Lowest electric bill ever. [Archive]

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

04-30-2010, 07:00 PM

Our rolling annualized monthly average* is 673.92kWh, and has gradually been creeping down from 735.83kWh in February 2009. (Household reduced to 4 in Feb 2008, new washing machine Aug? 2008, clothes line in summer 2008) I think the only things that can keep the average dropping for a little while is that I replaced my wife's old P4 PC and CRT with a netbook and an LCD monitor and unplugged speakers and a webcam and use built-ins, plus we replaced phone + answering machine + caller id with a single digital unit.

Our hogs:
- Separate freezer: nearly empty, hopefully will shut it off soon
- Refrigerator-freezer, dryer
- Multiple old TVs, 3 used more than others.
- Wife's disabled*** brother at home with TV on a lot
- My laptop. :D
- Teenager who doesn't care about electricity consumption and has a laptop running all the time, multiple vampire consoles and a ceiling fan running all the time**
- Lizard tank lights: ~ 66W x 16h/day
- Fan run at night for noise to help sleep - probably not that big a deal.
- Some A/C use in summer.

* I like spreadsheets
** To be fair the upstairs of our (now oversized) house has two rooms full of crap and generally is too hot. Better than running the A/C a lot I suppose.
*** Real and permanent, although social services keep insisting on occasional reviews because their policies are more retarded.

Harold

04-30-2010, 09:03 PM

sotherncannuck we heat with natural gas so that may be the difference. Heat and hot water including a natural gas barbecue runs at $82 per mth. averaged over the year. We dry our cloths outside on a cloths line when weather permits and all lights are compact florescent. H

bomber991

04-30-2010, 10:29 PM

Last year in may was my experiment without using any A/C at all. We ended up using 364kWh. I guess it'd be lower if we didn't have a refrigerator, because I'm sure it's gotta come on more often to keep the inside cool. It sucks though at this apartment there's a rule about not hanging your clothes up on your balcony to dry. I guess it doesn't matter though cause the balcony is too small to hang a full load of clothes on it anyway.

fuzzy

05-01-2010, 01:20 AM

7762 kwh for the 12 months ended March 30, my first year with a ductless mini-split heat pump, and the first year of never firing up the wood stove. That compares to 9884 for the previous 12 months, 11 of them without the heat pump.

This is in the Puget Sound area. Before my conservation measures began about four years ago, annual use ranged from 10200 to 11700 over the prior decade, with some supplemental wood heat when regional air quality rules allowed. With new EnergyStar washer and dishwasher and some additional gap sealing of the building envelope, usage initially dropped to 9200, but had crept up again due to rising thermostat settings and declining stove use.

southerncannuck

05-01-2010, 06:28 AM

It looks like a lot of us Hyper Mile our houses!

phoebeisis

05-01-2010, 07:46 AM

Gairwyn- my wife is pretty compulsive about cleaning that lint trap.Glad you mentioned it, because that is EXACTLY the sort of thing I ignore when I occasionally use the dryer.
Because of economics-broke/debt/usual story- we are stuck with this dryer until it croaks. My wife's mother bought it in 1982-we got it from her in 1990!! Obviously they don't make things like they used to.The darned thing occasionally breaks-the belt breaks- but it is cheap enough that it is worth fixing!!
I could buy a used gas dryer on CL for maybe $100-I already have the gas hookup in the washer room- I certainly wouldn't pay a pro to install it-despite fooling with gas hookups-I would just ask a buddy how to safely do the hookup-and use my nose(yes, certainly not smart and certainly against some sort of building code). They-gas appliances-seem to use these flexible accordion type hoses. Just screw on screw off.There must be some sealing "goo" or tape?? Surely a compression fitting won't seal natural gas well enough??
Bottom line I'm stuck with this 6-7KWHr per hour dryer until it actually dies(and it won't).In general heavy loads take almost an hour!

On the bright side my wife is game to hang the items on the line.In the summer- 95 degrees- stuff will dry in a couple of hours despite out high humidity(maybe 60% at 90 degrees- close to 100% when it drops to 80 degrees late at night).

Bailout- wow- Reno is REALLY HOT AND DRY RIGHT?? Too bad those busy body home owners associations are so far behind the times. You live in the perfect place to use a clothes line.

We have central air- 12.0 SEER 3.5 tons-roughly 3.5 KWHrs per hour- or almost 40 cents per hour.It could easily run 24 hours/d- 2500 KWHr per month just by itself. More reasonably it could run 16 hours/d with the thermostat set at 78 degrees( 1600 KWHr/month by itself). We got some reasonably efficient small 5000-6000 BTU window units- EER+9.7-10.8- at night and at many times during the day we use just the window units when we are in one of the rooms with them,

Painting the roof dropped our power use by about 25% during the worst 4 months. It probably increased our use of natural gas in the winter- but last winter we had an unusually cold winter-so it is tough to say how much.Normally the heater only goes on maybe 20-40 days/y.It was on maybe 100 days-and we had strings of under 40 degree days-all day under 40 degrees. Unusual.
Charlie

aca2983

05-01-2010, 02:42 PM

Just dry inside on racks. I also have a curtain rod installed on my laundry room ceiling, going the entire length of the room. On this I can hang hangers with shirts & stuff on them. I always save the plastic hangers from stores for this purpose.

phoebeisis

05-01-2010, 04:14 PM

Yeah-Nevada is so dry that dry that a bit of extra inside humidity is probably an improvement.

CS Home Owners Associations.All that free drying power going to waste-costs 50 cents worth of power to dry most loads with an electric dryer. Complete waste of 50 cents.
Charlie

Jough96Accord

05-01-2010, 07:57 PM

fuzzy

05-01-2010, 09:08 PM

... my wife is pretty compulsive about cleaning that lint trap....
I could buy a used gas dryer on CL for maybe $100-...

Before buying any new dryer, try cleaning the lint out of the entire duct run. It doesn't collect only at the main lint trap. And get rid of any vinyl accordion flex sections, which are fire hazards and cause more flow resistance. Replace it with smooth metal sections, or aluminum flex tubes.

A relative who had a dryer taking much too long, despite a clean trap, had me look at it. There were two more hidden traps, both fully plugged. One was at the back of the drum towards the outlet of the machine (she had been cleaning one at the front of the drum), the other was at the outside hood. Cleaning these made it usable again.

I have reworked my entire dryer exhaust ducting, replacing the vinyl flex with smooth tubes, re-routing to cut four 90-degree corners (more flow resistance than allowed for this duct length, according to the dryer installation manual) to just two-and-a-half corners, and fixing a burst section. The later was allowing some moisture and lint to escape into the crawl space.

The fixed vent flowed much better, shooting 'steam' much further across the yard, and significantly improving drying time. A re-check seven years later (also finishing the in-wall section skipped the first time) found much less internal lint than was removed during the original work.

There are some dryer vent brushes on flexible rods to clean ducts without taking them apart. I haven't tried them, and don't think they will reach past corners.

I'm looking forward to the return of outside drying season.

phoebeisis

05-02-2010, 06:53 AM

fuzzy-thanks for the tips.
Yes,I have the cheapo accordian pleated plastic "duct"-I'll look into replacing it.
Thanks

The Doctor

05-02-2010, 07:22 AM

Without knowing where someone is from, comparing electric bills could be like comparing apples and oranges.

I was surprised and greatly pleased, 22 years ago, when I moved my mobile home from Illinois to Florida. Same house and same appliances, including the central air, but the bill was cut almost in half. Most of our power here is generated by the Nuclear Power Plant on the Gulf coast.

My last bill was for exactly the same number of KW's as the same month last year.
But I've done about all I can do to minimize electric use. I put a timer on my electric water heater and the fans I use to pull fresh air through the house. I shut down my old central air unit several years ago and also shut down my gas furnace and gas water heater when the cost of propane reached $2.50 per gallon.
Here, electric is much more economical than Propane Gas.

I use the florescent light bulbs wherever possible and I save up my laundry for a FULL LOAD before doing laundry.
I cook very little and use my Microwave Oven whenever possible. It's much more efficient than the electric stove. The only AC I have is a little 5k window unit in my bedroom and that's only ON for a couple of hours to cool down the room before I retire.
My last electric will was a very pleasant $59. :Banane35:

Cheers Mates (this is a great thread)
The Doctor :cool:

The Doctor

05-02-2010, 07:32 AM

Before buying any new dryer, try cleaning the lint out of the entire duct run. It doesn't collect only at the main lint trap. And get rid of any vinyl accordion flex sections, which are fire hazards and cause more flow resistance. Replace it with smooth metal sections, or aluminum flex tubes.

A relative who had a dryer taking much too long, despite a clean trap, had me look at it. There were two more hidden traps, both fully plugged. One was at the back of the drum towards the outlet of the machine (she had been cleaning one at the front of the drum), the other was at the outside hood. Cleaning these made it usable again.

I have reworked my entire dryer exhaust ducting, replacing the vinyl flex with smooth tubes, re-routing to cut four 90-degree corners (more flow resistance than allowed for this duct length, according to the dryer installation manual) to just two-and-a-half corners, and fixing a burst section. The later was allowing some moisture and lint to escape into the crawl space.

The fixed vent flowed much better, shooting 'steam' much further across the yard, and significantly improving drying time. A re-check seven years later (also finishing the in-wall section skipped the first time) found much less internal lint than was removed during the original work.

There are some dryer vent brushes on flexible rods to clean ducts without taking them apart. I haven't tried them, and don't think they will reach past corners.

I'm looking forward to the return of outside drying season.

On the dryer filter thingy.....
I was watching a TV show one day and they were talking about saving electricity and electric dryers. I don't remember who the lady was, but she said that if you use dryer sheets in your dryer, the wax on those sheets will coat the filaments in the lint traps causing the filaments to get FAT, decreasing air flow. So not only clean the lint out of your lint traps, on every load of clothes, but at least once a week, wash them with hot water, detergent and a brush. Air flow will improve and so will dryer efficiency.
Just a tip.

The Doctor :cool:

ILAveo

05-02-2010, 09:58 AM

I have solar panels and try to use as little as I can as far as electricity. This is for the month of March 15th - April 15th.

362kwh used
231kwh sold
132kwh paid for, I guess they rounded up

In all, my bill was $15.45. Next billing period I hope to break even with the purchases/sales. Not to mention I actually make much more than I sell, I just use it before I can sell it, and ALL of what I make I sell to another company. My electricity is actually free.

Last month we used 538 KWH. I can think of many things we could do to conserve, but I'm not the only user.

I envy your system. I'm thinking about having my unemployed college EE major son fabricate a solar system in this summer. (Last summer he made me an arc welder!) I've found it hard to sift the con artists and nut cases from the real advice in my online research. Do you have general advice about sizing and operation?

phoebeisis

05-02-2010, 10:05 AM

The Doctor- good point.
What do you pay per KWHr?
We pay about 9 cents per KWHr in metro NOLA area-River Ridge 4 miles due west of NOLA proper.
We have paid as much as 14.5 cents.It all depends on natural gas price. When natural gas hit $14 ( per I don't know what unit-??) we were paying 14.5 cents.Now we pay about 9 cents, and natural gas is about $4 per unit)
Our plants run on natural gas and NUKE(Waterford 3 in Taft-15 miles from us).

Maybe everyone could post their KWHr cost? It is generally 8-15 cents per I think.
I just assume an average of 12 cents when I read these posts.

Charlie

phoebeisis

05-02-2010, 10:10 AM

ILAveo

05-02-2010, 10:13 AM

The Doctor- good point.
What do you pay per KWHr?
We pay about 9 cents per KWHr in metro NOLA area-River Ridge 4 miles due west of NOLA proper.

Charlie

7.5 per KWH this time of year, a bit more in summer-mostly coal and nuclear generated power.

phoebeisis

05-02-2010, 11:25 AM

ILAveo Wow-that is cheap!!
Here we are in NOLA- floating on natural gas and oil-and we pay more than that.
Well, coal is cheap-no question it is the cheapest fuel- by a lot.

Thanks

ILAveo

05-02-2010, 11:38 AM

ILAveo Wow-that is cheap!!
Here we are in NOLA- floating on natural gas and oil-and we pay more than that.
Well, coal is cheap-no question it is the cheapest fuel- by a lot.

Thanks

It's cheap, but it's worth it. I have less than two 9's of service reliability. Power hasn't been out since Friday:rolleyes:. I'll lose power for a few days once or twice a year. That's the main reason I want to make my own power.

fuzzy

05-02-2010, 12:59 PM

... for maybe 10 hours on a sunny day ...

Fixed panels cannot collect 10 full-power-equivalent hours of sun in a day.

A solar tracking arrangement will get more power than fixed panels, but I don't have the details to know if even a tracking system in a cloud-free location can get that much.

ILAveo

05-02-2010, 02:11 PM

Anyone know a cheap source for a solar array??

I vaguely remember them being about $10,000 per 10x10 foot array that was supposed to average about 1000 watt hrs per hour for maybe 10 hours on a sunny day in at 30 degrees north.
With our cost-10 cents per KWHr- payback was 10,000 days-30 years assuming 300 average days per year.

Once they are down to $3333 -10 years-they make sense.
Charlie

Cells cost about $1.20/watt on E-bay right now, and I probably will have an unemployed future electrical engineer available to put them together (he should have to work off his room and board, right?).

Guessing about $1500 for other materials (frame, plexiglass, inverter/controller, wiring, a small bank of lead acid batteries) makes my guess about $2700 as a materials cost for a 1 KW system. I need to measure the draw from my refrigerator and freezer compressors on start up to help determine my planned capcity.

phoebeisis

05-02-2010, 05:30 PM

SentraSE-R

05-02-2010, 06:01 PM

347 kwh and 37 therms ng last month. Our electricity cost is high at .12/kwh. Last month's utility bill was $90. It was $75 the previous month, and $63 the month before. My wife's been out of work the past month, and turns the heat on in the morning. I guess I'll have to talk to her about that, as the house warms up by midday anyway.

ILAveo

05-02-2010, 06:20 PM

I'm no expert, but this link (http://www.solarpower2day.net/solar-cells/efficiency/) seems to have some good stuff. If I understand the rating system the bottom line is that according to NREL's map a 1KW array in my area would average about a 4.5 KWh/day output in an ideal installation, NOLA area would average about 5 KWh.

Actual output is effected by other things like temp and keeping a good angle, so actual power would be somewhat less.

fuzzy

05-02-2010, 09:08 PM

What can you actually get from a 1 KWH system??
Does that mean that you get 1000 watt hrs at noon, and less at other times.Or does it mean you are supposed to average 1000 watt hrs per daylight hour over a typical day-summer/winter??

How much Energy can you expect per year from a 1 KWH panel (100 sq feet I think).
Is it 10 hoursx 1 KWH x 365= 3650 KWH per year- or $360 worth of power per year? ...
While I'm not part of the industry, what I've normally seen is that a 1 kW system means the raw panels have a DC rating of 1kW in one of several standard sun conditions (1kW/m^2 light intensity, 25C, with panel squarely aimed at the sun). Real world delivered power is less due to DC-AC conversion losses, clouds, atmospheric haze, shading, temperature effects (panels are less efficient when hot), and imperfect aim as the sun moves across the sky.

The later effect is why I stated earlier that 10 effective hours per day is impossible without a tracking system.

I probably left out some loss factors.

JusBringIt

05-03-2010, 12:09 AM

225KWH used for mar 5-apr 4

phoebeisis

05-03-2010, 06:04 AM

Thanks guys.

So DIY cost is maybe $3000 for a system that will produce maybe 4KWH/d x 365d/y~1500KKWH/y= $150 per year at 10 cents per. 20 years payback

Not too bad- at 15 cents it drops to 13 years-20 cents means 10 years.

