Has anyone saved using smart meters?

[dancin Disney style]

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

I got a letter from Oakville Hydro stating that it starts on June 9th....I just saw it in my desk again this morning.

I'm in River Oaks.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

I got a letter from Oakville Hydro stating that it starts on June 9th....I just saw it in my desk again this morning.

I'm in River Oaks.

River oaks cool we lived there many years. I like the bike paths. Oh cool June maybe we got one too and I just dont know.

 

[dancin Disney style]

River oaks cool we lived there many years. I like the bike paths. Oh cool June maybe we got one too and I just dont know.

Well isn't that funny....many years ago I lived in Coronation Park.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Well isn't that funny....many years ago I lived in Coronation Park.

Thats too funny. We ended up buying the house my wife grew up in. I love it great neighbourhood. It will be nice when they get coronation park finished too. Where down here did you live?

 

[Alderbrook]

We are just outside Hamilton & still haven't received any info on when the metre will be turned on, last notice said "sometime in 2011". I conserve as much as possible so can't wait to see what will happen once we get billed TOU.

 

[Alderbrook]

Time of use rates have been posted on our county's website & I see they have changed the off peak time from what we were once told & it's for the better, hopefully it stays that way!

 

[taurusmom]

Knock on wood but our bills have gone down significantly. I used to pay $350 - 375 every two months and the past two bills they have been $255 and $170 respectively.

I do my very best to run the dishwasher after 9pm and on weekends, do laundry on weekends or after 9pm, I have unplugged anything (lamps, small appliances etc) that we don't use on a regular basis. We bought a new washer/dryer set because drying used to take two hours with my old one and I can do 2x the loads in one shot than before, I follow the kids around turning off lights.

I am hoping that this isn't a set up. Our gas bill has also gone down over the past several months. I have been used to paying $150-200 but they have been $98.00 for at least 6 months.

We recently replaced our roof, some much needed windows, furnace and a/c. Not sure if they are helping but it has been since we made these changes that our bills have reduced.

 

[formill]

I've read many articles on the phantom power and for me it just does not seem worth the effort to unplug my tvs, etc to save about $1.20 a year in electricity per tv? We turn off all lights when not using rooms-we use the dryer very little/run dishwasher at night- but this phantom power thing everyone talks about does not seem to be our biggest problem dollar wise. We also don't shut off our computers but the monitors do go off on their own. So far all the things we have done- fluorescent bulbs etc......the only change in our hydro bills is up up up so I give up- we are careful but I am not going around unplugging every little thing- the microwaves and oven won't even work if their clocks are not set which I would have to do every time I unplugged them - that would drive me crazy. I do wish they would not bother with the clocks in everything.

 

[pampam]

Our time of use started yesterday, so here goes.

I unplugged the freezer during peak hours, and plug it in during cheaper times. I turned off the circuit breaker for the hot water tank during the day, and turn it back on at night. Last night I had a bath after leaving the hot water tank off all day, and the water was still hot. I turned it back on 5 hours before turning on the dishwasher (the dishwasher has a timer so I can set it to come on in the middle of the night.) I unplug all appliances when I'm not using them(except those with clocks). I'll let you know when our next bill comes in if it helps.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Im more interested in seeing how much it goes up doing the same thing you always do. I plan on doing that then experament with this and that. We already do the dishwasher at night and same with laundry at night and on the weekends. As for the rest we shut it off when not in use anyway.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

I guess I have a dumb meter

 

[formill]

Our time of use started yesterday, so here goes.

I unplugged the freezer during peak hours, and plug it in during cheaper times. I turned off the circuit breaker for the hot water tank during the day, and turn it back on at night. Last night I had a bath after leaving the hot water tank off all day, and the water was still hot. I turned it back on 5 hours before turning on the dishwasher (the dishwasher has a timer so I can set it to come on in the middle of the night.) I unplug all appliances when I'm not using them(except those with clocks). I'll let you know when our next bill comes in if it helps.

You are unplugging your freezer???? I really thought your post was a joke when first reading. I could not imagine. We have always been thrifty -always been careful with all things that cost money. But there is no way I am turning off my hot water and my freezer daily.

 

[Ken_Breadbox]

You are unplugging your freezer???? I really thought your post was a joke when first reading. I could not imagine. We have always been thrifty -always been careful with all things that cost money. But there is no way I am turning off my hot water and my freezer daily.

Second that. Besides, I would imagine one would WASTE money with this course of action. It costs energy to bring a freezer down to temp, much more energy than it does to keep it there.

 

[Alderbrook]

Second that. Besides, I would imagine one would WASTE money with this course of action. It costs energy to bring a freezer down to temp, much more energy than it does to keep it there.

I would agree with you, but if your freezer is full, it shouldn't defrost that fast, but also it shouldn't run much either. A full freezer is more economical than an empty one.

I won't be shutting off my freezer & my hot water tank is gas. The biggest things for us is the Central AC (which I plan to run only at night & freeze our house for the next day) & the dryer, but I only use the dryer for 1 hour every week anyways & that's on off peak time anyways.

 

[pampam]

Our time of use started yesterday, so here goes.

I unplugged the freezer during peak hours, and plug it in during cheaper times. I turned off the circuit breaker for the hot water tank during the day, and turn it back on at night. Last night I had a bath after leaving the hot water tank off all day, and the water was still hot. I turned it back on 5 hours before turning on the dishwasher (the dishwasher has a timer so I can set it to come on in the middle of the night.) I unplug all appliances when I'm not using them(except those with clocks). I'll let you know when our next bill comes in if it helps.

OP here. Our bill has gone (are you ready for it?)



down.



It has gone down about $4.00 a month.

Now imagine what it would be if I didn't do what I do.

The freezer is fine, thank you. It's only off during peak hours. I knew it would be ok because we were out of hydro once for 4 days and the freezer was fine, even though it was 5 feet away from the wood stove. Anyway, I wish I was saving more, but at least we are holding our own rather than going up, up, up the way most are.

 

[Ken_Breadbox]

Our first time of use bill arrived last month. I was pleasantly surprised to find our bill had gone done about 15%. Of course, what with all the fees and miscellaneous hosedowns you get soaked with, it can be hard to see the positive. My best friend lives in San Diego. His energy bill is $30/month all taxes included. Now, I know he doesn't have winter to contend with, but still...

 

[Alderbrook]

our metre was just turned on on Sept 28th. I'm a SAHM so we'll see how it goes. I've always run my washer/dryer on the weekends, so I'm using the same amount now as i did before, let's see what happens on my 1st bill in Nov.

 

[jelo]

Jennifer how is that possible? I too am in NF and I am still recuperating from my last hydro/water bill!! $460. for one month(August)
We don't have a pool, used the A/c of course. I am at home all day, tv and 1-2 lights on. I do 1-2 dishwasher loads and laundry loads during the day(I'm a home childcare provider)
August was a meter reading month...July was $260 and estimated.
Our smart meters start Nov....not looking forward to it for sure!

 

[nutc4disney]

We've had our Smart Meter for over a year and we are doing what we can when it comes to using off peak periods for laundry, etc. but between the increase in taxes on hydro and when they increased the hydro rates the last time (increased off peak rates by a much higher percentage now we are all trained), my bills are still going up. Smart meters are not getting people to conserve just use more at different times.

 

[tgropp]

but between the increase in taxes on hydro and when they increased the hydro rates the last time (increased off peak rates by a much higher percentage now we are all trained), my bills are still going up. Smart meters are not getting people to conserve just use more at different times.

Smart meters were never meant to conserve energy.....it is meant as an extra tax on the taxpayers.