plugged in when being used.

Many years ago I read an article about phantom power so we started unplugging everything that we could. We also only use compact flourescent or halogen bulbs.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Hey Thumper....I'm also in Oakville so good luck to us both.

We don't leave many things plugged in at all. Just a lamp in each room, 2 TV's with DVD players and a cordless phone. Aside from that it's the major appliances. We don't even have a dishwasher. In my living room the lamps and stereo are on an outlet that is powered by a wall switch so it's off when no one is in there. Same goes for all the bedrooms....each room has 2 lamps, one on the wall switch and one in a regular outlet. We store our chargers in a drawer so they are only plugged in when being used.

Many years ago I read an article about phantom power so we started unplugging everything that we could. We also only use compact flourescent or halogen bulbs.

get ready for May 1st then thats when the meters kick in. Where in Oakville are you? Were close to Coronation Park.