Thanks
Charlie

gabe1475

05-03-2010, 03:28 PM

Our electric bill during the hottest months is about $220 (about 1800kw). Total annual cost is $1200 for 11000kw used. This is on a 2400sf home. Based on the APS calculator, we are about 30% lower than most people with a home of this size.

Some things we do to save energy:
- All lights are CFL, except for exterior where we use LED’s
- Turn off AC on our side of house during the day, and keep the thermostat at 81 when AC is on
- Wife dries clothes outside
- Computers are always turned off when not in use (they hibernate after no use for 10 minutes and media center turns on when it is time to tape a show)
- Lights are limited to rooms being used
- Oven used only in the winter time
- Front load LG washer and Drier (we actually used at our last place – we did not have space for clothes drier outside
- We are also on a demand plan were we have shifted all our use to off peak hours, the wife loves this one. She has to get all cleaning done before 12. Not really saving energy, just making it easier for the utility companies during peak hours.

PaleMelanesian

05-04-2010, 08:19 AM

Ok, that's more like it! I just got my April bill. The weather has been such that neither (electric) heat nor AC were used much at all. This is the baseline for water heating, lighting, and appliances. Winter and summer both increase the bill due to HVAC.

541 KWH, $41.66. Lowest ever KWH, but 2nd lowest $$ (thanks to rising prices).

southerncannuck

05-04-2010, 09:02 AM

gabe1475

05-04-2010, 10:28 AM

I always track KWHs, not costs, to give me a better idea of my progress. I'm aiming for a 33% usage versus 2004. The next step is going to be a high efficiency ac. Anyone have any experience with a Carrier Infinity?

I went with Bryant’s (Carriers cheaper model – sort of like the difference between a Camry or a Lexus) 15seer system about 4 years ago in my last home. It dropped the electric usage by about 40% compared with the old system. I also went with a two stage system which I highly recommend. I would size it such that it should be able to maintain your home in stage 1 without turning on or off too much and stage 2 would kick in when you want a quick reduction in the temp of the house. Also would go for one with Puron, in the long run this should benefit you as well as Freon will become more and more expensive as it is phased out. Probably the best investment you can make. As far as reliability, other than a leak in the line (not an AC Issue), this works like a champ. I purchased mine online for $2500 and had it installed by a local AC tech for $1200. Just be careful that you still qualify for the Federal tax credit if you do this.

Die2self

05-04-2010, 09:33 PM

Gas during the summer = 10CCF up to a peak of 130CCF in Jan.
Electric during the summer = can be up to 1095 KWh and in Jan 1228 KWh (avg for the year is 807 KWh)(10,490 KWh for the year)

House is one store ranch (1950's) with hardly any insulation and single pain AL windows, around 1800 SF:
(Gas: Furnace (3 yrs old), Hot water heater (+10 yrs), Stove (3 yrs old)
(Electric: Kenmore frond loader He3 with Electric H4t dryer, AC is SEER 15 1 stage Trane installed 3 yrs ago, most lights (90% are CFC)

bomber991

05-04-2010, 10:41 PM

- Oven used only in the winter time

How the heck do you manage that? Just pan-fry everything on the stove?

PaleMelanesian

05-05-2010, 09:17 AM

We do make a point to use the microwave more in the summertime. It does well for things like steaming veggies and heating water up to boiling.

gabe1475

05-05-2010, 09:42 AM

How the heck do you manage that? Just pan-fry everything on the stove?

Lots of PB & J sandwiches. :p

We barbeque a lot more and also have a decent size toaster oven that can be used to make fries and other items for two people. Much easier to heat >1 cu ft vs the oven which is probably 4-5 cu ft. Plus most of what we make is on the stove top.

Harold

05-05-2010, 09:43 AM

Hey Jason. The best return for you would be to insulate your house to today's standards! H

phoebeisis

05-05-2010, 10:09 AM

For you northern guys insulation is definitely the way to go.
For more southern folks-maybe under 35 degrees, but that is a pure guess- I had good results painting my roof white.
I used Henry 587 white roof coating-$104 for 4.7 gallons- it took almost 9 pails-$900 to do a 1700 sq ft ranch house-figure maybe 2500 sq feet??
I wasn't supposed to use it on old shingles-risk of the edges lifting- but I did anyway.
If you use it on new shingles, it should increase the lifespan of your roof by many years.
Within one hour of finishing the roof-early June- our attic ventilation fan went off-set at 90 degrees). I measured the mid day temp of that exhaust air- 125 degrees before painting.

It is easier to paint DIY a roof in the summer than to insulate an attic in the summer.

We did have to use A LOT MORE GAS to heat this winter, BUT we had an unusually cold winter with several weeks not going about 40 degrees(very unusual for south Louisiana).

In general during the hottest days our electricity use dropped from 80 per day to under 60 per day. The house was much more comfortable also. Pre painting I could literally feel the heat radiate off the ceiling sheetrock.

I don't know exactly where -how far north- is too far north to paint your roof. In you live in a big hot city it is farther north than in a rural area.

Some places-DFW-Phoenix-Las Vegas- Tuscon are obvious candidates.
2 Summers ago-July I think- when we left NOLA at 9 am it was 86 degrees-.Later in the evening-4p-10p while approaching and going thru the 300 mile radius of Dallas Fort Worth it was 100 degrees or more from about 3 pm until 10 pm. It was 103 or more for the entire 100 mile dense diameter of DFW. While approaching it from the east we went thru a wooded area and the temp dropped to 96 degrees, but immediately it spiked to 104 once we re-entered a built up area.

Hot southern cities need to be white.All those old southern houses-all white-had it right.White was probably the cheapest pigment.

Just a thought.
We are also going to install a kitchen/living room window ac-.This will allow us to keep the 3500 watt central off-and use a series of 3 600 watt window units as needed.

I'm aiming to keep our use under 1700 KWHrs for the worst month-last summer our worst was 2200. Our all time worst was 3300 many years(20 plus) ago when we had a useless 5 or 6 SEER central unit.
Window units are a pain-noisy, drippy-can damage frames-block the view-but they can save electricity in many circumstances, and if you can't afford to redo your central(at least $4000 most places) $300 worth of windows are not a bad choice.

Those mini split ductless units are nice also.I'll go with them when our central gives up the ghost in 10 years or so. I don't like all the crummy(literally crummy, moldy) duct work and attic water draining that traditional central units require.You can also DIY more easily with the mini units(not sure of the ins and outs of getting the coolant-frequently it is restricted to save the environment for amateurs releasing it and save contractors pocket books).
Charlie
Charlie

Right Lane Cruiser

05-05-2010, 11:01 AM

It is easier to paint DIY a roof in the summer than to insulate an attic in the summer.

QFT!!!! I did this one summer down in SC and it was brutal. Especially since there was only one ventilation fan up there (small through the roof variety -- not a gable fan) and I had to wear coverage with mask and goggles to deal with the fiberglass... I'd go up at 7AM and have to come down by 10:30 to 10:45 as I couldn't stand it anymore. I tried weighing myself and discovered that I sweated away a full 12lbs in that time. I gained it all back after drinking and eating lunch. :p The four days I did this were definitely worth it though -- the house was WAY cooler after that.

As for too far north to have a white roof, I'm not sure how valid that is for a well insulated house. Most of the winter my roof is covered with white snow and I don't have any trouble keeping the interior warm enough and can't really tell the difference between covered and uncovered at the same temp in terms of therms used.

phlack

05-05-2010, 12:35 PM

My last bill was the cheapest it's been for a while. Something like $59 or so.
Included in that is a $9.50 credit for their on-call service where they can cut my power to the AC and water heater if need be for a short while. They've rarely done it. And I should be able to hook that up to the pool pump as well for additional savings.
I didn't have to run the HVAC at all, which really helped, of course. So a good part of that was the pool pump with the salt chlorine generator. I also recently bought a new fridge, so I assume that's pretty efficient, as compared to the one I bought 11 years ago.

vMy clothes washer is a front loader, which is nice. It lowered my drying time considerably. Some of my clothes I hang dry, mainly because they shrink. Plus the lint doesn't come off and they tend to last longer as a result (saving buying new clothes all the time). My wife doesn't like to hang dry, though.

I'm meeting Friday with an AC guy. I'm going to replace the unit because it's old (10 SEER). Probably with a Carrier Infinity, highly recommended by many of my co-workers.

Most of my lights are CFLs, I keep the temp usually at 80deg and have ceiling fans run.
House is pretty much white, with somewhat light shingles (the lightest I was able to buy when building the house.

-Mike

Die2self

05-05-2010, 01:12 PM

I would love to insulate, just the money is the issue right now.

Also, is how to insulate without tearing out all the outer or inner walls is my question.

southerncannuck

05-05-2010, 01:57 PM

I would love to insulate, just the money is the issue right now.

Also, is how to insulate without tearing out all the outer or inner walls is my question.

I think that they inject expandable foam.

Poke around this site.

http://www.builditsolar.com/

gabe1475

05-05-2010, 02:17 PM

Just be careful if you want to do it yourself. Put too much in and it will push the sheetrock right off the 2x4.

phoebeisis

05-05-2010, 03:54 PM

Right lane-As for too far north to have a white roof, I'm not sure how valid that is for a well insulated house. Most of the winter my roof is covered with white snow and I don't have any trouble keeping the interior warm enough and can't really tell the difference between covered and uncovered at the same temp in terms of therms used.

I get your point. I should have been more clear-what I meant was if you just have the money/time to do one thing-northern homeowners should insulate, southern home owners should paint the roof. keeping the heat energy out of the house.Insulating the ceiling is fine, but then heat is in the structure, and will to some extent be conducted down the wood into the house.
I also had a horrible experience insulating an attic in the summer.Summer of 1961(10 yo) my dad paid me 10 cents/hr to insulate our attic-on batt at a time carried up the attic ladder-2500 sq ft house- To this day it is the WORST JOB I'VE EVER DONE! I made $11 110 hours. I worked slowly I guess.

Die2 self- I sympathize. There are lots of projects I would like to do, but no extra $$ says no project.
1)Better ac system
2)Insulation
3)Windows
4) Love to have some solar panels.

Charlie
__________________

gabe1475

05-06-2010, 01:07 PM

Has anyone had any experience with KVAR? They claim to save 25% on your electric bill by installing a unit that allows you to use wasted energy. A bit skeptical on that claim. See video in the link below.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/Energy_Capacitor

Right Lane Cruiser

05-06-2010, 03:15 PM

A buffering capacitor isn't going to somehow reduce your total electric usage. :p I think that snapshot of the motor running was misleading -- they should have left it running and then they would have seen the draw come back up as the charge on the capacitor dumped and then had to pull back up to equalize by drawing more power on the other side.

gabe1475

05-06-2010, 03:29 PM

Figured it was too good to be true, just think how many people go this route.

PaleMelanesian

05-06-2010, 03:57 PM

Power factor correction (pfc) is an issue, but it's not that big. (my limited understanding, and a grossly simplified explanation) The problem is when the voltage sine wave is out of phase with the current sine wave. When either one is at its peak, the other is not, so you don't get as much power as you need. You have to draw more current to make up the difference.

Old computer power supplies that didn't have PFC were in the range of 60% efficient. That is, for a 100W computer, they'd draw 167W from the wall. The extra would be exhausted as heat with a noisy fan. Newer supplies with PFC are 80+% efficient and much cooler and quieter. They also cost less to run. They also eliminate the need for this gadget, since the equipment itself takes care of PFC.

Large industrial motors, like in manufacturing, are the worst case for Power Factor. They are inherently a large inductor, which acts as a time-delay for voltage (or current? I don't remember).

A device like this could be a help for a place like that, but not so much for a household, due to the types of equipment being run.

gabe1475

05-06-2010, 04:21 PM

Could this help bring efficiency from the 80% you have listed to 100% for similar fans/motors? Also could there be any benefit in using with a central AC system? If not the benefits are minimal and payback would not happen durring one's life.

PaleMelanesian

05-06-2010, 04:25 PM

Computers are one of the few things I know of that list the Power Factor. It's hard to say on other things around the house. I do know that resistive loads, like an electric water heater, are by their nature 100% power factor.

This probably falls into the same worth-the-time/money category as taping the seams on your car, or tucking in the radio antenna. There are MUCH bigger places to save, like insulating or using a cool roof.

Ha! I just remembered that my Kill-A-Watt can measure power factor. Anything 110v, I can measure. I just wish I had a bigger, 220V version for all the real power hogs in my house.

EVuser

05-07-2010, 03:10 PM

For March and April 2010 my total Billing KWH usage was minus 205 (-205). It was nice and we were gone some.

I thought I would share my dryer duct cleaning method. The duct is about 20 feet long and is running in mostly unconditioned crawl space with a couple of really bad turns in it so even with diligent cleaning of the dryer filter condensation results in a slight but steady buildup within the metal ducting. Started doing this about once a years ago as the poor vent design pretty much plugged up.

Anyhow, I have very easy access to outside end of the pipe and can easily remove the deflector. With the deflector removed I attach a large shop vac. 2.5 inch hose with a towel wrapped around for a gasket to seal the opening. Turn it on and let it run for a few minutes.

To get it really clean I remove the drier end and check for good air flow with the vac running. Then I take a strong but lightweight string and tie a small piece of cloth to the end and let the vac pull it down the pipe. After it reaches the vac I take a old sock or similar piece of cloth and tie it securely to a strong cord and slowly pull it back and forth towards the dryer end while the vac provides a pull from the other end. Works for me.

One serious note of caution. You must not get getting anything stuck in the vent pipe.

Even a few minutes drying clothes on a line can relieve the dryer of a lot of work.

phlack

05-12-2010, 02:59 PM

Also, is how to insulate without tearing out all the outer or inner walls is my question.

I was going to put it in the roof. Some more blow insulation. The sides would just have to deal without. (Those are white, at least).

My understanding is the big problem areas are the windows. Indeed, when I go to the windows (especially my big sliding glass door) it gets warmer or colder, depending on the time of year. I'll assume that's conditioned air changing directions in the more expensive direction.

So I would assume the answer there is double-paned glass? However, that's $$$. I don't know what the payback is. Surely, if I have to replace a window, I'll do it, but I can't see doing a whole house at one time.

So my new air conditioner gets installed on Friday. The guy said I couldn't really go with a 18-20 SEER unit because of my house size (1885sqft), 3.5 ton unit. So it's a 16 SEER. On the upside, it's a little cheaper.
I'd have to go to a 4 ton unit to get that SEER rating, and he said due to other reasons, I still might not see that efficiency anyway.

-Mike

southerncannuck

05-13-2010, 07:46 AM

Hi EVuser. I'm in awe of your system. How many KWs is it. Florida stopped funding any home renewables. That put a stop to my going beyond solar water a this time. Yet, when I look at my southern exposed, beachside, almost always sunny, 30 degrees tilted roof I yearn for a Photo voltaic system. Is yours grid tied? Does your state force to utility to buy your excess at the rate that they sell it to you?

southerncannuck

05-13-2010, 07:50 AM

PHlack, I replaced an older AC on my last house with a 17 SEER unit and cut the elctrical use to almost half. This was in South Florida. Have a insulation contractor come by and give you an estimate for his services. There are a lot of rebates available right now, and the out of pocket might be very little.

The Florida summer is upon us.

EVuser

05-14-2010, 04:31 PM

My PV system is 3000 nominal on the roof via Kyocera 125 watt panels feeding a SMA 2500 watt inverter. It is grid-tied and right now CA requires the utility company to do net metering on a monthly or annual bases. Most customers choose the annual. My system was installed in July of 2001. Starting next year they may actually pay us for excess power, right now it is all a credit system with any excess given to the utility at the end of the year.

