Some Ontario electricity utilities are having a promotion this summer: reduce your consumption by 10% in July & August and you get a 10% credit on the next bill.
Other than trying to remember to shut off lights, I haven't put much thought or effort into reducing home consumption.
My bro in-law bought a kill-a-watt to help him figure out how much he was using/saving.
Prompted me to try a few simple things, and the results were amazing. First I established a 22 kwh / day baseline (over 3 days) by going outside and checking the numbers on the meter at the same time each day. Did this before making any changes. Then I went to town:
- unplugged a second fridge (it's never very full anyway, just moved most of the stuff to the main fridge)
- unplugged everything with standby modes when not in use: cell charger; laptop power supply; modem; router; 3 tv's; DVD; VCR; garage door opener; probably other stuff I can't remember. I was surprised how many things fell in this category.
- got far more hypermilish with the lights switches.
Other than that, didn't do anything special. Still ran the computer, dishwasher, battery charger (running load tests) etc. Pretty much didn't require any sacrifice to my routine.
Results over the next 2 days: 8 kwh; 7 kwh. Wow.