How do we save on electricity?

[cglaura]

My HW heater is gas, so I guess I could turn it down to the lowest temp setting? I don't believe I have a way of putting that on a timer, do I?

This is some info on timers. Seems they only are efficient w/ electric water heaters...

"Timers aren't as cost effective or useful on gas water heaters because of their pilot lights."

But maybe some of the other tips will help (insulating, heat traps, etc.)

http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13110

There are other parts of the site with some good tips for general energy savings as well.

Im no help, but your question reminded me of something my dad always use to say every time he would open up the electric bill.....

"TURN SOMETHING OFF......ELECTRIC BILL IS OUTRAGEOUS.....TURN SOMETHING OFF!!!!"

My dad is great.....I find myself yelling that now....LOL

Reminds me of my dad too! Only his was "Shut the door!!! We're not heating/cooling the whole neighborhood you know!!!"

 

[dawnbu40]

A few months ago I saw a tv program about going "green" and it said that anything that is plugged into an outlet is using electricity whether or not it is in use. This prompted me to unplugging everything that is not in use. (with the only exceptions of stove & fridge) My electric bill immediately fell 20% My DH thinks its a hassle to have to plug in the coffeemaker, lamps or microwave but it is saving money and helping the environment! A win-win situation!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Wow! 20%???? That's awesome! We don't keep small appliances plugged in, but we do keep the tv, DVD, etc plugged in all the time. Perhaps I need to look into those power strips for those things.

I started line drying as much as possible and knocked $20-25 off my bill. I know that's just temporary because I can't do it all winter, but it's a help now!

Oh - and if you have an electric water heater, be sure to drain it once a year and clean out the build up. We had one element totally gunked up and not working. Once we cleaned it and replaced the element, our water heater cost us mush less to run (still wishing we would have put in a gas one though).

 

[SandrA9810]

because our tv sits in front of the entertainment stand (it's too big for it). The power strip is on the floor in between and i just hit the switch with my foot. I was a little worried about the DVR, but it just takes a minute to power up and connect. Now if you like to record shows because you're not home, don't turn the power off to it.

I have everything plugged into a surge protector. We've got a dozen strips because well it's florida and lots of thunderstorms mean, lots of surges. It's easy to just hit the switch.

And for those of you with an AC, we've bought a programmable thermostat. Works like a charm. And of course you can always over-ride it temporarily, then go back to your presets.

For CFLs there's three different shades of light you can get. There's the soft, bright white, daylight. And of course you can buy them in almost any wattage comparable to regular incadesent. We use the bright white, and I swear our windows are the brightest out of the whole apt complex at night.

Ceiling fans help a lot, but just remember it doesn't help anything at all if you're not in the room to feel the air moving. So don't forget to turn them off.

Phone chargers are a big waste of electricity because the things don't know if something is plugged in or not. So if you like to charge every one's phone at night or something. Hook it up to a surge protector and when you're done, flip the switch off.

Our internet box/wireless router always stays on though, because there's three of us here, and we all use the net at different times of the day. But we always power down the PC when we're not using it. That's something I've always done since my first PC, cause it hated being on for long periods of time, and made my room really hot.
So clocks and large appliances are really the only thing that stays on constantly.

 

[SandrA9810]

And you could always turn down your water heater temp. It doesn't need to be more than like 115 degrees F. It's usually a little screw on the side of the tank, underneath a plate.
If you don't like super hot showers, you could probably go even cooler than that. And dishwashers already have a heater element in it to get the water hot enough for cleaning. And that's only heating a small amount of water vs a whole tank.

 

[TifffanyD]

So I heard about these power strips that automatically cut power to items when not in use. They also have a couple of "bypass" plugs that you can use for things you don't want to reprogram (TV, clocks, whatever). I think they are like $30 each.

 

[lovemygoofy]

We are one of the weird families that unplugs most things but there are exceptions. The frigerator, stove, coffee pot(have a grumpy husband at 0430 if coffee wasn't already made) and the tivo which is plugged into it's own surge protector.

We are into the routine now that everything else is unplugged when not in use. At night, we hit the button the surge protector for the tv and doodads on it, unplug the one lamp we may or may not had on and hit the button the surge protector in the office for everything in there including lamp, laptop,printer and modem.

We charge cell phones every other to two days and leave the chargers unplugged but in their spot if that makes sense. Radio ipod chargers are unplugged when not in use as well as anything in the garage.

I think a big drainer that people don't think about are all the chargers we use now. For ipods, cell phones, blackberries, and alarm clocks. Our alarm clock has a battery backup and we have it own batter during the day and then when whomever gets home at night plugs it in.

During the day, unplug the stuff you aren't using especially if not there. That has helped us quite a bit in reducing our bill.

 

[Dani C]

Definitately unplug it if it won't hurt anything (obviously not freezers, etc). Just turning it off doesn't keep it from pulling the power and power strips still pull power even if turned off.

 

[wall*e2008]

I don't understand unplugging lamps. You need a lamp when it is dark and you cannot see. Do you really want to be trying to plug it in in the dark?

We have our tv etc (except the DVR) on a power strip that is turned off at night. The computer is on one too.

 

[wall*e2008]

Definitately unplug it if it won't hurt anything (obviously not freezers, etc). Just turning it off doesn't keep it from pulling the power and power strips still pull power even if turned off.

This is incorrect. The power strip does not have a transformer, a sleep mode or a display (which is why TVs etc. pull power) and when the switch it thrown there is not connection between the outlet and the TV. If it was letting power through then the displays would still be lite.

 

[abeyst]

I should unplug my electric stove. It's not like I ever use it....