I have always looked to being frugal on the kwh's. Although I agree with the anyone who says conservation first I don't always agree with those that push some of the high seer a/c units and other so called energy saving appliances. My suggestion is to spend your $$$ in a way that it saves you the most and although PV is not cheap it essentially "floats all your boats."

What I mean by this is that there is not a single electricial item in my house, not a one, that can make the meter go backwards. But the PV can do this anytime the sun shines. So I don't have to use it to be reaping what they like to call "savings." I don't even need to be home.

As a simple example our neighbor spent about as much on her new 16 SEER HVAC a couple of years ago as I did on my grid tied PV system. I still have a 30 year old around 8-9 a/c unit. Last summer norcal had some really hot weather and her bill was around 3-400 dollars per month. And she wasn't freezing. We enjoy a progressive rate structure for electricity, the more you use the more you pay. It doesn't take much for a user to get into the high tier structure which is in excess of 0.34 per kwh.

My monthly charges are never more than metering charge of $6 per month. Sure I'll get a more efficient a/c unit if this one ever fails but it made a lot more sense to buy a EV and use some of my electricial credits on it than it did to buy a super efficient a/c unit that isn't used 8 months of the year.

Obviously there are different billing rates and personal needs but generally a properly installed PV system can really hypermile the "efficiency" of your home electric system.
:flag:

pcs0snq

06-01-2010, 10:01 AM

Last month's bill showed we used 565 KWH. This is for an all electric home with a hot tub. How does this measure up with you guys? For our part, it's 1/4 what we used for the same month in 2004 (1,967 KWH).

Late to the party and did not read all 7 pages but what was you kw-hrs per day. Maybe the billing period was short on this low one? You would of clearly know if anything would of reduced you use 70%

gabe1475

06-01-2010, 11:23 AM

southerncannuck

06-01-2010, 12:44 PM

Hi Paul. Sorry that it took so long to write back. The monthly billing is/was roughly 30 days, give or take a day. I used 31,411 KWHs for 2004. That is my reference point for improvement. I'm hoping to be under 14,000 for this year. Florida does not have any programs for PV systems, so I can't afford that.

phoebeisis

06-01-2010, 05:09 PM

The past month-it will be billed as the June "bill" but it is all May- we used 40.75 KWHrs/d.

Last year we used 55 KWHr/d. Two years ago we used almost 60 KWHR/d

One cheapo way in the south is to use window units at night rather than the central .

Most central systems use 3KWHr/hr while on. 5000-and 6000 BTU 10 EER window units use about 1KWH/hr.

Used window units-9.7-10.8 EER 5000-6000 BTU are about $40-$60 used in good shape.
2 units ($100) will pay off in just 3 months.

I'm hoping our worst months-July/Aug will be under 60KWHr/d instead of about 75 KWHr/d before the roof painting and window units.

If our electric clothes dryer-30 years old-would just co-operate and die,I could pick up a used gas dryer for under $100, and save about 40 cents/d year round. It would payback in just 5 months.We use a clothes line some, but it rains a lot in S Louisiana.

Charlie

southerncannuck

06-01-2010, 06:00 PM

Hey Charlie, A question from the "small world" department. Do you know a couple by the name of Leslie and Kevin?

drimportracing

06-01-2010, 07:45 PM

May 10, 2010 30505 30232 32 Meter Read 273 kWh
Apr 08, 2010 30232 29875 31 Meter Read 357 kWh
Mar 08, 2010 29875 29217 28 Meter Read 658 kWh
Feb 08, 2010 29217 28409 31 Meter Read 808 kWh
Jan 08, 2010 28409 27851 31 Meter Read 558 kWh
Dec 08, 2009 27851 27464 29 Meter Read 387 kWh
Nov 09, 2009 27464 26968 32 Meter Read 496 kWh
Oct 08, 2009 26968 26659 29 Meter Read 309 kWh
Sep 09, 2009 26659 26218 30 Meter Read 441 kWh
Aug 10, 2009 26218 25612 33 Meter Read 606 kWh
Jul 08, 2009 25612 25115 30 Meter Read 497 kWh
Jun 08, 2009 25115 24819 31 Meter Read 296 kWh
May 08, 2009 24819 24506 30 Meter Read 313 kWh
Apr 08, 2009 24506 23978 29 Meter Read 528 kWh
Mar 10, 2009 23978 23482 29 Meter Read 496 kWh
Feb 09, 2009 23482 22924 32 Meter Read 558 kWh
Jan 08, 2009 22924 22550 31 Meter Read 374 kWh
Dec 08, 2008 22550 21852 28 Meter Read 698 kWh
Nov 10, 2008 21852 21526 33 Meter Read 326 kWh
Oct 08, 2008 21526 21152 30 Meter Read 374 kWh
Sep 08, 2008 21152 20479 31 Meter Read 673 kWh
Aug 08, 2008 20479 19472 31 Meter Read 1007 kWh
Jul 08, 2008 19472 18332 29 Meter Read 1140 kWh
Jun 09, 2008 18332 17201 32 Meter Read 1131 kWh
May 20, 2008 962
Apr 20, 2008 752
Mar 20, 2008 656
Feb 20, 2008 740
Jan 20, 2008 965
Dec 20, 2007 1114
Nov 20, 2007 662
Oct 20, 2007 805
Sep 20, 2007 1442
Aug 20, 2007 733
Jul 20, 2007 786
Jun 20, 2007 549
May 20, 2007 132
Apr 20, 2007 309
Mar 20, 2007 301
Feb 20, 2007 379
Jan 20, 2007 405
Dec 20, 2006 448
Nov 20, 2006 399
Oct 20, 2006 594
Sep 20, 2006 1005
Aug 20, 2006 1067
Jul 20, 2006 750
Jun 20, 2006 373

- Dale

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

06-01-2010, 08:50 PM

<Dalectricity/>
- Dale

Nice improvements.

What caused the big jump in 2007?

drimportracing

06-01-2010, 10:01 PM

First week of September 2007 moved GF into my house. Second week of July 2008 moved GF out of my house. - Dale

phoebeisis

06-02-2010, 08:00 AM

drimportracing. Talk about high maintenance-!! Still,Ill be pretty happy if I just use 50KWHr/d during July or August. Our house is extremely drafty-wife and son. dogs and cats home all the time,so ACs on.

You must have gas or oil heating.

Southerncannuck- I know a Leslie (RN)-mid late 50's-who is an avid runner, bicycle rider, swimmer-competes in various seniors events. Her boyfriend-not sure what his name is. She is the X wife of an old friend. This would be the ultimate small world if this was your Leslie.

Charlie

drimportracing

06-02-2010, 09:29 AM

You must have gas or oil heating. Charlie

Yes, I have gas heating. usually $60-90 from Oct till March. This year I'm trying to see how long I can go without A/C, so far it's been no problem. I keep a few fans on and a few windows open for a breeze, shades drawn to keep sunlight out.

I'm thinking about tinting the windows on the South side but wonder if that will hurt me very much in the winter, the same concern with painting the roof white. Anyone know how to figure this out?

I also bought a large GE roasting pan with lid that can hold an 18lb turkey from Walmart for $23.00 that I have found will cook a 14lb turkey in 2.5 hours instead of the 3.5 hours of a standard oven. (180 degrees F with meat thermometer in thigh) I've used it once and was pleased with the cooking time and it's also easy to clean, doesn't warm up the house as much, etc. If I have a need to use the oven I will use this instead, this summer. It goes to 450F and with an appropriately thick extension cord could be placed outside on the deck (when not raining).

- Dale

gabe1475

06-02-2010, 09:45 AM

I'm thinking about tinting the windows on the South side but wonder if that will hurt me very much in the winter, the same concern with painting the roof white. Anyone know how to figure this out?

They have tint that can be be installed for the summer and removed for the winter. You can read about it here, they also go through the negatives.

http://www.tintcenter.com/articles/static-cling-window-film.html

phlack

06-10-2010, 03:59 PM

So my new air conditioner gets installed on Friday. The guy said I couldn't really go with a 18-20 SEER unit because of my house size (1885sqft), 3.5 ton unit. So it's a 16 SEER. On the upside, it's a little cheaper.
I'd have to go to a 4 ton unit to get that SEER rating, and he said due to other reasons, I still might not see that efficiency anyway.

One month isn't a good gauge since there can be easily temperature fluctuations, especially in May.

But my recent power bill showed a ~30% decrease in KWh usage over last year's same period.

Hopefully that trend will continue.

-Mike

Chuck

06-10-2010, 05:18 PM

I'm a latecomer to this thread, but I can see the value of putting a "FAS switch" into outlets to the microwave and fridge, etc.

drimportracing

06-11-2010, 12:41 AM

I just found this:

http://www.youtube.com/v/7B-rOk2bW3s&hl=en_US&fs=1&

:D - Dale

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

06-11-2010, 05:50 AM

We have oil heating.

Rolling 1 year average kWh/day
03/2009 24.15 (started here because household size reduced 2/2008)
04/2009 23.92
05/2009 23.65
06/2009 23.49
07/2009 23.08
08/2009 22.78
09/2009 22.56
10/2009 22.53
11/2009 22.50
12/2009 22.44
01/2010 22.17 Replaced wife's old P4 and CRT with a netbook and LCD, LED Christmas lights
02/2010 22.10
03/2010 21.98
04/2010 21.76
05/2010 21.71
06/2010 21.63 Turned off <= 230W freezer, replaced a little-used inc with CFL

So, should fall a bit more but not much else to come. We're not heavy users of A/C.

phlack

07-06-2010, 03:09 PM

Just got my latest power bill.

Last year this month: 2145 KWh.
This month: 1279 KWh

I'm assuming mostly attributed to my new air conditioner.

Didn't say the amount, but that's about a $80-$90 difference.

-Mike

alvaro84

07-16-2010, 05:54 AM

Last time I measured my PC was idling at ~104W.
In the meantime my 480W PSU died and I got a 400W FSP (it's really called like this :D) 80+ bronze qualified, plus I decreased the CPU clock a bit to a level where I can use it at stock voltage - now it's at ~93W when idle (sorry, it's too fun to overclock and it can easily handle 1080p videos too!). Anyway, the system is custom built to be energy efficient, I intentionally avoided monster VGAs and powerhog CPUs when designed it: Conroe Core2Duos were probably the most energy efficient CPUs those days, and my Geforce8600GT is passively cooled.

Also, the house we rent now came with 3*50W halogenes in each room. I've replaced the kitchen lights (they were the most used) with 3*5W powerLEDs. In my room I'm usually fine with a 2.4W LED spot, and the larger room is usually fine with a 23W fluorescent. The 150W halogenes are for special occassions :)

Also we did not use a fridge in the winter at all but kept the food in the unheated pantry. We had a long, cold and snowy winter and it worked so well we did not even turn the fridge on until April :)

Oh, it's so natural for me but it seems it's not like this in today's world: we don't have any air conditioning nor TVs :D

Right Lane Cruiser

07-16-2010, 06:22 AM

Who needs a TV when you have a decent computer? ;)

PaleMelanesian

07-16-2010, 11:35 AM

talikarni

07-20-2010, 03:47 PM

I may be new here but I figured I would chime in.
1800 SF older house (built around 1980)
Typical usage 1800-1900 KwH/mo
Heat of summer and cold of winter usage 2000-2100 KwH/mo

For June, we used 1927 KwH, 66KwH/day, bill was approx $262.

I have noticed in the past year that we tend to only use around 60-70KwH/day, whereas before the new A/C unit and during the hottest/coldest months, it was around 85 KwH/day and we saw a few months (before the rate hike) of around $340.

alvaro84

07-23-2010, 06:22 AM

I bought a cheap power meter lately so I could measure our PCs - 93W and 57W at idle. Hm, my second attempt at building an energy efficient rig proved more successful. At least when I replaced its old cheap PSU to a newer Chieftec (measured ~75W before).

I must admit, that I forgot to take notes about the electricity usage, but on the long run it's about 120kWh/mo or something similar.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

07-23-2010, 06:46 AM

TV - when your computer connection comes through a cable tv pipe, sold only as a bundle with the cable programming. :( No DSL, and Satellite is $$$. Since the TV has channels on it, why not watch them. ;) sigh...
:(

We've just replaced our TV and rearranged the living room which now makes it easy for me to turn off the power strip with the TV and cable box (25W standby and over 40W standby once it's replaced with an HD one!). Now I just need to remember to do it!

We're on Time Warner Cable. It's possible the HD box upgrade is $24.99 + either $7.30/m or $0/m if we return the old digital box. Cable suffers from the equipment "rental" scam.

I looked at Dish and DirectTV but both would be more expensive for us because I "need" Fox Soccer and analog for the other rooms. Plus satellite puts us just in the wrong area for a particular local channels, although perhaps that's something with a little flexibility.

The old TV was a 28" CRT at max 200W and the new one is a 40" Samsung LCD LN40C630. which is rated at something like 88W for EnergyStar and ranges from 40.68W to 129.65W depending on backlighting (http://www.televisioninfo.com/content/Samsung-LN40C630-LN46C630-LN55C630-LCD-HDTV-Review-1669/Power-Consumption.htm)). 37" would have been closest in size but there's little choice at that size. I let my wife pick the TV by picture comparison since I'd have gone for another Samsung rated at 44W (#1 on the EnergyStar spreadsheet for LCD TVs) even though its image quality is relatively poor. :p

talikarni

07-23-2010, 06:33 PM

brick

07-25-2010, 11:36 AM

My bill for mid-June through mid-July was 484 kWh plus 10 therms for hot water. I'm pretty happy with that considering how hot it's been by northeastern standards. This house appears to be remarkably light on electric consumption.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

07-25-2010, 11:52 AM

We've just replaced our TV and rearranged the living room which now makes it easy for me to turn off the power strip with the TV and cable box (25W standby and over 40W standby once it's replaced with an HD one!). Now I just need to remember to do it!

I'm remembering to do it but at the moment my wife's on school vacation so I often go to bed before her. She doesn't switch it all off.

Our average power use is now at 900W. Saving 9W 24hpd (216W per day) will knock 1% of the consumption. Balanced over a week, just turning the TV and cable box off will do that.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

07-25-2010, 11:56 AM

Something else worth looking into is something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812606003

When the primary "control" outlet is found to drop to a low power usage such as turning TV off, it also switches off the other items in other outlets... so when you turn the TV off, it can turn off the cable box, sound system, whatever else may be plugged in. It also has 3 outlets that are always on as well.

The problem for us is that the main vampire is the cable box and it loses its EPG when switched off. Getting it back can take up to an hour so it's not a problem turning it off at night when we know what channels to hit for the morning news and weather, but it's more difficult later in the day when you actually want to know what's on now and later.

The real problem, of course, is the failure of cable and satellite providers to invest in low-power boxes.

talikarni

07-26-2010, 11:04 AM

True... I guess that is not a problem for me since we do not use a cable box, the standard cable service here also includes base HD channels over the standard Cable as long as the TV can pick them up, which both of our LCD TVs do... so we pay for the 25 channel lineup and get 40 channels.
My father in laws cable box typically takes about 10 minutes from no power to fully functional.

paratwa

07-30-2010, 03:19 PM

I'm looking forward to next months electricity bill. I have an all electric house.

I've replaced the 12 year old fridge and 7 year old electric water heater and been doing more clothes line drying.

Last month with only 4 loads line dried an the old fridge and water heater was 653KWH coming in at $78.13.

I have a proliphix thermostat on order too to replace the old mechanical mercury switch model.

EVuser

01-11-2011, 06:25 PM

FWIW
My newer DirectV DVR, HR24, boots up from power off much faster than the HR22.
The HR24 uses about 25 watts off or on.
The HR 22 uses about 32 watts off or on. (now in temporary retirement)

Because you need to remove power to throttle these things back I use a timer to control the on and off times and haven't missed a program yet. The thought of having a single item running a idle load that high is repulsive. And these are suppose to be some of the most efficient DVR's out there.

