Saturday May 17th, 2008
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$38.41 Electric Bill
Posted by Cowboydavey on June 23, 2007 - 1:10am.
My electric bill for the month of May 2007 was $38.41. I was shocked when I got it. I thought they had misread the meter or some billing error. I call my provider and they said that was correct. Then I started to take into account the changes I have made to go GREEN! I had to replace my refrigerator and my AC units. I bought Energy Star rated appliances'. I have also switched to compact fluoresces bulbs and changed out my ceiling fixtures for fluoresces ones. I added a large ceiling fan to my common room. I have put solar curtains on all my windows. The main change is I flip the switch and cut it off if I am not using it. Closing rooms off help with my cooling and I use my ceiling fans to move the air. I hang my clothes out to dry and I use a laundromat. Now, I must say I have spent some money to get a $38.41 light bill, but in the long term I will get that investment back. I want to keep as much of my money as I can. I have learned how to save money and live GREEN at the same time. PS: I know I will not always have this low of a bill, but it worth trying for each month.
Please tell us who your energy provider is. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a green/renewable source company)
Boooooo TXU!
~ Greener today than I was yesterday!
TVE Co-op. You have to be a member to have service. We have meeting and vote on our issues. I became a member when my parents home pass to me, so did the share of stock and membership. We by our power from who ever is the cheapest. We buy no power from TXU. You might want to check out Texax Power I here they are good.
I was excited to read about your huge savings on your electric bill. It prompts me to share my own experience.
Over the last 6-8 months, I've reduced our electric bill by 41%!!! My first step was the CFL's. 90% of our fixtures have them now. (My dimmer fixtures still have conventional bulbs since they do not recommend CFL's for that application.) We've replaced our dehumidifier with an energy star unit and plan on working our way through our other appliances - "Gee Honey, I really need a new washer/dryer-let's make sure they are energy star!" ;)
The other significant thing we've done is unplug, unplug, unplug! (My toaster, my washer, my dryer, my hairdryer, my coffee pot - were plugged in since purchased.) I read the article 'Top 10 Ways to Be Green' here on Lime and another one on those pesky phantom loads and it got me thinking. I work from home and my computer, printer, etc were ALWAYS on. I now shut them down at the end of the day and switch off the surge protector. I've put lots of stuff on plain old power strips. Other than the initial inconvenience that my husband experienced (he's over it now), it's now just a way of life.
I've not done anything with window coverings, but that might be next. It is kind of fun to see where we can save next month!
More money in our pockets less in their's! If we all just cut and cut out, they will built less power plant the charge us for. The sword cuts both ways. They may provide my power for now, but I can control how much I use. You go girl!
When you turn off your surge protectors be sure to unplug them as well or you could end up with fried equipment.
I switched over to cfl bulbs all over my house a couple of months ago. When my first full bill came in after making the switch I noticed in the year-to-year graph comparison that my usage had decreased. I figured it had to be a coincidence but now i'm rethinking that!!
Replacing the giant recessed ceiling bulbs with CFL version has given me the most pleasure!!
I live in a desert and during summer it's a must to keep the ac on, temperatures have been up in 117 or so and will only drop to 90 something during the night. yikes! but, I'm used to it I suppose.
Anyway my bill was 117 dollars, yours is just heavenly, great job.
Compact fluorescent...use much less energy.
Costco has an 8 pack of 60 watt equivalent cfl bulbs for about $11.
They only use 13 watts.
I have stuck with the major brand of CFL. I use GE mainly. I did a little web-homework on them. They have a great review on them. The company I work for also pardners with GE for some our enegy units in our machines. Cheap CFL can cost you more in the long run. Do your homework.
I live in Northern Nevada and we stopped running our a/c during the summer. It has been miserable and I can't sleep at night. Neither can our 1-year-old. Even with no a/c our power bill is about $100 a month.
I am very green. We use CFLs. Turn off the power when we aren't in a room. Hang up clothes when we can instead of putting them in the dryer. I feel you are very fortunate to have a power bill so low. Last year, I ran the a/c during times because I was pregnant and our bills reached circa $300 a month.
I feel for people in Reno who are at the poverty line. We have been miserable this summer, but at least have the power to make the choices about whether we want to run a/c or not. People who are ill, or elderly, necessarily do not.
July's bill was $77.14, August bill was $84.53. This is with running the A/C. One thing I came up with this, I put my fans on timers. They come on one hour before we hit the house.