How to save $ on electric bill?

[diswedwish]

So I returned to my apartment after a month of being away (2 weeks at my parents', 2 weeks at Disney ). My electric bill was over $100 more than the previous month; when I'd been using washer/dryer, dishwasher, etc. I had the heat turned down to 60. So for a 2 bedroom apartment it was $335. My apartment is all electric, but still!!! I called and asked, the girl who treated me like an idiot, asked why I didn't turn the heat off, said it was a common misconception that you needed to leave the heat on so the pipes don't freeze (says in my lease to leave heat at 60 or above) and had me do a meter reading, said it was correct.

I turned off all of the switches in the fuse box to make sure that no one else was plugged into my electric - and they aren't. I used tape around the base of the windows. My dad suggested turning off the hot water switch at the fuse box when I'm not there. Any other suggestions? I'm concerned about next month's bill, once I'm home. I've been in this apartment since May, and this is definitely the highest by quite a bit...

Thanks for any helpful tips!!!!

 

[minnie1928]

Also, try and plug all your entertainment stuff (tv, dvd, stereo, etc) into a power strip and turn it off when you are at work/sleeping. Same goes for any chargers (like cell phone), they use electricity simply by having the charger plugged in...even if the unit itself isn't charging.

 

[DonnaL]

Are you by chance serviced by PPL Electric? If so, get used to it.........everyone's electric bill went up by at least 30% this month. We've been receiving offers from alternate electric service companies for several months now. We had decided to wait a month or two and see just how much our bill went up.......got it Saturday and it's $62 ($241) higher than last months bill of $179 and our house ISN'T total electric.....we heat with gas....

 

[tlh0726]

I know in our area the rate cap ended in Dec 09 for certain electric companies and for the rest the cap ends this Dec 2010.
We are suppose to see a major increase.

Would this be the reason for your higher bill?

 

[diswedwish]

I need to change my location - I'm in NJ and have PSEG. I know about the increase for PP&L because of my parents. I don't think it's the same thing - I think part of it went up, but it said the average person's bill should increase by $27/year. PP&L is going up, what 30%?

I'd thought about the power strip. Do you think it would be better to just turn it off at the fuse box? More complete that way - lol!

Thanks!

 

[QVCshopper]

I'm no electrician, but I wouldn't be turning my fuse boxes on and off every day; doesn't seem like a good idea to me. I'd get a power strip like others have said, use CFL bulbs, task lighting, etc. By any chance, are you leaving your computer on? That's a huge power sucker, even in sleep, as are plugged in devices. Unplug everything when not in use. I think your electric can go down when you're not home for a few weeks--I plan to leave my heat at 52-55 when I'm away; I'm in a single family home. Also, if you have windows that face the sun during the day, open the shades on sunny days for free heat. My house can get up to 70 with the window shades open with no heat running. Close the shades at night for an extra layer of insulation.

I've read many going green books, so if you have a specific question, I may be able to help.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I'm probably just going to restate what was already said but it's worth it to unplug things that you aren't actually using - phone chargers, ipods, clock in the spare room, printer, etc. Also check your fridge and freezer and make sure they are sealed well and not sucking down extra electricity to keep everything cool.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Most electric companies will do an energy audit for you at no charge. They will set up a time to come there and will go over your house/apartment and find out everything that is going on and will actually make suggestions which can help lower your power bill.

And the house I live in is about 2,300 sq ft and total electric (except the cooktop is propane) and in five years I have never had a bill as high as $200.

 

[Sleepy]

Since moving here and having electricity so expensive, I have learned to change my habits to make things cheaper.

As others have said, the power suckers are the everyday items most of us don't think to unplug. All those electronics sitting around the house not being used. If it is plugged in, it is using electricity. I agree with those who said use a power strip and then unplug it. That is what we do. In the kitchen, we don't have any of the small appliances plugged in. We also turn off all the lights in the house during the day and depend on daylight from outside. All light fixtures have the minimum amount of bulbs being utilized. If the ceiling fan has 4 bulbs, we only use 1. We try to use low wattage bulbs for lamps, etc. Turn off the lights when leaving a room. Turn porch lights off when not being used. Keep other outside lighting to a minimum.

While away on vacation, the electric water heater is a big sucker. I suggest cutting that one off at the breaker box.

 

[dawson5]

check out michaelbluejay.com

I found out the huge culprit in my house was my coffee maker. we have a bunn, it keeps the water ready to go at all times. It's like leaving the coffee pot on, 24/7/30. It was $80/mo to use. $5 timer got it to $20/mo.

Find out if you are on a load or tier. If you are on a load, the more things running the higher the cost. Tier is xx/kwh to a certain level, then xxx/kwh from the first tier to the second.

 

[Blue.Fairy2]

Most electric companies will do an energy audit for you at no charge. They will set up a time to come there and will go over your house/apartment and find out everything that is going on and will actually make suggestions which can help lower your power bill.

And the house I live in is about 2,300 sq ft and total electric (except the cooktop is propane) and in five years I have never had a bill as high as $200.

Good suggestion.

your power bill never being as high as $200 probably has more to do with where you live, don't ya think?

Ours went way up this month too due to that week of really cold weather we had with temperatures plunging down to the teens.

 

[tinkermom23]

Our electric company reads the meter every other month, and the off month they do a "estimate" or average of what that previous months were. So some months are higher as they are catching up. I don't know if yours is the same, just a thought.

 

[dex08]

I also live in NJ and have PSEG and have lived in apartments here that were all electric but never had such a high bill!