3 watt timer powers up the HR22 in early evening and off at the end of Ferguson. 8 on 16 off, which eliminates the unnecessary usage of about 140 KWH per year. :flag:

jcp123

01-12-2011, 12:40 AM

Us too! We should be using a lot more electricity with all the extra baby accoutrements, but I'm able to get up on her feeding schedule and stoke the fire. It's 30* and the heater rarely if ever kicks on.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

06-11-2011, 10:32 PM

11/9/2011 October 2011 was 3.93% less than 2010. 1 household member spending less time here, so I don't know whether it was that or not. Middle of the month replaced a fan with a sound machine and use of a tea kettle with an electric kettle. Hopefully we'll see a good benefit in November.

Annualized consumption after 10/2011 was 13.90% (3.36kWh/day or 8.883ELmi/day) lower than year to March 6 2009.

||2007|2008|+/-|2009|+/-|2010|+/-|2011|+/-
|1|29.68|29.40|-0.28|25.07|-4.33|24.14|-0.93|21.38|-2.76|
|2|33.21|26.52|-6.70|23.50|-3.02|22.06|-1.44|19.84|-2.23|
|3|26.58|25.29|-1.29|22.63|-2.67|20.03|-2.59|19.83|-0.20|
|4|30.37|23.32|-7.05|19.93|-3.39|19.24|-0.69|17.40|-1.84|
|5|25.90|20.83|-5.07|18.79|-2.04|18.16|-0.64|17.24|-0.91|
|6|31.30|26.30|-5.00|21.79|-4.51|21.39|-0.41|20.03|-1.35|
|7|34.03|28.63|-5.40|25.03|-3.60|27.07|2.04|28.58|1.51|
|8|32.65|22.16|-10.49|19.59|-2.56|24.58|4.98|23.94|-0.64|
|9|32.63|21.76|-10.87|21.38|-0.38|20.14|-1.24|18.62|-1.52|
|10|25.90|22.07|-3.83|21.72|-0.34|19.17|-2.55|18.42|-0.75|
|11|31.57|24.18|-7.38|23.53|-0.65|21.84|-1.69|||
|12|34.30|26.40|-7.90|23.03|-3.37|22.37|-0.66|||

8/2007 I was added to household :D
2/2008 household decreased by 1 :(
7/2010-8/2010 hot summer, more A/C
12/2009 LED Christmas lights
12/2010 Christmas: 24" LCD HDTV replaced an old 19" 100W CRT TV that was the most watched TV in the house.
3/2011 Moved wife's computer from UPS to power strip, and move strip to switch off most of the time. Strip: netbook, monitor, printer, scanner.
4/2011 Stereo and TV/Cable/Blu-ray on separate strips
9/2011 (or 10) sound machine to replace stand-up fan at night
10/2011 Sound machine (replaces stand-up fan) and electric kettle (replaces tea kettle).

Decreases within last 12 months:
- New 40" TV (7/2010)
- New 24" TV (12/25/2010)
- Cable box power strip off most of the time (7/2010)
- TV on less (7/2010)
- Turn off power strip: wife's netbook, monitor, printer, scanner (3/2011)
- Separate power strips for stereo and TV equipment (4/2011)
- 1 new window A/C unit (6/2011)

Increases within last 12 months:
- Blu-ray player, has Netflix streaming and we're watching TV more (3/2011)

Future plans:
- Replace 1 most used window A/C unit with more efficient one.

ALS

08-27-2011, 11:11 AM

Well I just moved in to the house and July's bill was a killer and probably the highest I'll ever see, $121 or 780 Kwatt hours. We had higher than normal July/August temperatures for three weeks. It's back to normal around here weather wise. Even at work my electric bill was $50 higher than normal due to the heat wave we had last month.

Reasons, not all lights were switched over to CFL's and I'd say half the lights in the house were still incandescent last month. The older woman who owned the house had a major fetish with 100 watt bulbs. :( Second the attic fan was shot and disconnected and I had a nice 12 inch hole in my ceiling in the up stairs bath room where the new exhaust fan was going to be installed. It was so bad I had to stuff towels under the door to keep the heat in the bath room. Even with the towels the A/C was still running constantly.

In the last two weeks all the lights in the house are now 13-15 watt CFL's, the new bathroom fan is installed and the ceiling is now closed to the summer heat in the attic. Lastly the new attic fan is installed and working properly. There has been a major drop in A/C usage as soon as that attic fan was hooked up.

Next I need to install a programmable thermostat so I can control the heating and cooling better when I'm away from home.

I'm hoping for a minimum drop of 50% in next months bill.

EVuser

09-19-2011, 11:37 AM

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

09-19-2011, 01:44 PM

PaleMelanesian

09-19-2011, 01:50 PM

I should have lower electric bills in the future. Later this week (when parts arrive) I'm having a new central AC/heat pump installed. I'm doing it now, before the old one fails, so I can choose what I want instead of whatever is available right now.

The old unit is 20 years old, and probably a 10-SEER. The minimum you can buy now is 13 SEER. I'm paying an extra $2000 for an upgraded 16 SEER. I estimate it will take 6-7 years for that to pay back in saved electricity.

We declined the further upgrade to a 20 SEER for another $3000. We'll spend some of that difference on improving the house's efficiency - ventilating the attic, insulating, etc.

It's a big bill right now, but saves in the long run. It's great to have the capital saved up to make decisions like this.

southerncannuck

09-19-2011, 01:54 PM

You won't believe the diff. that it will make. I'd like to upgrade also, but the salt corrosion makes a pricy unit out of bounds.

PaleMelanesian

09-19-2011, 01:56 PM

:D

Sorry about the salt. :( I know what that's like - I grew up in the south pacific on the beach. Everything rusts, even lesser quality stainless steel.

ALS

09-19-2011, 03:04 PM

Well my electric bill dropped from July-August $120 to $54 for August - Sept. :)

Love my new attic fan.:D

One issue I can't control is my RMS which costs me about $10 a month.
RMS = Radon Mitigation System. Around me it's a given you have radon
seeping into your basement. One of those things that most people never test
for in their homes that they should at least every three years.

PaleMelanesian

09-19-2011, 03:15 PM

Wow! I'll be considering one of those now!

EVuser

09-19-2011, 03:35 PM

New Desktop computer arriving today. My present "model A" uses about 100 watts and peaks at about 120. According to the kill-o-watt meter it is plugged into. That includes the computer, 19 inch monitor and a network switch.

New one will be a tremendous increase in computing power, at what cost in power consumption?

I wasn't ready for this big a savings. :Banane27:

New computer is 41 watts :woot:at idle and while running Internet Explorer and setting up Windows 7. i5-2500K in a Asus P8Z68-V board. Now to get the thing integrated into the network.

More watts for the EV. :D

:( My mistake had the new computer plugged into a outlet that isn't covered by the killowatt meter. When I didn'tsee the DVD player "spin-up" on the watmeter I new something was wrong. Idle system power requirement now 141 watts. Sorry power company.

PaleMelanesian

09-19-2011, 03:44 PM

Oh, wow! That's fantastic!

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

09-19-2011, 06:49 PM

I wasn't ready for this big a savings. :Banane27:

New computer is 41 watts :woot:at idle and while running Internet Explorer and setting up Windows 7. i5-2500K in a Asus P8Z68-V board. Now to get the thing integrated into the network.

More watts for the EV. :D

I don't have one, but I convert my electricity bill savings to LEAF miles. :D

EVuser

09-19-2011, 08:34 PM

I don't have one, but I convert my electricity bill savings to LEAF miles. :D

I messed up! :(
It uses more rather than less. Which is what I thought it would do. 141+ watts vs 100. I should have figured a number like 41 was to good to be true. It was plugged into a outlet on the power strip not monitored. Anyhow I now know the monitor, numerous transformers and switch alone use 41.

But there is still some potential for cutting a few watts off of that 141 number as the MB has the capability to operate using either the graphics card slot or use the lower power cpu graphics. As set up at this time it is running the graphics card. CPU graphics will be fine for most needs.

Mike

PaleMelanesian

09-20-2011, 08:36 AM

Oh. :( Sorry.

gabe1475

09-29-2011, 02:19 PM

I messed up! :(
It uses more rather than less. Which is what I thought it would do. 141+ watts vs 100. I should have figured a number like 41 was to good to be true. It was plugged into a outlet on the power strip not monitored. Anyhow I now know the monitor, numerous transformers and switch alone use 41.

But there is still some potential for cutting a few watts off of that 141 number as the MB has the capability to operate using either the graphics card slot or use the lower power cpu graphics. As set up at this time it is running the graphics card. CPU graphics will be fine for most needs.

Mike

Just currious what type of processor did you go with? The Core I 3/5 line is fairy good and uses low power consumption. Outside of that LCD and Solid State Drive are probably your next best bet for saving of power consumption when it comes to computers. It sounds like you already have the LCD covered.

The Doctor

09-30-2011, 09:17 AM

I too, live in Florida, but even with no AC my lowest bill will be in the $50's.
My TV and computer are usually ON all day. The laundry gets used once a week and my electric Hot Water heater is on a timer so it's only on for 4 hours early in the morning.
I use my microwave oven instead of my electric stove, whenever possible.
All my light bulbs are now the twisty florescent type.
I also have two window fans, on timers, that run all day, pulling fresh air through the house.
My highest bill this summer was about $76, compared to over $300 if I still lived in Illinois.
It's definitely cheaper to live in Florida.

The Doctor :cool:

vangonebuy

10-04-2011, 08:48 PM

Been fighting to keep electric low for years.
Family of 5. Average about $100 a month.
Averaged 6000kwh annually. Probably high 5000kwh this year. (I hope.)

I'm currently trying 2 LED lights.
Philips 12.5W - 60 watt equivilent. Bulbs are yellow tinted.
Bulbs retail at $24.95 at the Home Depot :(
My electric rate is .21 kwh. (recently lowered from .22kwh)
So the payback is a bit over 2 years at 3 hours a day usage.
Color and brightness are really excellent. Bulbs do get hot though.

I've tried several twist flourescents. But the warmup was too long for this location.
And the lack of direct light glare never seemed to work in this room to light art on the wall.
These are much better.

Only problem I noticed was that you cannot use them in enclosed fixtures.
That will really limit my demand. Maybe as outdoor lights on my porch next.

Harold

10-04-2011, 08:57 PM

I went with 12.5 w light bulbs through-out the house and nothing changed. Same old bill! Your cloths dryer, hot water and heat[if electric] are the main power user. Nothing else matters much? H

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-05-2011, 05:20 AM

Only problem I noticed was that you cannot use them in enclosed fixtures.
That will really limit my demand. Maybe as outdoor lights on my porch next.

Our rear lights are fully enclosed. So to use LED I'd either need to (ask a friend to) replace them or try an expensive experiment. At the moment there's a CFL that performs terribly in winter. (The other light is currently dead and won't open normally. I need to take a drill to it.)

Our rear door has a window so we can turn the light on in the back hall.

For recessed fixtures you can get an extender which will lower/raise the LED and allow it more cooling.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-05-2011, 05:44 AM

I went with 12.5 w light bulbs through-out the house and nothing changed. Same old bill! Your cloths dryer, hot water and heat[if electric] are the main power user. Nothing else matters much? H

It's true that there are larger uses than light and the consumption reduction will depend on your household use of light. The immediate reduction can be hidden by other use, especially if you heat with electric or make the change in summer. But, CFL or LED pays back compared to incandescent over the life of the bulb (as long the LED doesn't blow early). In our case the biggest difference would have been when we switched the lizard's UV light to CFL since that's a light on probably 16 hours per day, about 30We savings, or 3% of average consumption. (No electric heat).

I think I saw the biggest drops with replacing an old washing machine (reduced dryer time by 20 minutes per load), the lizard light and turning off/unplugging the major vampires (cable box, a barely used TV, wife's computer and peripherals).

To understand the effects of changes I find a good exercise is to calculate your constant equivalent power consumption in Watts. 1 constant Watt means 8.766kWh per year. So, 1000 * <annual kWh> / 8.766 gives constant usage in Watts. Our current annualized use is 874.4W. So, I need to reduce constant equivalent use by 8.744W to save 1%. I actually base savings off our annualized use at 3/2009, 1 year after reduction to a 4 person household. It was 1006.2W. So each 10.062We reduces by 1% from that.

PaleMelanesian

10-05-2011, 08:45 AM

I went with 12.5 w light bulbs through-out the house and nothing changed. Same old bill! Your cloths dryer, hot water and heat[if electric] are the main power user. Nothing else matters much? H

That's why I just spent an extra $2000 for a high-efficiency heat pump. It runs our summer cooling and winter heating (electric only). Our electric bill varies from $35 in spring/fall to over $200 in both peak seasons. That means most of our bill is from the heat/AC.

We just got a notice in the electric bill that rates are going up 18% next year. Looks like I upgraded just in time!

Right Lane Cruiser

10-05-2011, 08:53 AM

18% in one year?! :eek:

PaleMelanesian

10-05-2011, 09:02 AM

Yep. It seems the newest EPA rules are kicking in next January. Been discussed for 2 years, but Texas was going to be exempt. Now, just months before the deadline, Texas is added to the list of states. :eyebrow: Three months isn't long enough to get anything done in the industrial world. It'll cost a lot more to upgrade the plants on such a short schedule. I'm not complaining about the upgrades - we desperately need them - just about the regulatory/political approach being used.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-05-2011, 10:09 AM

ALS

10-05-2011, 10:44 AM

In the home it is usually lots of little things that add up to the high utility bills. I could save $5 a month with my electric bill in my old apartment if I defrosted my 25-30 year old refrigerator every other month.

An 60 watt incandescent light that is on five hours a year isn't worth changing out to a CFL, but a cell phone charger plugged in 24/7 is worth unplugging unless being used.

One mistake many people make is get rid of a perfectly good appliance to upgrade to a more efficient unit. Like the AC repair guy said to me about my AC/Furnace, fix it as long as you can before you're forced to replace it. You will never get a replacement unit that is built better than what you have. For the difference of 80% vs 93-95% efficiency available today he said it would take me twenty years to recoup that 13-15% improvement.

I always tell people when you need to replace an appliance or here on Clean MPG a car, buy the most efficient one you can afford. At work I'm probably saving over $275-$300 a month on my utilities from what I was paying 10-15 years ago by taking this approach.

In every case I've made the cost difference of the more energy efficient unit back in under a year, at the worst maybe 18 months out. An example of this is the washer I bought in December 2010. It has already paid for itself even with a five year bumper to bumper warranty by last month. It saves me around $100 a month in utility bills. Mostly through the 4,000 gallons water I'm now not using each month.

PaleMelanesian

10-05-2011, 10:51 AM

I ran the numbers on this new AC. The old one was 20 years old and needing frequent repairs. It was due for replacement anyway. The new one is 60% more efficient. Payback on the new one, not even counting repairs, was 7 years. Now with the rate increase it's more like 6 years. It'll still be under warranty at that point.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-12-2011, 11:22 PM

I always tell people when you need to replace an appliance or here on Clean MPG a car, buy the most efficient one you can afford. At work I'm probably saving over $275-$300 a month on my utilities from what I was paying 10-15 years ago by taking this approach.

That's the way. Appliances and cars (should) last many years so you need to make good choices up front. I haven't quite gone for the best I could afford, but I start from most efficient to one that fits.

