Help cut this bill.

[redneck]

Originally Posted by dirtydave

I am in the attic already...

Well, heat rises so you should be getting a benefit from the tenants below.

If it's not enough, cut a big hole in the floor....


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[cowmeat]

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post462740

Sorry Dave, I figured somebody would have already pasted this link in here!

[ksa8907]

Those bills look pretty normal to me, comparable to our 1200 sqft house. Think of it on the level of energy, heat is energy. warming the air for your comfort is pretty inefficient, cook more meals at home and eat hot foods as suggested by fat charlie.

By not owning the place it kinda limits your choices on improving it. But I would also take a look at improving the efficiency of the boiler unit. insulated boiler lines, insulating the floor helps too.

[Frank Lee]

Insulate the floor?!? Cutting a hole as suggested above would work in this case.

[dirtydave]

Thanks for the tips yall. I think doing a little P&G with the space heater will be my best bet?

Everything is unplugged now. zero wall warts. Fridge is turned way down. Double checked all light bulbs are CF.Added more bubble wrap and tape to all windows.
But I come home yesterday and my girl has the wall heater on 70*F and the space heater on at the same time. Shes sitting in the living room and the lights and tv are on in the bedroom. Cant win. I only have to pay half of the bill so its not bad but I want it lower. I also have the dog for heat lol. And wear sweat pants and a sweatshirt around the house. It was 47*F inside this morning.

Dudes downstairs are only using space heaters in closed rooms. They say I'm much more frugal then the chick who lived here before. Last year they used 557kWh and 300 Therms for Dec. 2013.

Good ideas everyone thank you! Ill bump this thread when I get the bill next month.

[redpoint5]

Women are a sure way to consume resources...

As Ian pointed out, it's much cheaper to heat with gas, so use that as much as possible. Turn the heat off when nobody is home. I schedule my house to turn the heat off whenever my wife goes to work, and I turn it off whenever we go somewhere.

Aluminum conducts heat extremely well, so don't use a single layer as the only means to insulate.

Get a kill-a-watt meter to see what devices consume the most. I do an energy audit of every device in my house and have a spreadsheet that auto-calculates the monthly and annual cost based on measured power draw and estimated hours of use.

Your phones are probably only consuming a little over 1 watt per device. My farm of 20 was measured at 25 watts, which amounts to about $1.50 in electricity per month. My advice for saving money; get more phones.

Heating the place will be your biggest expense by far, followed by hot water usage and then the cloths dryer. You could turn down the temp on the hot water heater, but you then risk running out. Also, do full loads of laundry only. The fridge and dishwasher are likely next in the list. The rest don't really matter too much. A TV left on 24/7 might cost $6-$12 per month. I run a 35 watt media server 24/7 and it costs about $2/mo.

If you really want to save money, track all of your expenses and get a true idea of where your money goes. You would be surprised how much that coffee you think you only get now and again costs.

You can switch your ISP every year to stay on the promotional rate. My Comcast bill goes from $30 to $70 when the promotional rate expires, and that's when I switch to CenturyLink and get their $30 promotional rate.

... and going full circle in this conversation, get an efficient girlfriend/wife. Mine is almost as frugal and fuel efficient me, plus she is going to be making a lot of money after I put her through post-grad.

[jjackstone]

Originally Posted by dirtydave

But I come home yesterday and my girl has the wall heater on 70*F and the space heater on at the same time. Shes sitting in the living room and the lights and tv are on in the bedroom.

Block thermostat so that it can't go higher than 65 degrees or whatever you deem reasonable. Place timers/motion sensors on electrical outlets.

Originally Posted by REDPOINT

Also, do full loads of laundry only.

And if you have more than one load be sure to get the second, third, etc. load into the dryer immediately after the previous load dries. That way successive drying loads can dry faster because the dryer is already warm.

Use led motion sensor night lights with rechargeable batteries. Even with recharging the batteries, after the initial battery and charger cost it will be less expensive than turning on most lights when waking in the middle of the night.

JJ

[Daox]

This is a pretty good list of things you can do for cheap/easy (for the most part). Its like the 100+ hypermiling tips, but for your house.

60+ Home Energy Saving Tips You can do Right Now - EcoRenovator

[dirtydave]

I don't have a washer and dryer or dishwasher. Dudes downstairs have a washer and dryer. and the hot water heater is new~ish and has a blanket. not sure what it is set to.

I do rent so my options are limited. I know the other bigger electric uses are the old speaker amp + sub-woofer. My car battery is plugged in every night. we have a bunch of 150watt spot lights outside on motion sensors. The landlord also keeps a bunch of crap in the garage and has left the lights on for 8+ hours and locked the door behind him.

I think i have just about zero insulation up here. Its very drafty. The house does have all new windows.

I have to get a kill-a-watt and make this an addiction!

[dirtydave]

I have cut every bill in my life this past year.
Before I had a ~1200sf house. $1600/ month
Now ~700sf $700/ mouth + half electric/ water.
No cell phone I am now a WIFI hunter.
Got rid of the gas guzzler bought a POS KIA $500.
I make money now when coworkers give me a dollar to take them home.
My girl paid off her jetta and has cut the fuel bill with the scangauge 22-24MPG - 30-36MPG. she also cut the trip by ~20 miles.
County run internet here is ~$25 a month for 25Mbps.

Only steak bacon vegetables eggs beer and rum for ma belly no more junk and snacks. We only go out to eat on payday bi-weekly that's the biggest waste. Started having house parties instead of going out to the bar.
Yeah man sooo next to rent this electric bill is the most expensive bill. Well until gas goes back up at least...