You may want to call PSEG and ask if they can give you historical data on your unit and see what other tenants were paying around the same time of year last year and previously to see if theirs was unusually high also. If so, it may just be the poor insulation and appliances in your apartment.

Check your heat setting on your hot water heater too (I assume this is also electric because you mention everything is). You don't need it on the highest setting so turning it down will save you energy.

Does your fridge motor kick on a lot? Ask your apartment complex when the last time they had the fridge serviced.

 

[diswedwish]

I will have to call and get an audit I think. And ask for historical data.
Also have to replace half of my light bulbs (the ones that aren't energy savers already).

Here's what I changed:
Charge my computer and phone when I'm awake so they aren't plugged in all night.
Unplugged my microwave, hair dryer, and lit make-up mirror (other small appliances were already unplugged when not in use).
The TV/DVD player are off except for about an hour a day already, but they are connected to a light switch, so I turned that off.
Taped the windows.
Checked the seal of the fridge with a dollar bill - seal is good.
Checked the thermostat on the hot water heater - it's at a good place (between hot/cold, closer to cold) already.
Turn the hot water heater off at the fuse box when I'm not home.
Turned the heat down to 58.

I guess the electric bill bothered me because I thought I was doing well with energy usage. Not perfect, but I didn't see any major problems. It's like finding out that you're 20 lbs heavier than you thought...

Thank you for all your tips, if you think of any more I'd be grateful!

 

[diswedwish]

Oh, and the reading on my bill was an actual reading.

 

[HM]

We used to live in an apartment, the students in the apartment above us left for Christmas break and turned off their heat. Their water pipes froze and flooded our apartment. So, yes turning off heat is a BAD idea.

We've been doing all sorts of things to safe at our house. LED bulbs, CFL bulbs, unplugging appliances unless we're using them (toaster, microwave, clocks in spare room, coffe maker, etc), and keeping TV, Computer, etc on powerstrips that are turned off when not in use.

You might also clean the coils on your refrigerator and change out the filters for your air system so that they run more efficiently.

 

[kayla87]

To me the obvious answer is it's COLD. The months of Dec and Jan (Jan and Feb bills) are the most expensive months for us all year long. Duke Energy has lots of tools on their website to help me understand my electricity usage, and how to decrease it.

Does your statement have a comparison from last year?

From my account on their website, plus my statement, I know these things.
-Duke estimates that my bill went up $92-$154 dollars because of weather
-My bill increased 90 dollars from the last bill
-6 dollars of that increase were from "non-energy" charges
-I used 300 kWh less this year than I did at the same time last year
-My December energy (Jan bill) usage was almost double my November energy usage

All of this helps me to see that even though my bill went up a lot, I'm still doing better than last year, and there is nothing you can do when you live somewhere cold except heat it! We're also enrolled in Duke's Budget Billing, which means we pay the same every month and the excess credit we've built up pays for these large bills. This way, I don't have to worry about the money, and I can just monitor our usage.

The steps you've taken so far will definitely help with your energy usage overall, but I just don't know that there is much you can do during the winter.

 

[Crystal0608]

I'm in NC and have Duke Energy. Everyone's went up this month, crazy high. Our's last month was $92, last year same time $109, this month $145 for 2 br apt/4 people. We've cut on the heat a little more and had up Xmas lights, the rest was the power $$ increase. Our electricity usage this month was 1742kwh for 34 days. Duke has a website that I compare my bill online to and it was $176 for the average home in my area. Check online to see if you have a similar website for your co. Here's my personalized usage from my bill online:
Heating $80 (Central H/A never above 70, bet it's the dryer)
Water Htg/ Laundry $40 (ds's daily bedding wash plus one load a day)
Other $6 (3 tv's & game systems, etc)
Lighting $6 (yay me, energy efficient bulbs in all rooms)
Food Storage $5 (fridge)
Cooking $4 (stove, hardly used haha)
My bill is lower than anyone's I personally know, b/c we are all gripeing this week. My poor grandma's was $362 and they also run gas heat, up $100! I'm ready for warmer weather and a new clothesline.

My FIL is very frugal, but what he does isn't working on the power since his bill was $180+ for one person, 2br, same town. He cuts off all breakers during the day and cuts them on at night for part of the house (besides the fridge). He only cuts on the water heater to take a shower, then cuts it back off. (Always has done this since dh was a kid). His electric heater went out, so this month he has heated with 3 space heaters so I'm pretty sure they over tripled his bill.

 

[eyor44]

My electric bill went up significantly this past month, but I know it was due to Christmas lights and the unusual cold we experienced, plus a rate increase. Our house is 2800sf and the bill was $367. DH was also gone with the two younger kids for a week, so it could have been higher. Oldest DS just moved out, so I am expecting that next month's bill will be much lower. DS is notorious for leaving stuff on when he leaves.

I am just really curious as to why OP's bill was so much higher with no one there for a full month. Did the time you were gone cross over two different billing cycles perhaps? But still to be $100 higher? even with a rate increase...

 

[roselark]

Do you ever have the need to open your windows in the winter? If not, you might use plastic insulator on them.

We have found that using window insulator kits during the winter really helps. These are simply double sided tape with shrinkable plastic. You put the tape around the outside ege of the inside window frame, cut the plastic to size, adhere it to the tape and then use a blow dryer to seal it. We have done it for several years now, but kept putting it off this year. We finally got it up the end of December and it was such a huge difference.

We have used a lot of different brands and have found that 3M works best for us.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:
http://www.amazon.com/3M-2141W-Indo...ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1264530325&sr=8-2