When you keep at efficient choices and habits, your bills gradually go down:

EDIT: I've added 10/2011 and remove 2006 and 2007 since we had an additional household member until mid 2/2008.
EDIT: added 11/2011 - dropped 1.8kWh/day from previous year despite at least 6 extra loads of laundry for donation. Maybe it's the mild weather reducing use of the furnace pump. Maybe it's my wife's son being here less. Maybe the kettle and sound machine have worked their magic.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/electricity.jpg

PaleMelanesian

10-13-2011, 08:15 AM

Wow. What did you do between 2007 and 2008?

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-13-2011, 08:32 AM

Wow. What did you do between 2007 and 2008?

EDIT: note that the question was sensible - it's just that I've now removed 2006 and 2007 to reflect that the household changed mid 2/2008.

(Note: the y-axis doesn't start at 0. I wanted to minimize graph size.)

A big chunk is because in February 2008 we lost a household member.

But in summer 2008 we replaced an old top loader with an HE front loader and started hang-drying laundry when possible. That's part of the reason the summer drop was so large. The washer cut drying time from 70 minutes to 50 minutes (90 to 70 for towels) and on good weeks hang drying eliminated a lot of the weekly dryer loads: we do 5 loads of laundry per week.

Of course, I was also picking away with CFLs and removing vampires (a never-used radio in the kitchen and a coffee maker a clock that used to be plugged in all the time instead of the 15 minutes it was used every other day.

Use is variable due to weather (furnace pump, fridge, freezer, A/C, drying) so Spring and Fall really show the continued downward trend as I've picked away at the waste.

Next up is a sound machine I'm buying to replace use of a fan (my wife uses it to help sleep) should cut power consumption and more than pay for itself over its life, even if the fan gets run on warmer evenings. It seems such a small thing, but it will save over 0.25kWh/day.

Oh and a Christmas present for the wife will be an electric kettle that she can use instead of a tea kettle. Anyone from the UK (or Canada) will ask why on earth do Americans not have electric kettles? The answer, of course, is coffee makers. :p

Dream'R

10-13-2011, 04:12 PM

I got a laugh out of your comment regarding stove-top kettles to boil water rather than using an electric kettle. My daughter likes to make coffee using a Bodum "plunger" style carafe. She always used a stove-top kettle to boil water which took several minutes on her smooth top electric stove. I was concerned that the large element which is at the front and stayed hot for such a long time after being turned off posed a danger to our little grandson.

So now she has an electric kettle with an auto shut-off. Quicker and safer and certainly saves on the power consumed.

Much like you have been doing, we have switched to more efficient laundry equipment. Front loaders spin out more water which shortens dryer time. They also use only a fraction of the amount of water. Newer dishwashers also use way less water that older models. However the best "investment" we have made in recent time is a new Heat pump. It has the same heat output as the old one but draws about 15% less power along with having a more economical defrost cycle. Our total annual power consumption is down roughly 20% from before and I credit the heat pump for most of this saving.

My Civic hybrid has cut my gas consumption in half, but that's another story!

Cheers,

Roger

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-13-2011, 07:52 PM

Well, I have the sound machine. Kill-a-Watt says it's using 1.9-2.1 VA when plugged in and 2.5-2.7 VA when turned on. I'll be plugging it in at night and unplugging it in the morning (it's a dirty job but someone's got to do it :p). Now I just need to hope that Waterfall will do the job the fan was doing.

http://www.homedics.com/sounds/soundspar.html

They have other models with clocks that could have replaced our alarm clock and the fan and use less power but they have BRIGHT BACKLIGHTS.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-14-2011, 05:49 AM

Well, my wife slept OK with the sound machine. I found it a bit too much like an untuned radio, albeit a consistent one. I hope I get used to it.

I compared the Kill-a-Watt numbers:
Standing fan 45.7W. (I'm sure there are much lower power fans out there).
SoundSpa 2.7W.

Of course on warmer nights in the summer she'll probably have the fan or A/C running anyway so I'll conservatively knock it down to 75% of savings.

So, assuming typical uses of 7, 7.25 and 8.5 hours, depending on the time my wife gets up, I make it a reduction of 0.242kWh/day or 88.56kWh per year, constant 10.1We. That's a 1% saving on the baseline 3/2009 usage.

At our price of $0.145/kWh* that's an annual saving of $12.86. The SoundSpa cost $20.97 so anything over 1.63 years life saves money. (Although it's not about the money it's good to know that it's not costing us to save energy).

* There's 5% sales tax on monthly electricity use over 750kWh. However, we only go over in one or two hot summer months, but during those months my wife will likely use fan or A/C at night, so it's less likely that we'd see additional savings.

One slight negative: the green LED on the machine that tells you it's on is very bright. I think duct tape will fix that. ;)

vangonebuy

10-14-2011, 09:25 PM

Really enjoyed reading your postings, INATM.
And you've made great progress.

My Question:?
Are you running an electric water heater?
Maybe an electric dryer?
Electric baseboards?

Your numbers are consistantly higher than my monthly.

I am heating, cooking and drying with Nat. Gas.
Which is a separate chart..

But I very rarely go over 20 kwh/day average per month.
I want to know the reason why?
If you don't mind my meddling.

Thanks,
Tom

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-15-2011, 12:48 AM

Really enjoyed reading your postings, INATM.
And you've made great progress.

Thank you. As I mentioned to Sean, the graph shows more than I've really made because of the loss of a household member in 2/2008.

I'll just keep whittling away.

My Question:?
Are you running an electric water heater?
Maybe an electric dryer?
Electric baseboards?

We don't heat electric. We heat with oil, so our electric use for heating is limited to the furnace pump, which does run more in winter, which I think contributes a bit to winter having higher consumption than spring and fall.

We have an electric dryer. I don't know what our dryer power is but when we can't hang dry there are six 50-minute and one 70-minute load per week. That's likely between 2.6 and 5.2kWh per day right there.

Your numbers are consistently higher than my monthly.

I am heating, cooking and drying with Nat. Gas.

Which is a separate chart..

But I very rarely go over 20 kwh/day average per month.
I want to know the reason why?

We cook with electricity.

In summer there's A/C use and some additional consumption because of the extra two people at home during the day.

Of course, in terms of total energy use the electricity is really minimal, but the small things still need to be done.

There's more that can be eliminated. I'd love to knock off another 4.5kWh, which would means a total reduction since 3/2009 that would be enough to get me to work (one way) in a LEAF in reasonable weather. Not that I'll be getting a LEAF any time soon.

We've recently had a smart meter installed. The company is saying there will be portal with more detailed usage statistics.

If you don't mind my meddling.

I don't. If I did, I wouldn't post here. ;)

Thanks,
Tom

You're welcome.

vangonebuy

10-15-2011, 08:58 AM

Elec / Oil .
That sounds like Maine.
Central air ? Maybe??
Thanks for a clearer picture.

The dryer is a big consumer.
Back in 2000, I replaced my electric dryer with a gas unit.
On a annual basis my total savings were $60 per year between both bills. (2001 rates)
Payback was a few years.
Since my family was growing. And utility rates skyrocketed.

Your charts are excellent. Real storytellers.
Much better than mine.

On the boiler.
Do you lower the temp during the summer? No need for 180 degree water in summer.
Save some oil.

I'm working on a cabin in Maine.
Looking into an instant on electric water heater. One hybrid even has a small tank.
(No cold water sandwiches)

This wont help my electric bill.
But it could save on that imported oil.
And hopefully some $.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-15-2011, 10:12 AM

Elec / Oil .
That sounds like Maine.
Central air ? Maybe??
Thanks for a clearer picture.

No central air conditioning. We use window units. It's just that one of the units gets very heavily used because the person doesn't care about their consumption and another person doesn't care to make them care. ;)

The dryer is a big consumer.
Back in 2000, I replaced my electric dryer with a gas unit.
On a annual basis my total savings were $60 per year between both bills. (2001 rates)
Payback was a few years.
Since my family was growing. And utility rates skyrocketed.

Since we're just oil and electricity, going to gas would be a more structural change.

Your charts are excellent. Real storytellers.
Much better than mine.

It's a multi-series line chart created in LibreOffice (was in OpenOffice) Calc, copied to Draw (can't export a chart directly from Calc) and exported to an image.

I have a spreadsheet with the monthly numbers.

Then from that, using a lookup on my main list to grab the daily average, I have a table of daily use and change between years. First column is the month number then the columns are the different years and changes year to year. The chart is built off that table. I just had to highlight it, choose the line chart, eliminate the +/- columns and then modify the look of the chart (e.g. narrower lines and points, Y-axis 15-27kWh/day).

On the boiler.
Do you lower the temp during the summer? No need for 180 degree water in summer.
Save some oil.

I have done, although my wife likes very hot water for the shower. Right now it's the hottest it's been. During this year's furnace servicing they found a couple of the internal shielding walls were falling apart and replaced them. I hope that's the reason for the increased temperature rather than them also cranking up the heat. We'll see the effect on the oil consumption this winter.

A couple of years ago I also put insulation on the water tank. It was shocking, but not surprising that there wasn't any. The tank had some limited insulation, but was still too warm to the touch.

We have 2 thermostat zones, downstairs and upstairs. We have the thermostats turned way down in summer so there's no heating, even at night, and then up to 70 in winter. Both my wife (Raynaud's) and her disabled brother (MD) suffer in cold and because her brother could be here all day we can't turn the thermostats down. So even though there are two simple dial thermostats I haven't bother getting them replaced with timers.

The house insulation is reasonable, although some of the windows (all double-glazed uPCV) aren't well sealed so I have to insulate in winter.

Our fundamental heating problem is that we're 4 people in a 5 bedroom house. But we'll probably be here until my wife's brother can't live here any more. At least we pay less than $850 per year in interest and it has a low value for tax.

I'm working on a cabin in Maine.
Looking into an instant on electric water heater. One hybrid even has a small tank.
(No cold water sandwiches)

This wont help my electric bill.
But it could save on that imported oil.
And hopefully some $.

You can't get much simpler than electric, even if it can be expensive at Maine's prices ($0.153/kWh with sales tax), although I know that's less than Long Island. My colleague is currently all electric and had some shocking bills over the winter, although that's with the existing electric baseboard heating and not on TOU rates.

I like electricity for its simple, service-free nature and in a smaller house I'd probably go all electric even though there are cheaper alternatives in gas, wood or pellets.

Our old oil furnace has been a pain in the years I've lived here for servicing costs, although last winter it only failed once! The aquastat seems to be a point of failure. It doesn't help it's in a crappy earth basement on a square of concrete.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

10-22-2011, 03:19 PM

New kettle.

A cheap one from K-Mart, $17.99 + 5% sales tax.

It's only a 1L, 1kW kettle. Most are 1.7L, 1.5kW. I got a smaller one because we just heat 2 mugs of water at a time. It took about 4.5 minutes to heat the water (I need to time it from the start). Kill-a-Watt says it was using 945W when turned on. If estimates for heating in a stove-top kettle are right, at about 222Wh then given that:

- we have tea twice per day
- the kettle is 945W and takes (EDIT) 5 minutes to heat the water
- electricity is $0.145/kWh

=.145*365.25*2*(.222-(.945*5/60))

15.173398125

So, the $17.99*1.05 kettle should pay for itself within 15 months and reduce electricity use by a further 1.25%.

EVuser

11-02-2011, 12:17 PM

Just currious what type of processor did you go with? The Core I 3/5 line is fairy good and uses low power consumption. Outside of that LCD and Solid State Drive are probably your next best bet for saving of power consumption when it comes to computers. It sounds like you already have the LCD covered.

Sorry for the slow response. Just back after a month in the wilderness, no internet. I used a "i5-2500K" cpu. It is fairly efficient and overclocks like RLC's Insight hypermiles if there is ever a need.

Net metering (PV) has the electric bill sitting at a -$266 for the first 6 months so I'm not all that concerned about the watts from a monetary perspective. Had a very cool summer, allowing the whole house fan to handle almost all the cooling requirements. Days are getting shorter so we will start on the consumption part of the year and likely use up about 1/3 of that if it is a typical winter. If it gets cooler I might use up more with a electric space heater.

Unfortunately, no way to get rid of our high city sewer and water rates. They bill you even when the house is vacant.

Mike

EVuser

11-03-2011, 02:49 PM

Savings,
A few minutes ago I installed the ASUS motherboard control software in the new computer and was able to bring the previous 144 watt total power consumption (browsing cleanmpg type usage) of the new computer down to 116 watts. This was done by simply letting the motherboard via a number of profile choices optimize the configuration of the cpu and components for max efficiency on its own rather than the default settings. Nearly a 20% savings. :)

Mike

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

11-03-2011, 02:58 PM

Unfortunately, no way to get rid of our high city sewer and water rates. They bill you even when the house is vacant.

How do they determine the charge?

We have basic charges plus by-use charging (about $3.16 per 100 cu ft for water and sewer combined).

EVuser

11-03-2011, 10:31 PM

How do they determine the charge?

We have basic charges plus by-use charging (about $3.16 per 100 cu ft for water and sewer combined).

Billed pretty much the same way you are in Maine. A basic charge for the water meter which varies based on the size of the pipe and a variable charge per each unit of water. We may even be getting water cheaper than you as it is $1.12 for the first 12 units and $1.53 for each one above that. I think a 3/4 inch meter rate is about $25. Sewer is another charge and the rate is presently $79.69 plus a variable usage rate based upon the winter average water usage. Basic charges are bi-monthly, so the nobody home cost is about $50 per month and going up.

Sewer rate is going up every six months over the next few years so "we" can pay for a new plant that processes sewer waste into water that pretty much meets CA drinking standards. By 2014 the new rate structure will bring the average bill for sewer and water to over $100 per month.:Banane30:

A water unit here is the same 100 cu ft of water or 748 gallons. :flag:

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

11-04-2011, 01:15 AM

Billed pretty much the same way you are in Maine. A basic charge for the water meter which varies based on the size of the pipe and a variable charge per each unit of water. We may even be getting water cheaper than you as it is $1.12 for the first 12 units and $1.53 for each one above that. I think a 3/4 inch meter rate is about $25. Sewer is another charge and the rate is presently $79.69 plus a variable usage rate based upon the winter average water usage. Basic charges are bi-monthly, so the nobody home cost is about $50 per month and going up.

Sewer rate is going up every six months over the next few years so "we" can pay for a new plant that processes sewer waste into water that pretty much meets CA drinking standards. By 2014 the new rate structure will bring the average bill for sewer and water to over $100 per month.:Banane30:

A water unit here is the same 100 cu ft of water or 748 gallons. :flag:

Your unit price is lower, but your fixed charges are much higher. Our billing is quarterly.
$7.97 standing charge for water
No standing charge for sewerage, but we pay $20.00 extra because we're draining (earth) basement water into the sewer*. (Not something I want to do, but it's always been like that.)

* I think: I should get us inspected in case not but I'd expect they'd come, take a look and say "Yes, that's going into the sewer".

EVuser

11-17-2011, 05:56 PM

I messed up! :(
It uses more rather than less. Which is what I thought it would do. 141+ watts vs 100. I should have figured a number like 41 was to good to be true. It was plugged into a outlet on the power strip not monitored. Anyhow I now know the monitor, numerous transformers and switch alone use 41.

But there is still some potential for cutting a few watts off of that 141 number as the MB has the capability to operate using either the graphics card slot or use the lower power cpu graphics. As set up at this time it is running the graphics card. CPU graphics will be fine for most needs.