 

[blondietink]

Our rule is to turn off the computer monitor every time you leave the computer for even just a few minutes. It saves us tons of money. We tried to set the internal timer on the computer to turn off the monitor after 5 or 10 minutes of idle time, but it really messed up the computer, so we just hit the button on the monitor instead.

 

[QVCshopper]

About 18 months ago, I bought a metal line dryer at Ikea for $20. It has two arms that fold out. I do laundry every 2 days in cold water and this dryer is big enough for my entire family of four's laundry. It's a big treat if I use the real dryer--maybe 2x/month.

Also, I'm big on unplugging to save $. I'm lucky b/c my TV and all accessories are on a light switch that I just turn off at night/when I'm away to save $. I have powerstrips for my computer & other TV.

Last month, my gas & electric bill was $65 for 32 days. Not too bad, but I live in the mid-Atlantic and didn't need heat or air conditioning during that time.

Think I'll look into the hot water heater timer next...

 

[dyna]

1 small thing I started doing when boiling water I use regular cold tap water unless I already got hot water in the facet ready to go.... then I put lid on pan holding in the heat so the water boils faster. Using hot water tap for quick hand washing etc an not lettin water get hot still uses that bit of electric to reheat what just went into the tank.

Waiting for hot water is a huge waste not only on electric but water too GRRRRRRRr

 

[dyna]

ODD story here but on topic.... I'll try to keep it short.

My gfather was obessed with ready his electric meter read it the same time every day he ALWAYS used more electric on Tues an Thurs than any other days of the week. Yet the man had no indoor plumbing so no water heater no washer an dryer, his stove was gas so it wasn't that he cooked more on Tues an thurs. He always had 3 or 4 tvs running most of the time so it wasn't that. Only 2 light bulbs in his entire house (he lived in a garage converted over to house when house burned) During the summer he had a very old small fan from about 1940 that he sometimes used but not very often.

Back in the early 70's when my parents light bill was 40.00 Gfathers was 6.00 the electric company used to pay him a visit every year because they didn't think it was possible for anyone to use so little electric.

 

[pampam]

Im no help, but your question reminded me of something my dad always use to say every time he would open up the electric bill.....

"TURN SOMETHING OFF......ELECTRIC BILL IS OUTRAGEOUS.....TURN SOMETHING OFF!!!!"

My dad is great.....I find myself yelling that now....LOL

My dad would yell " Ya can't eat the lights!"

Mythbusters had a program on electric lights and after a study they found it is cheaper to turn off a light when you leave the room if you will be gone more than 1 twentieth of a second. In other words, always turn off a light. They tested incandecent bulbs, flourescent tubes, and the new energy saving bulbs. There was a slight variation between bulbs, but I'm talking fractions of a second difference here.

That being said, I believe it wears out your bulbs quicker doing this, and you could be paying more for new bulbs. The reason I say this is I saw another program, and I believe it was at a Thomas Edison Museum in Florida. There was a lightbulb there that he had made, and they never turned it off, because it could blow the bulb. It was still burning - working just fine. Which goes to show you how well things were made back then.

 

[wall*e2008]

ODD story here but on topic.... I'll try to keep it short.

My gfather was obessed with ready his electric meter read it the same time every day he ALWAYS used more electric on Tues an Thurs than any other days of the week. Yet the man had no indoor plumbing so no water heater no washer an dryer, his stove was gas so it wasn't that he cooked more on Tues an thurs. He always had 3 or 4 tvs running most of the time so it wasn't that. Only 2 light bulbs in his entire house (he lived in a garage converted over to house when house burned) During the summer he had a very old small fan from about 1940 that he sometimes used but not very often.

Back in the early 70's when my parents light bill was 40.00 Gfathers was 6.00 the electric company used to pay him a visit every year because they didn't think it was possible for anyone to use so little electric.

So why was he using more electric on Tuesday and Thursday?

 

[wall*e2008]

My dad would yell " Ya can't eat the lights!"

Mythbusters had a program on electric lights and after a study they found it is cheaper to turn off a light when you leave the room if you will be gone more than 1 twentieth of a second. In other words, always turn off a light. They tested incandecent bulbs, flourescent tubes, and the new energy saving bulbs. There was a slight variation between bulbs, but I'm talking fractions of a second difference here.

That being said, I believe it wears out your bulbs quicker doing this, and you could be paying more for new bulbs. The reason I say this is I saw another program, and I believe it was at a Thomas Edison Museum in Florida. There was a lightbulb there that he had made, and they never turned it off, because it could blow the bulb. It was still burning - working just fine. Which goes to show you how well things were made back then.

A bulb will blow when turned on. We have recessed lights in our kitchen. Last week a bulb blew. I went to Lowe's to get the new dimmer CFL bulbs. That sucker was $13. I have not installed it yet, since I need to get a ladder to do it. Last night another bulb blew. Back to Lowe's I go today to get a second. That blub (actually there are 5 in this cluster) is too expensive to turn off 100 times a day.

BTW computer terminals should only be turned off for long times, it reduces their lives to turn them off 50 times a day.

 

[SandrA9810]

Our old CRT monitor works just fine. And it's like 10 years old.

And for all those with flat LCD screens... think of gameboys, with the new DS the screens turns off and pause the game automatically if it is shut. And those things go through a lot of abuse with kids, of constant opening and closing.

 

[minnie1928]

So I heard about these power strips that automatically cut power to items when not in use. They also have a couple of "bypass" plugs that you can use for things you don't want to reprogram (TV, clocks, whatever). I think they are like $30 each.

I have a bunch of these. I bought them about 2 years ago through www.bitsltd.net. I bought a case of 12 and I think it worked out to be about $18 each. I took the extras to work and sold them to coworkers so we could all share the savings.