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Old 12-26-2013, 10:51 PM   #13 (permalink)
Frank Lee
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: up north
Posts: 12,762

Blue - '93 Ford Tempo
Last 3: 27.29 mpg (US)

F150 - '94 Ford F150 XLT 4x4
90 day: 18.5 mpg (US)

Sport Coupe - '92 Ford Tempo GL
Last 3: 69.62 mpg (US)

ShWing! - '82 honda gold wing Interstate
90 day: 33.65 mpg (US)

Moon Unit - '98 Mercury Sable LX Wagon
90 day: 21.24 mpg (US)
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Maybe wifey would allow a stylish torchiere lamp (same halogen bulb) shortened up to table lamp dimension so that the heat is down lower where you can use it...

Once upon a time I took it upon myself to go through the entire premises and hunt down the phantom power draws; perhaps it was inspired by one of the electric coop's ignorant regressive rate restructurings, where the smallest users pay the most per kwh and they subsidize the large users who pay the least. Oh, to be off the grid and tell them to stuff it. Anyway, it is eye-opening to discover how much junk sneaks into your house and gets plugged in seemingly without you knowing it. I wondered, do I REALLY need a clock in every room? No? Now all the plug-in clocks are gone- I had a battery travel alarm clock sitting in the drawer anyway so why not just put that out and replace the regular alarm clock on my nightstand? Do I really need all those cordless phones? From most locations I went back to old-school corded phones, which also have the bonuses of never needing batteries and working even when the power is out. The microwave has a display that is always on- that got put on a power strip, easily switched on and off. Same with the TV and some other stuff that is always drawing a bit even when "off". And so it went until virtually the only phantom draws in the house that I didn't want to eliminate or disable were the transformers for the door bell and answering machine.

Soon I will figure my average '13 electric bill but I can say now that sometimes it is under 100 kwH/mo and almost never more than 150.
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