Mike

I think I now have the motherboard (Asus P8Z68-pro) optimized for economy. Only using 13 watts more than the computer it replaced. 113 watts new vs 100 old. Considering what it is capable of doing with those extra 13 watts it is amazingly more efficient from a processing perspective. The thing even keeps track of its own CO2 savings in mg when in the energy saving mode. Go fast gaming mode is just a click away.:Banane54:

xcel

12-05-2011, 05:15 PM

Hi All:

Now that my wife, daughter and grandson have moved out to CA, I suspect my electric bill will be cut in half. Wasteful lot they were :(

Wayne

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

12-05-2011, 07:10 PM

Hi All:

Now that my wife, daughter and grandson have moved out to CA, I suspect my electric bill will be cut in half. Wasteful lot they were :(

Wayne

Oh my. Sorry to hear that. :(

Are you going to sell your house? From the pictures it looks pretty big.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

12-12-2011, 09:57 PM

11/2011: 20.1kWh/day. (11/2010 21.84kWh/day).

12 mon to 11/2011: 20.64kWh/day
12 mon to 3/2009 (base): 24.15kWh/day
Current savings: -3.5kWh/day. -14.51%. 9.28 LEAF miles/day.

vangonebuy

01-06-2012, 12:50 PM

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/power.png

Finally can post my chart.
Average daily KW usage on monthly basis.

2009 was a series of meter reading mistakes by utility. But, year to year total is right.

2011 _ My lowest total Kw year yet....since kids. 5972Kw :D

Thinking of LED's for 2012.

PaleMelanesian

01-06-2012, 01:04 PM

jcp123

01-06-2012, 05:08 PM

Wow, never thought about getting so in-depth with my home electricity use. The bill's been running high lately - I think because our refrigerator is on the fritz.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

01-06-2012, 08:30 PM

Wow, never thought about getting so in-depth with my home electricity use. The bill's been running high lately - I think because our refrigerator is on the fritz.

Well, the good thing about working on lowering electricity use is that you can see results very quickly.

jcp123

01-06-2012, 08:42 PM

southerncannuck

01-07-2012, 06:43 AM

True. I suppose I am decent at it, replacing lights that are on the most with CFL's and making sure lights, ceiling fans etc. are turned off when not in use, moderating a/c and heater use, that kinda thing. You know, the basics. I would never have thought about calculating my daily KWH use or charting it!

When you start charting, it becomes an obsession, and you’ll look for all the KWH wasters. It’s a lot like driving a car. The low hanging fruit is the most rewarding. At least in terms of consumption reduction.

dieselbeetle

01-07-2012, 09:24 AM

I don't have my April bill, but February and March were my highest ever. :( This cold winter, combined with a renovation project that required insulation removal = bad.

Out there in the sticks it's hard to keep warm! :p

vangonebuy

01-07-2012, 09:24 AM

<<<When you start charting, it becomes an obsession, and you’ll look for all the KWH wasters.>>>

I'm obsessed?..... Can't prove it.
At least not for electricity.

I never figured out my daily usage till I read INATM's charts.
Seemed better than my total monthly usage charts. He was right. It shows my baseload average. (about 16Kwh daily) I'm working on lowering that the most.

We're among the country's HIGHEST anything rate.
Seemed to me the best way to get myself a raise these day's was to cut each of my expenses.
Can't manage what you don't measure.

CleanMPG has been a Great Reference for me. Thank You All Very Much.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

01-07-2012, 09:38 AM

For maybe the first time ever, I'm eager to see my December bill. :p :o It will show for certain what impact the new high-efficiency heat pump will have. November was a good-looking preview, though.

Come on, send my the bill faster, please! :p

My wife thinks I'm odd for the same reason. :D

Bill arrives, I pay it, it's added to my spreadsheet, I see the improvement and adjust my forecast bill by however much it's improved (usually, since improvements take a year to complete).

I also enjoy the home equity statement being available for a similar reason: once it's paid I'm closer to paying off the whole thing.

PaleMelanesian

01-09-2012, 12:36 PM

The bill came...

It was even better than I expected! Lowest December ever! 1887 kWh vs my 5-year Dec average of 3224. The new heat pump is more efficient, but it also works at lower temperatures. The old one would require the backup heater coils below about 35F, and this new one didn't blink at 27F. For the nights that drop that cold, that's a difference of THREE TIMES the power consumption, on top of the 33% better efficiency.

According to the NWS and degreedays.net, temperatures were comparable. It's been more of a steady cool than the usual warm and cold spikes, but the actual heating requirements are similar.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

01-09-2012, 01:17 PM

The bill came...

It was even better than I expected! Lowest December ever! 1887 kWh vs my 5-year average of 3224. The new heat pump is more efficient, but it also works at lower temperatures. The old one would require the backup heater coils below about 35F, and this new one didn't blink at 27F. For the nights that drop that cold, that's a difference of THREE TIMES the power consumption, on top of the 33% better efficiency.

According to the NWS and degreedays.net, temperatures were comparable. It's been more of a steady cool than the usual warm and cold spikes, but the actual heating requirements are similar.

Awesome!

My bill (much smaller since we don't use electric heat) will come this week. My (smart) meter reading date is today. I have a smart meter, I should get my bill immediately, damn it! :D

EDIT: How did the billing days compare?

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

01-11-2012, 07:01 AM

12/2011: 33 days 20.455kWh/day. (12/2010 30 days 22.367kWh/day).

12 mon to 12/2011: 20.48kWh/day
12 mon to 3/2009 (base): 24.15kWh/day
Current savings: -3.67Wh/day. -15.20%. 9.69 LEAF miles/day.

southerncannuck

01-11-2012, 08:26 AM

I Love how INATM ^ figures out how far he can drive a Leaf based of KWHs saved.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

01-11-2012, 12:23 PM

I Love how INATM ^ figures out how far he can drive a Leaf based of KWHs saved.

:D

My commute is 20.6 there and 20.8 back. I'd love to save enough to get all the way but, but half way would be a great milestone and I could use that as an argument against how much strain EVs would be to the grid.

At the end of December we* replaced the kitchen lights and have gone from 4 x 40W T12 to 4 x 32W T8 with the more efficient electronic ballasts. That could knock off maybe 0.1kWh/day off the next bill, but it's hard to know how much since before we often only had 2 tubes working and the others off or flickering. We're also now using a low power plug-in fluorescent as a kitchen night light instead of the microwave incandescent.

After the change-over I was trying to remember where I'd put the new tubes we'd bought and discovered a box of 10 of the old tubes in our bedroom (wall-length) closet! There's lots of junk around. So I have 2 dead, 2 working but used and 10 more dead/working T12 tubes to dispose of. Of course, I can't test the T12's now so I can't say whether those 10 tubes work. Unfortunately T12s are harder to dispose of than compact fluorescent bulbs.

There are several changes that haven't had a full year. I hope that'll bring the average down even more.

* Thanks to a friend who's a master electrician and will work for food, installation cost $sandwich+ use of car to fetch said sandwich.

rfruth

01-12-2012, 11:43 AM

Anyone else have a Smart Meter, there great !

https://www.smartmetertexas.com/CAP/public/index.html

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

01-12-2012, 12:38 PM

Anyone else have a Smart Meter, there great !

https://www.smartmetertexas.com/CAP/public/index.html

We were supposed to be getting an online portal in the fall, but when I contacted them December to ask where the portal was I was told it would be coming in spring.

I'd like the portal because a good set of data would tell me whether I'd be OK going to TOU. In Maine the supply (8.4906c/kWh) and distribution (6.0278c/kWh) are separate and the Standard Offer supply we use doesn't allow for TOU, but the distribution does. We don't use much electricity and It's only a matter of a few cents per kilowatt hour, but naturally as long as it wouldn't send our bills silly I'd prefer to shift to TOU.

vangonebuy

01-20-2012, 10:51 PM

The LED lighting revolution in my home has begun.
Some good results and some fair. But I'm learning.
Thank God there is a return policy for Home Depot / Lowes.
Asked for gift cards for Christmas. Got a bunch.

Gone over the math every way. LED's make sense for me.
But DAMN ! Spending $20 to $40+ on a bulb is harder than you think.

Started with 2 Philips 12.5watt AmbientLED (60 watt =) in my living room lamps.
Beautiful warm color, Fast start. But I really need brighter bulbs for these lamps. 17 watt (75 watt =) version lamps are available.
I think I need still need more light.
CFL's never really worked well in this location. Too slow to warm up. More glare is actually needed in this room.
Not worried these bulbs are designated for the front porch, When good brighter replacements are found.

Next came the downlights. Currently 60watt/R40 watt halogens.
All are now CFL's floodlights, in my kitchen.

Started with 2 Philips AmbientLED 18watt indoor floodlight for my kitchen. (90watt =) Nice color and very bright.
BUT returned them. These are more spot lights than floodlights. Not a useable floodlight for my kitchen.

Returned for EcoSmart / Cree CR6 10.5 watt. (65watt =)
Tried in the kitchen. Beautiful product. But just a bit dim for my kitchen. Great diffused lighting.
Picked up 5. Replaced the bathroom lights. Look perfect.

I want 23 more of these long term.... Yea, they are that good. (lower prices and more gift cards are needed)
They are dimmable. But I haven't upgraded to the approved Lutron toggle dimmer.

Got 1 GE 9 watt (40watt=) so far. I found it slightly blue. (3000 K listed as color, But I think it's even cooler blue)
But mixed it with a CFL in the same ceiling fixture and the color is very good.

For the kitchen, I have my eye on Cree LR6. Which are brighter downlights.
But I'm gonna need to test them out before committing to 5 of them.

Funny thing is a bulb will last as long as my next 2 cars... So I'm trying not to make mistakes. Focusing on the most used lights first also.

Heat is the enemy of all these bulbs. So no closed fixtures on "A" style bulbs.

I'm waiting to see the difference on my electric bill.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

01-21-2012, 11:46 AM

The way I see it, LEDs really aren't suited to existing fittings due to problems with overheating, so it'll take some personal research dollars to find out out what works where.

Keep us updated!

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-09-2012, 11:40 AM

Well 1/2012 is in: 18.10kWh/day. Last year was 21.38kWh/day.

Wow. That knocks 0.26kWh/day off the annualized results.

Significant changes since last year
- Wife's son isn't home as much. Hard to estimate the impact. It's not like he cooked or anything and he still leaves his fans running when he's out.
- Much milder winter presumably reducing how much the furnace pump runs
- New 4xT8 kitchen light fitting replacing old 4xT12 fitting: because the lights are brighter they are on less.
- Electric kettle replacing tea kettle
- Sound machine replacing a standing fan at night

EDIT: new 12 month average:
20.23kWh/d (3/2009 24.15kWh/d)
Constant W equivalent 842.8W (3/2009 1006.2W)
Reduction 16.23%, 10.38LEAF miles.
My savings would now take me over halfway to work. :D

PaleMelanesian

02-09-2012, 11:49 AM

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-09-2012, 08:47 PM

My January bill is ridiculous. It's half of my previous January average. I love it! :D

We've had a warm winter. Only 2/3 the normal HDD, so obviously less power consumed for heating.
The new heat pump is amazing. Per degree day, it consumes 2/3 the power.

Combine those two factors and you have half the consumption, or more valuable to me, over $100 saved in January.

Excellent! My savings compared to the year to 3/2009, after prices drop by 1c/kWh next month are $193.29 per year.

I don't know why prices are going to drop for the standard supply. I'll be interested to see the updated mix.

PS We deallt with the T12s. My wife took them to work where they'll either be able to use them (which would actually be a bad thing) or dispose of them properly.

EVuser

02-10-2012, 12:27 AM

Need a dimmable LED in a standard base bulb that will work hanging down in a "Tulip" fixture. About 60 watt equivalent lumens. Any suggestions? Area light over kitchen counter prep and eating area.

Have had a great PV year. Month 11 bill from the PGE showed grid usage at 72 KWHs total for the previous 11 months. Net zero would have been pretty easy without the EV.

Have a rather large $$ credit that is going to disappear in a couple more weeks so I am hoping right now for more rain than sunshine. Watershed is a bit dry.

"It'snotaboutthemoney" You said
"New 4xT8 kitchen light fitting replacing old 4xT12 fitting: because the lights are brighter they are on less."
I'm not understanding how being brighter would reduce the usage time?

Have had t8's for years, Good life from most. Had problems with one 4x fixture. It ate bulbs like they were cheap CFLs. GE replaced a couple of sets under warranty and suggested that it might be the ballast's. These were 2 T8 ballasts which came with the fixture but from a brand with some known issue's that I was not aware of. New ballast (brand which has worked well in my other 4x's) with last set of bulbs, time will tell.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-10-2012, 05:09 AM

Need a dimmable LED in a standard base bulb that will work hanging down in a "Tulip" fixture. About 60 watt equivalent lumens. Any suggestions? Area light over kitchen counter prep and eating area.

Have had a great PV year. Month 11 bill from the PGE showed grid usage at 72 KWHs total for the previous 11 months. Net zero would have been pretty easy without the EV.

So, does your enormous 72kWh bill keep you in Tier 1? :p

"It'snotaboutthemoney" You said
"New 4xT8 kitchen light fitting replacing old 4xT12 fitting: because the lights are brighter they are on less."
I'm not understanding how being brighter would reduce the usage time?

Our living room and kitchen are connected and open. So in the evening when we're in the living room the brighter lights from the kitchen are more noticeable, and disturb my wife enough that she'll turn them off: we use a plug-in night light and/or the light on the over-the-stove microwave instead. When we go to bed we leave the plug-in night light on.

EVuser

02-10-2012, 12:37 PM

So, does your enormous 72kWh bill keep you in Tier 1? :p

Our living room and kitchen are connected and open. So in the evening when we're in the living room the brighter lights from the kitchen are more noticeable, and disturb my wife enough that she'll turn them off: we use a plug-in night light and/or the light on the over-the-stove microwave instead. When we go to bed we leave the plug-in night light on.

If you divide my annual bill by the 72 kwh it is about a dollar per kwh. I pay about 14 cents per day for metering and then pay for KWH usage on a net metering time of usage rate. Great program.

Starting this year we can actually get paid for excess production at a offset rate. That would be a few cents per KWH, something very tiny. A small enough amount that I'm likely not going to strive for it. I already get enough grief.

But I was very surprised at how close we came to being a net producer this year. A lot of sunshine in what are normally low PV production months. I pay about 0.12/kwh off peak and 0.34/kwh on peak (summer rate). On Peak time being noon to 6 pm. From Jan 30th 2011 thru Jan 30 2012 the PV system provided 4,546 KWH. PGE provided an additional 72 kwh ( I expect that PGE number to grow slightly before true up at the end of the month). Call it 400 kwh usage per month on average. Daily hot water, and cooking is natural gas. Furnace is also gas but usage is minimal. Moderately efficient 2400 sq ft home in a livable climate with attention to usage.

Properly invested the amount of money I spent on the PV system back in 2001 could cover my annual power usage. So far this is doing as well or better and may serve some "greater good".

FWIW regular residential tier 1 in our zipcode is $0.1285/kwh. That is good for 450 kwh in the winter, tier 2 is 0.14602 and that takes you from 450- 585 kwh total, tier 3 at 0.29518 takes you to 900 kwh total, above that is 0.33518. Tiers are lower in the summer and you can hear the neighbors scream when the electric bills come in. Much like DWL and DWB they just haven't learned to take advantage of 50-60 night temps to offset 90-100 degree afternoons. Average summer day temp is about 75F, winter 46F.

I now understand how brighter is less when it comes to t8 lighting. Thanks:) I get the same result out of a loud electric space heater fan. My wife turns it off. Sweaters are very quiet;)

Keep up the great work. I think Maine is another high rate state. I hate our tiered rate structure but it does get our attention.

Love my timers and tolerate the cfl's. Still don't trust the electronics in led's to be proven reliable enough yet to spend $40 a bulb. ( and have no personal $$ incentive either)

Wow did that get long:( :flag:

lxmike

02-10-2012, 03:52 PM

Anyone else have a Smart Meter, there great !

https://www.smartmetertexas.com/CAP/public/index.html

we're getting on sometime soon down here. i can't wait to start tracking our usage!

I just checked and i have one now!! Gotta wait till they have our area completed and then can track online usage. Now i can hyper mile my house!

:biglol:

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-10-2012, 05:01 PM

Keep up the great work. I think Maine is another high rate state. I hate our tiered rate structure but it does get our attention.

Maine is above average but it's not NYC or CA.

It's pretty simple:
- Broken down into supply, distribution and tax.
- Mainers can choose their supplier but not their distributor. The Maine Public Utilities Commission regulates so presumably controls the distributor pricing.
- Distributors have a "default" supply, the "Standard Offer". That's fixed annually, beginning March 1st.
- Not many choose a supplier because there aren't many choices. A competitor has got some publicity recently. But, when I looked at their supply mix there was less renewable energy and more nuclear, coal and NG. I don't know if that's simply because the Standard Offer buys the renewable sources so they aren't available or it's an attempt to undercut by buying "cheap and dirty". It was about 1.5c cheaper per kWh, but the new Standard Offer will drop about a cent from March 2012.

My charges break down as:
Supply: $0.084906/kWh. No TOU available.
Distribution:
- First 100kWh $8.53 ($0.853/kWh)
- Additional: $0.060278/kWh
- TOU rates are available on the distribution fee
Sales tax: on monthly kWh above 750kWh. 5%, same as general sales tax.
So my marginal rate is $0.145184/kWh but that will drop by about a cent in March.
Thanks to efficiency savings we now only go over 750kWh in the hotter summer months, so only 1 or 2 months out of the year.

We have smart meters and they're promising access to usage data on the Internet in Spring. But they said Fall last year and it still hasn't appeared. Once it arrives I'm sure I'll analyze the data. :D

vangonebuy

02-10-2012, 10:42 PM

Need a dimmable LED in a standard base bulb that will work hanging down in a "Tulip" fixture. About 60 watt equivalent lumens. Any suggestions? Area light over kitchen counter prep and eating area.

Hi EVuser.

60 watt leds are really ugly still. Most have a longer bulb body too.
They may stick out of your tulip lights further.
Also, few have good full direction lighting. 40 watt has more selection.

Lowes has a few. One Sylvania and one Utilitech brand might work.
The Philips Endura 12watt has great light but the yellow bulb is not too pleasing over your head.
I've found a discounter for Philips Endura 12watt through my power company.
Selling the Philips for $12.50 +tax +shipping. much cheaper than retail.

Another note. The 2 Cree leds in my bathroom angled ceiling are running much cooler than the old flood lights. Only 80 degrees tops. I believe they will slow the ice damming off my roof.

EVuser

02-10-2012, 11:50 PM

Vangonebuy-Thanks

Mike--Smartmeters have some hate factor around here. I suspect none of it is deserved. But PGE is taking them off of homes if the complainers want. They also add a $2 per month meter reading fee to their bill.

Interesting thing about the smartmeters used locally is the way they network around the neighborhoods. Sort of real low power wifi system.

My electric meter is very "smart" but not part of the "smartmeter" program. They don't have a "smartmeter" yet that goes backwards. Our gas meter is in the program and apparently the minimum usage it can transmit is 1 therm. We average a little less than a therm a day in the winter so the monthly history on the graph looks like a hand saw blade with a few teeth knocked out. Use about 8-16 in the summer. So a lot of zero days even though gas is being used.

For home electric usage there are a number of products similar to this, some a very capable.
http://www.theenergydetective.com/
They leave a utility "smartmeter" in grade school. Rather like putting a SG2 on your electric system. I'll add that I haven't used nor do I vouch for any of these devices.

The monitor/logger in my PV inverter has been taking a memory dump lately and a new board is more than a TED so I might be a buyer one of these days. I also had the contractor put a "old style" meter on my PV system when it was installed so memory dumps are annoying but the total is backed up.

The killowatt meter is a good starter. Only trouble I have ever had with mine is I lost it for about 6 months. Couldn't remember the outlet it was in. Showed up monitoring my network switches/router/modem and was buried in a pile of cat5 cable and power strips.:(
Mike

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-11-2012, 08:20 AM

Vangonebuy-Thanks

Mike--Smartmeters have some hate factor around here. I suspect none of it is deserved. But PGE is taking them off of homes if the complainers want. They also add a $2 per month meter reading fee to their bill.

Only $2 per month? They want to make the tin-foil hat brigade pay a lot more here:
https://www.cmpco.com/smartmeter/smartmeteroptions.html. I guess the excuse would be that Maine is low density so it would expensive to have a reader driving around to cover all the exceptions.

Somehow they managed to wangle some federal funding for the smart meter program even though it means they can eliminate meter reading jobs.

But, what's really stupid about the whole thing is that before the smart meters people came and read the meter every month. In the UK, I think they'd use estimates most months. If, like me, you didn't want an estimate you read the meter yourself and called in or submitted your reading on a web site. That reduced reading costs significantly.

vangonebuy

02-11-2012, 11:49 AM

For home electric usage there are a number of products similar to this, some a very capable.
http://www.theenergydetective.com

I had looked into TED also. The company support website was chuck full of troubles.
Misreadings and connection troubles. Many were happy also.
Not always a response from the manufacturer.
So I have held off for now. Very interesting product though.

On a side note. Home Depot has lowered the price of EcoSmart (Cree) CR6 led's downlights.
$24.95 is the price now. I brought my receipt in and was credited enough for 2 1/2 more.
Kicked in a little and came home with 3. :D

Have to admit though my total usage hasn't gone down much this month. Kids on their XBox has made up the difference.

EdwinTheMagnificent

02-12-2012, 07:57 AM

Our natural gas supplier (Nicor) lets us read our own meter as it is located inside the house in the basement. But several times a year, they don't want to believe our reading and insist on scheduling a human to come in and read it. At least we are able to do it at our own convenience , like on a Saturday.
I am beginning to do my own energy audit on both homes now. I know we use a lot of electricity because we have two large and hungry televisions that are used a LOT in the winter season. My plasma and surround system use about 250 watts , according to Mr. Kill-A-Watt. Maybe a year from now I will have some good news to report.

vangonebuy

02-14-2012, 07:46 PM

My plasma and surround system use about 250 watts , according to Mr. Kill-A-Watt. Maybe a year from now I will have some good news to report

Interesting note: My 32" led LCD tv uses less electricity in Standard Definition.
Hi Def kicks it up about 30 watts.

My big tv uses about the same either way.

EVuser

02-15-2012, 12:58 AM

Interesting note: My 32" led LCD tv uses less electricity in Standard Definition.
Hi Def kicks it up about 30 watts.

My big tv uses about the same either way.

Interesting. That seems like a big increase.
Have you adjusted any of the custom setting while watching the meter? Might be a selection that saves some power. I rather expect that brighter means more watts.

But you must be a hypermiler if you noticed:)

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-15-2012, 05:22 AM

Interesting. That seems like a big increase.
Have you adjusted any of the custom setting while watching the meter? Might be a selection that saves some power. I rather expect that brighter means more watts.

But you must be a hypermiler if you noticed:)

It's really not surprising. In SD there are large areas of black on the screen. Black is off.
(16/9)/(4/3) = 4/3 so HD has 1/3 more screen space than an SD image, which would mean at least 1/4 of pixels are off in an SD image. So an efficient TV with a back-lighting system that can also be turned off in the blank areas could reduce the consumption of its display by at least 1/4 when it detects an SD picture.

It's the lighting of the pixels and back-lighting of the display that largely determine the consumption of an LCD TV, which is why power increases rapidly for larger LCD displays. CRT could actually be more efficient than LCD at larger sizes, but it was physically limited as well as being bulky.

vangonebuy

02-15-2012, 07:43 PM

In SD there are large areas of black on the screen. Black is off.
That's not it this time. The screen is stretched to fill.
I think it's probably different circuitry that turns on with HD.
Have you adjusted any of the custom setting while watching the meter?
It's using standard home settings on color right out of the box. But I may give it a try and see if there's watts to be saved.....Thanks for the idea.

all_about_the_glide

02-27-2012, 09:05 AM

Not exactly home, but I spend more hours here at our coffee company during the week than I do at my domicile.

Goal: upgrade my current workstation and add a network attached storage server leveraging Moore’s law to increase efficiency, productivity, functionality and data redundancy without failing pray to Jevon’s Paradox (the proposition that technological progress that increases the efficiency with which a resource is used, tends to increase (rather than decrease) the rate of consumption of that resource http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox ). Just as importantly, the new equipment has to work seamlessly with the old (I want tools to do jobs, not devices that create one). To ensure this I worked with Dale Vietz of Computers by Design in Blaine, MN who gets the CleanMPG ethos (works from his home that is almost entirely converted to LED lighting) and builds and supports computers that are fast and flat out reliable: bought my first computer from him over 20 years ago.

My typical workload includes running Quickbooks Premier, Excel, InDesign, Gimp, Outlook, Word, network back-up and multiple web browsers.

Our old network configuration was 2 desktops, 2 nettops and 3 notebooks connected through a wireless router (no server).

Checked out the Kill A Watt in the pictures below at my local library to verify the electrical draw of the various devices.

Goodbye:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/uoldsystem.jpg

My 7 year old Pentium-4 3.0 ghz box (hibernate: 4 watts, idle: 90 watts, peak: 152 watts)—once the drive is wiped and the operating system reinstalled it will sit in the closet as an emergency replacement.

19” CRT monitor (h: 2, i: 45, p: 70) attached to our label printing workstation (replaced by my 7 year old Acer 19” LCD monitor (h: 2, i: 34 p: 38) – closet bound.

Belkin 100mb wireless router (10 watts) – closed bound.

Hello:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/unew_equip.jpg
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/unewsysdesk.jpg
Caught the wallpaper image of raised-screen "natural" coffee cherry drying in Sidamo Ethiopia dissolving into my best tank from the summer.

Intel low power series I-Core 3 2100t 2.5ghz, 64GB SSD, 8GM Ram, no discrete graphics card, no case fan. (h: 2, i: 24, p: 45), Win7 Pro. In addition to having lower draw numbers, it spends orders of magnitude more time at idle further enhancing its efficiency (cpu pulse & glide). As you can see in the table below, it is more power efficient than the two 2.5 year old dual-core Intel Atom based work stations we have in place. Originally I wanted to build a fan-less workstation around the new Atom D2700 chip, but production delays, driver issues and lack of SATA lll support killed that idea.

Asus 23” widescreen LED/LCD Monitor with integrated speakers (h: 1, i: 18, p. 20) – wide screen allows true multitasking.

Trendnet Gigabit-E Wireless Router with green power supply: (6 watts).

Synology DS212+ Network Attached Storage Server 2 x 1TB Hard Drives mirrored by Synology’s proprietary Hybrid – RAID. Plenty of cheaper ways to skin this cat, but besides having the best power efficiency stats in its class (h:8, i:22, p:28) the Synology browser based operating system makes set-up and management hassle free (back to not wanting a device that becomes a job). In addition, it’s quick, redundant, feature rich and quiet. I have it set to automatically boot at 6 am and power down at 7 pm Monday thru Friday…have to hit the power button if I work at the office on Saturday.

Results

The new additions and changes dropped peak electrical draw by 139 watts, reduced idle draw by 77 watts while increasing time spent in this state and increased draw while hibernating by 1 watts (auto-powering down the Synology NAS mitigates this to some degree). When the battery dies on the router/switch battery backup I’ll replace it with one that is timer enabled.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/computer_data.jpg

Also, found out with the Killa-Watt my BizHub hibernates at voracious 40 watts. Bought a timer based surge suppressor to keep it shut down 73% of the time.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/utimer3_813.jpg

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-27-2012, 09:17 AM

Nice work.

HELP? How do you paste/create a table inside of a post.

Tables use a table tag. Begin cell values immediately after the table tag and end immediately after the last cell value. There are no row tags.
Separate each cell with a pipe
Just new-line to get the next row.
You can apply tags to cell values. Enclose in right tag to align right, for example.

Value 1,1|value 1,2|value 1,3
2,1|value 2,2|value 2,3

For larger tables with fancy formatting I build the table in a spreadsheet. There are web pages that can help you do it though.

all_about_the_glide

02-27-2012, 09:21 AM

Built the table in excel...lost the formatting when I pasted the data into the post.

PaleMelanesian

02-27-2012, 09:36 AM

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-27-2012, 10:51 AM

Built the table in excel...lost the formatting when I pasted the data into the post.

Sorry, I mean that I use formulae that build a formatted strings of values and then paste it into here. The separation of data and formatting makes it easier to make changes: update, copy, paste.

all_about_the_glide

02-27-2012, 12:02 PM

Thanks. I think I got it...will try it next time.

vangonebuy

02-27-2012, 08:49 PM

All about the glide
Really nice upgrade, Solid State Drive included. Well thought out. Good Luck.

Try this website. http://grano.la/
Nice little program that powers down the computer chip when not needed. It might be redundant for your system already, But it's saved me quite a few kwh so far.
Oh yea....It's FREE !

Also the timer installed APC looks great. Wish they were around when I started with my timers.

1 watt left on all year = 8.74Kwh

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

02-27-2012, 09:07 PM

1 watt left on all year = 8.74Kwh

365.25 * 24 = 8766

all_about_the_glide

02-28-2012, 04:38 AM

vangonebuy--

Thank's for the Granola tip...I'll do my due diligence this week. The solid state drive and lots of ram make for fast enough (8 second) wake up times from hibernation to full usability that aggressive power saving settings can be employed. Also, the NAS handles all of the backup routines during the workday so I can power down my workstation as I head out the door.

The multi-function printer's 40 "watt power saving" mode is a farce. Starting this week, it's normal state is off. The APC timer is just there to power it down in case we forget to flip the printer's switch to zero.

I can't wait for the batteries in the battery backups to fry (they are all getting long in the tooth) so I can get all our IT gear on timers.

EVuser

02-29-2012, 10:51 AM

PGE read their meter on Monday morning. That starts another year of monthly debits or credits to our electric bill. 2011-12 was 10th year with credits left on the table and total of about $60 in metering charge.

Time to put away the electric space heaters and get back into the conservation mode. We use to "true up" in the summer and this is much nicer from a planning perspective.

Net metering solar works well for us. :flag:

all_about_the_glide

03-02-2012, 07:54 PM

Vangonebuy--

Dude, thanks for the Granola link. Between work in home have it on 5 computers now: it claims it's saving 44.8% of CPU energy or 233.1 kWh/yr on the old VAIO laptop I'm using right now and about 30% on my new work desktop in the post on the previous page. Haven't notice any performance degradation either--phenomenal. Gave the link to a potential customer in Iceland today and my bro in Ecuador...guess I'm evangelizing.

http://grano.la/

vangonebuy

03-04-2012, 09:22 PM

AATGlide. Glad to help.

Granola keeps my old Dell from toasting my leg. Runs about 32 watts. Unless I crank up the speakers. :D

What is your new desktop computer wattage now?
I am looking to upgrade the family laptop.
Never thought of the SS drive for saving power. That's a great idea.
Hard drive shortage was so bad in December, Dell wanted to put 2 - 1/2 TB drives in my laptop. I couldn't get a version with one. So I waited. Still am.
Hard drives are the most unreliable and power hungry part in a laptop....Let's get 2. Duh!

365.25 * 24 = 8766

Oh yea, Thanks for the math lesson. :p

PaleMelanesian

03-05-2012, 10:27 AM

Lowest February ever. Less than half my 5-year average. Again it's a combination of weather and the new heat pump, but it's AWESOME. :D

2012: 1466 kWh, $92
Average: 3453 kWh, $215

all_about_the_glide

03-05-2012, 10:50 AM

@vangonebuy.

Will buy or check out a kill a watt from my library and report back.

Not only does the ssd consume less power than a spinner it's speed advantage means you spend more time in idle, sleep, hibernate, off. Pulse and glide.

Hard drive prices ouch! Bought two western digital 1tb enterprise class drives for the Synology NAS. Wanted to wait for supplies and prices to normalize but couldn't.

vangonebuy

03-05-2012, 11:50 AM

PaleMelanesian
I'm paying an extra $2000 for an upgraded 16 SEER. I estimate it will take 6-7 years for that to pay back in saved electricity.
Remember this quote, Back in September...?

I know you cant compare years due to weather. But how much $ have you saved from average years so far?
Estimate a payback in years?

Cause your Kwh savings sound insane. That's less than half.

PaleMelanesian

03-05-2012, 12:57 PM

This is usually the end of a heating season so I can comment on that. Comparing by degree-days, which helps account for weather differences, I'm paying about 2/3 as much to heat my house. This is right in line with the projections, so I expect the summer savings to be similar as well.

At this rate it looks like a 10 year payoff (+- a couple years, of course). However, when you factor in the upcoming announced price increases, the picture gets better. 18% price increase = 8.5 years payback.

This winter (dec, jan, feb) saved me $300 compared to (average) previous years. That's enough to pay for my upcoming attic ventilation upgrades (currently near zero), which will help reduce the summer bills even more. It's like a snowball, in a good way.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

03-05-2012, 02:33 PM

It's like a snowball, in a good way.

I've sometimes wonder about a "Once Upon A CFL" concept. Just how much could you save on bills if you started with one small thing like a CFL and reinvested the savings in further energy savings?

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

03-11-2012, 08:17 PM

2/2012 is in: 17.14kWh/day. Last year was 19.84kWh/day.
(Caveat: my wife and I were away for a week on vacation in Charleston, SC where it was unseasonably warm. We got sunburns because it was February. Who wears sunblock in February? But, the other 2 household members were still there.)

It was only a 29 day bill, but it was 497kWh, the first time we've been below 500kWh.

Another .21kW/day off annual consumption.

New 12 month average:
20.02kWh/d (3/2009 24.15kWh/d)
Constant W equivalent 843.0W (3/2009 1006.2W)
Reduction 17.11%, 10.94LEAF miles.
My savings would now take me over halfway from work to home.

50 mpg by 2012

03-12-2012, 11:32 AM

This winter (dec, jan, feb) saved me $300 compared to (average) previous years. That's enough to pay for my upcoming attic ventilation upgrades (currently near zero), which will help reduce the summer bills even more. It's like a snowball, in a good way.

Attic venting ...

Consider screened vents under the eaves along with either ridge or peak vents .

This generates convection cooling loop.

Cooler air will settle above the ceiling, a cooler insulating blanket, in the summer time.

Based on my experience in Austin TX ... there was a 40°F gradient from the top of ceiling insulation to 10 inches above, about 140~150°F plus ... in the summer time.

Still need good ceiling insulation though.

PaleMelanesian

03-12-2012, 11:43 AM

That's exactly the plan of action. Screened eave vents and ridge vents. The house is a long and low Texas style so there's plenty of both eaves and ridges.

50 mpg by 2012

03-13-2012, 09:22 PM

There are specific calculations for upper and lower vent areas ... usually on ridge vent packaging or product installation instructions.

PaleMelanesian

03-14-2012, 08:19 AM

I bought the ridge vents last night. Now I just have to find the right shingles to cover it and match the house. :eyebrow:

I'm planning to beat the recommended minimum 1 sq ft (free vent area) per 300 sq ft of attic. I'm aiming for that much each for both the ridge and the eaves. I might add in some gable end vents as well.

50 mpg by 2012

03-14-2012, 10:31 AM

I don't think I would use gable vents.

But I might push the vent area to 1.5/300 sq ft.

PaleMelanesian

03-14-2012, 10:43 AM

Why no gable vents? If they're slatted and screened they will block any (non-hurricane) water intrusion, and allow a lot of ventilation area for minimal effort.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

04-10-2012, 06:02 PM

EVuser

04-10-2012, 06:31 PM

3/2012 is in: 16.03kWh/day. Last year was 19.83kWh/day.

A 30 day bill at 481kWh, under 500kWh again!

Another .32kW/day off annual consumption.

New 12 month average:
19.70kWh/d (3/2009 24.15kWh/d)
Constant W equivalent 821.0W (3/2009 1006.2W)
Reduction 18.40%, 11.76LEAF miles.
Now I could go over halfway to work on the longer Interstate route.

I'm now really looking forward to the next two months. Those are normally the annual lows as the days are longer and it's warmer, but not warm enough to have to use air conditioning.

Nice!
Was there a significant reduction in your usage by an appliance/weather change or was this a lot of small things adding up?

Mostly the same here.
My annual pretty much unchanged but I heated with electricity except for a few days in Jan.

"True up" happened at the end of March, solar net metering surplus again and what better way to use it. We had a nice mild summer and some reasonable PV production during the normally dismal months of nov/dec.

03/2011-03/2012 total usage for the year 254 kwh's, TOU -$180.00 billing credit left over.

Went into the dark months as a net producer but the best bang for the buck was to turn to electric space heaters and stay off the NG. EV usage was also down some this past year.:flag:

Mike

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

04-10-2012, 08:14 PM

Nice!
Was there a significant reduction in your usage by an appliance/weather change or was this a lot of small things adding up?

Mostly the same here.
My annual pretty much unchanged but I heated with electricity except for a few days in Jan.

"True up" happened at the end of March, solar net metering surplus again and what better way to use it. We had a nice mild summer and some reasonable PV production during the normally dismal months of nov/dec.

03/2011-03/2012 total usage for the year 254 kwh's, TOU -$180.00 billing credit left over.

Went into the dark months as a net producer but the best bang for the buck was to turn to electric space heaters and stay off the NG. EV usage was also down some this past year.:flag:

Mike

Part of it is my wife's son not being around much, part is milder weather, but the savings were new kitchen lightong, sound machine instead of a fan, electric kettle instead of tea kettle, further reduction in use of the dryer. I'm running out of improvements.

PaleMelanesian

04-11-2012, 09:39 AM

My bill for March was higher than last year. I blame the warm weather - we ran the AC a few times when we normally wouldn't. It's still the 2nd lowest March bill and 2/3 of our amazing new low winter bills.

I spent this winter's savings ($320) on venting the attic. That should add extra savings in the summer on top of the new AC's savings.

Killroy

04-14-2012, 11:09 PM

My monthly usage is between 193 and 257 kWhr. Its of us in a small 776 sqft place, which helps, but the electric cooking and dryer is not good. Gas is 3 to 17 therms.

If I needed a dryer and stove I would switch to gas. If I needed a water heater I would love a on demand.

RedylC94

04-15-2012, 02:59 AM

My December-January electric usage was nearly a record high, because I was stuck home due to my accident, instead of out burning gasoline. Trying to stay warm during that time with the antiquated heat pump didn't help. That was 220 kw-hr (296 average watts). (Also as a result of the accident, my gasoline usage was exactly zero for that month.)
At the other extreme, Sept.-Oct. usage was 75 kw-hr (108 watts).
1000 ft³, 2-bed, 2-bath, all-electric

EdwinTheMagnificent

04-15-2012, 07:42 AM

RedylC94, I didn't know you were in an accident. May I ask what happened ?

RedylC94

04-15-2012, 10:37 AM

RedylC94, I didn't know you were in an accident. May I ask what happened ?
Yes.
On Dec. 16, I used my touring bike on a 20-mile local errand. At the very end of that ride, in the parking lot right in front of my abode, I cut a U-turn a bit too tight. The front tire skidded outward.
Results: Clavicle smashed into several pieces, several broken ribs (some in multiple locations), "flail chest," contusion on lung, surgery to patch clavicle, edema of hand, brachial plexus injury, fingers nearly paralyzed, and adhesive capsulitis of shoulder. By now, the bones seem to be healed and fingers are back up to roughly half normal strength. The swelling and capsulitis still persist.

Unable to drive, I walked to the emergency room. Surgeon has repeatedly commented that most less fit people with the same injuries would've been intubated in ICU.

Right Lane Cruiser

04-15-2012, 12:50 PM

That sounds like a bad accident!! I'm glad you're "ok" but hope you continue to improve. :(

vangonebuy

04-20-2012, 11:27 AM

3/2012 is in: 16.03kWh/day. Last year was 19.83kWh/day.

A 30 day bill at 481kWh, under 500kWh again!
INATM,
Serious improvement yet again.
You'll pass me soon.

My April bill arrived & a bit of a mixed bag. 902kwh for 2 months.
15.02 avg. daily.
I'm up big from last year. Not a surprise though.
Our new hobby of baking breads and pizza is running my bill up.
But its worth it. Not wasted.
Baking season is coming to an end soon. Plus were combining the oven with multiple loaves at once.
Heating was shut since 4/14.
About 12kwh or less daily since then. :D

Added more CR6 LED downlights.
They are really working well. My payback on some is getting longer as I added them to less used places.
Quality of light is much better than my CFL's.
Cannot estimate real annual savings yet since most LED's are recent installed.

gabe1475

04-29-2012, 08:29 AM

I was looking for information on the net and I figured the folks on this site may be the most informed about cost saving improvements to a home.

Looking at replacing the AC in a 12 year old home and trying to decide if I should go with 16 - 17 seer central AC (split system) or Geothermal. They state that it can save 70% in electric costs, but not sure how accurate that actually is. Anyone out there have real world savings using Geothermal?

herm

04-29-2012, 08:58 AM

southerncannuck

04-29-2012, 09:33 AM

We have a solar water heater on our house in Ormond Beach, and had one when we lived in Fort Lauderdale. This time I also added a solar powered attic fan. For the money the fan is a heavy hitter. The attic temps dropped 50 degrees at the height of the day. Since the AC ducts run through the attic the house is much more comfortable.

A peeve of mine is the combining of all renewable energy systems in one lump. Making hot water, pumping out hot air is something the sun does very well, and inexpensively.

gabe1475

04-29-2012, 10:58 PM

what part of the country are you in?

In Central Florida we use well water circulated thru the condenser coils, quite a big savings but occasionally we have to clean the deposits off, plus corrosion issues. In South Florida solar water heaters were common, I have not seen one in years and hot water is a big expense for a family with kids.

In AZ, and the type of system I was looking at only uses the cool temps in the ground to disipate the heat, although probably the same pricipal as what you are doing. How much of a decrease did you notice when you switched to this system?

PaleMelanesian

05-04-2012, 08:58 AM

Well. I have my lowest electric bill ever, by far. :D

It's a mistake. :(

$10.77, 51 kWh for the month of April. :p

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

05-04-2012, 08:29 PM

Well. I have my lowest electric bill ever, by far. :D

It's a mistake. :(

$10.77, 51 kWh for the month of April. :p

Shame.

Do you still have human meter readers? I had a human over-read ours by 200kWh one month (probably mentioned earlier on this thread).

Harold

05-04-2012, 10:09 PM

Mine was 3.3 kWh for 62 days. $62 for 62 days. My heat and hot water is NG. 51 is getting up there. Glad it is you and not me. H

vangonebuy

05-05-2012, 06:58 AM

Harold
Mine was 3.3 kWh for 62 days. $62 for 62 days.

Seems like your almost ready to unhitch from the grid.
Cause your paying $18.79 a kwh.

We are offered multiple electric providers in NY. It's not a well run system.
But if you have similar, Maybe you can find someone with a cheaper daily hookup price.
And still stay grid connected.

I'd like to add solar soon.
Big trees gotta go first.

For now, I'll just keep pounding down the efficiency.

vangonebuy

05-05-2012, 07:12 AM

PaleMelanesian
Well. I have my lowest electric bill ever, by far.

It's a mistake.

In 2009 my meter was read 7 times instead of 6.
LIPA sent out 13 bills for the year.
When they caught it, They massaged the meter readings over 3 reading periods to squeeze in the extra kwh's they recorded.
Totally screwed up my 2009 numbers. So I just kinda ignore that year.

Hope you have a better estimate.
LIPA also has a higher electric rates for summer.
So for me, It would cost me more if they under read my meter in spring. And fixed it later.

Harold

05-05-2012, 02:27 PM

Correction on power usage for 62 days. 333 kWh not 3.3 kWh. Sorry! H

EVuser

05-06-2012, 12:07 AM

Correction on power usage for 62 days. 333 kWh not 3.3 kWh. Sorry! H

I thought you meant 3.3 per day average. 5.3 per day avg is still nice.:) I sure couldn't do that without my PV array.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

05-09-2012, 07:59 PM

Latest table. Note that the household reduced from 5 to 4 during 2/2008.

||2007|2008|+/-|2009|+/-|2010|+/-|2011|+/-|2012|+/-|
|1|29.68|29.40|-0.28|25.07|-4.33|24.14|-0.93|21.38|-2.76|18.10|-3.28|
|2|33.21|26.52|-6.70|23.50|-3.02|22.06|-1.44|19.84|-2.23|17.14|-2.70|
|3|26.58|25.29|-1.29|22.63|-2.67|20.03|-2.59|19.83|-0.20|16.03|-3.80|
|4|30.37|23.32|-7.05|19.93|-3.39|19.24|-0.69|17.40|-1.84|15.13|-2.27|
|5|25.90|20.83|-5.07|18.79|-2.04|18.16|-0.64|17.24|-0.91|||
|6|31.30|26.30|-5.00|21.79|-4.51|21.39|-0.41|20.03|-1.35|||
|7|34.03|28.63|-5.40|25.03|-3.60|27.07|2.04|28.58|1.51|||
|8|32.65|22.16|-10.49|19.59|-2.56|24.58|4.98|23.94|-0.64|||
|9|32.63|21.76|-10.87|21.38|-0.38|20.14|-1.24|18.62|-1.52|||
|10|25.90|22.07|-3.83|21.72|-0.34|19.17|-2.55|18.42|-0.75|||
|11|31.57|24.18|-7.38|23.53|-0.65|21.84|-1.69|20.10|-1.74|||
|12|34.30|26.40|-7.90|23.03|-3.37|22.37|-0.66|20.45|-1.91|||

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/electricity.jpg

A 31 day bill at 469kWh, the lowest yet, knocking .19kW/day off annual consumption.

New 12 month average: 19.51kWh/d (3/2009 24.15kWh/d)
Constant W equivalent 812.8W (3/2009 1006.2W)
Reduction 19.22%, 12.28LEAF miles.
That advances my theoretical LEAF onto a fairly flat stretch of 55mph road. My next target is a theoretical 13.0 miles, where there's an intersection. :D

vangonebuy

05-10-2012, 07:56 AM

INATM
A 31 day bill at 469kWh, the lowest yet, knocking .19kW/day off annual consumption.

WOW!
Your 2012 chart is insane.
A really quick calculation of your savings at my elec. rate is $78 YTD.

Bet they install a new meter very soon.
Congrats.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney

05-15-2012, 09:04 PM

WOW!
Your 2012 chart is insane.
A really quick calculation of your savings at my elec. rate is $78 YTD.

Bet they install a new meter very soon.
Congrats.

Thanks! The rate here dropped in March from 14.5c/kWh to 13.5c/kWh. But to me it's more about eliminating unnecessary consumption. I hate the waste.

Well, my wife's son not being around as much must be a big chunk of the drop, but these figures are still including a bunch of things that changed late last year. I'm sure the replaced kitchen lights have caused a big drop. Plus, this past weekend I turned off a freezer again* that was hardly ever used, so there should be more to come.

I just keep picking away but I'm running out. Maybe I need to stop using my laptop. ;)

* I'd turned it off a couple of years ago for a few months, but after the Zucchini Bread Incident it was turned back on.

Archives