Electricity costs are spiking... what can I do ??

Question

I live in MD where the local power company has decided to raise rates 50% now that prices have been deregulated... any ideas on how to save anymore... I have set the thermostat to 76, turned the hot water temperature down to 90 and imposed a family hot water restriction (shower water runs no longer than 5 minutes per shower)... we will no longer use the dishwasher, washer/dryer at peak electric periods and we now charge our cell phones in the car... anything else I am missing here aside from building a windmill or putting solar panels on my roof (both violate HOA covenants) ???

Answer 1

The only other thing I'd recommend compared with all the suggestions you've received is.  Check your insulation, maybe you need the modern efficient insulation.  And try a timer on your thermostat.  we time our so it only is needed when we get up in the morning and in the evenings.  We find we use less energy when we go out.  In hot days, we go north to the parks or visiting others or to a/c places.  When its cold we use more blankets. the other thing is if anyone in the family has a gym membership they could shower at the gym.

Answer 2

All sorts of things...

Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFL's) throughout the house use much less than their standard incandescent brothers

Don't leave your computer running all the time

Perhaps instead of 76 on the thermostat, not using the A/C as much?  Keep drapes/blinds closed where the sun is shining in to keep heat down and allow for air to flow through the place (if possible) to feel cooler

Ceiling fan might be cheaper on the juice than your A/C as well

It's a minute charge, but since you mentioned it, charge your phone at work/school (supposedly, it's a bad drain on the phone battery if it's plugged in when you start the car [I don't have a source for this, it's probably just hearsay])

Be conscious of the lights on in the house (as well as other appliances.  Turn off lights in empty rooms, keep lights off until they are actually necessary, as well as televisions and such.

Not saving money, but you might want to allow hotter water to pair with shorter showers, as you want to cut back but not really feel like you are "suffering" through the electric bills.

Do your computing at work/school and you won't even have to turn the thing on at home (if possible).

Answer 3

I feel your pain, I too am a MD resident.  We have stopping using the AC except when absolutely neccessary (I have asthma and allergies, so sometimes the humidity is too high, I'll have to use it).  Make sure your house is well insulated.  Check around windows and doors for leaks.  Turn off and unplug appliances when your not using them.  Live without the lights during the daytime.  Use compact flourescent lightbulbs and lower wattage bulbs.  Eat a lot of sandwiches (less cooking =less heat produced in the summer)  In the winter, after you cook, open the door to the oven for heat.  Good luck, I'll pray you don't go into cardiac arrest when you open your next bill.  Will you do the same for me?

Answer 4

For one...YES you can save energy by runnng your dishwasher/ washer & dryer and everything else after the sun sets. They use less energy...

Here's an idea...As convenient as dishwashers are...stop using it. Start hand washing. You can also recycle your dish water by watering your garden.

Turn off the a/c during the day. Only have it run at night if you have to. We live with out a/c now. It's really not that hard. You wind up adjusting to the warmer air. Use cieling fans instead of the a/c...A single window unit uses between 500-1440 watts...Where as a ceiling fan uses between 15-90 watts(36"=55 watts on high, 48"=75 watts on high, and a 52"= 90 watts on high.

Central heat & a/c are rediculous...They use up 50% of your electric bill.

Put aluminum foil over your east & west facing windows...It reflects the sun.

A floor fan is a great way to keep you cool as well...Place it in front of an open window on your north & south facing windows & blow the air inside your home. A floor fan uses 100 watts on the highest speed...You don't have to have it on the highest speed to keep cool.

Wrap a well insulated blanket around your water heater.

Install an attic fan to your gable vents...This reduces 10% of a houses heat.

Lighting accounts for 15% of your houses electric usage. Switch to cfl's...they produce 90% light & 10% heat, whereas incadescent bulbs produce 90% heat & 10% light...This will also keep your house cooler.

Keep a spray bottle on hand to spray yourself with if you get too hot.

Wet your shirt...This will keep you cool also.

Turn off the water heater when you are away from home.

Unplug all less frequently used appliances/electronics

Don't use hot water when doing laundry

Use microwave instead of oven...It uses less energy.

We do all of the things I have listed....Our electric bill went from $108 to $38 in just one month...No joke. It realy works.

Good luck & God bless.

Answer 5

I don't see how you will save on using the dishwasher and other appliances at night.  I do that, but receive no lesser charge.  My cell phone charges only when I drive or have the motor running.  That uses up your gasoline in your car, doesn't it?  I have heard that refrigerators cost a lot.  If you have more than one, stop using it.  50% increase would be very hard to take.

Answer 6

Want to save about a kW a day? Make an ultra-efficient refrigerator out of a freezer.

Answer 7

Accept reality.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

Answer 8

Refigerators, even energy efficient ones are costly to run.

I bought an apartment size one the size of large box and a small freezer, very popular in the UK... My electric bill was 35% lower, and I wasted less food.Running the small freezer costs me $4.00 a month.

Thermostat ideally should be set about 68, baths take less water than a shower, drying clothes outside on good days even during winter months will save you more than you expect.

I dumped my home phone and now use only a cell.

Summer : I open windows at night, close them and the drapes (on sunny side during the day) to preserve the cooler air rather use a fan or air conditioner.

Winter I use a plastic inside and out on drafty windows, along with heavy homemade drapes.

I bought a special heating element tape that wraps around the pipes in the winter ( aaprox. $200 good to well below freezing) so that I don't have to warm the cellar or rooms I really don't use.

I switched to a gas heater in the parlour, that warms the main room and the upstairs computer room .

I live in Vermont so I am accustomed to frost in the bedrooms

(that's almost a joke).

If you children, teenagers, make it a challenge award the winning "conservationist" of the month with a gift, a small portion of the month's savings or a 20 minute hot shower !!!

Good Luck.

Answer 9

replace all of the lightbulbs in your house with compact flourescent. over its lifetime each one will save at least $15 from what a normal lightbulb would cost. add moreinsulation to your house in the walls and ceiling-this will dramatically lower your heating costs and will rapidly pay for itself. Also replace all windows with double or triple paned, these save lots of energy(only use triple paned if you live in a cold area, otherwise it does only a little better than double paned.)

avoid leaving appliances plugged in, they still burn electricity even when they are off. try to turn off heating and or cooling when it is not absolutely necessary, use windows instead. turn your computer off at night during the summer, and leave it on during the winter. The computer produces a lot of heat and acts as a minature space heater (just feel it after you use it for a while) this will save you a lot of energy-maybe enough that you can stop taking lukewarm showers.

Answer 10

Do you know what your "minimum" or "base" power usage is?  For example, your power consumption in a month where you use no heating or air conditioning (in Maryland, that could be April or May, in Arizona it is usually March or April)?  Maybe you can discover where your power consumption really comes from.

Do you use multiple plasma or LCD monitors for TV's?  They are power hogs compared to the old tube TV.  Try to minimize usage and don't leave them on when not being watched.  They not only consume lots of electricity but that electiricity is converted to heat.  They run hot and heat up your house and add to the air conditioning load.  Same goes for stereo systems.

I assume 76 is the cooling setting on your air conditioner thermostat.  We are used to 79 to 80 in Arizona.  Each degree raised here means 3% to 5% cooling costs for central air conditioning.  We use ceiling fans or floor fans to keep a cooler feeling due to the air movement (but don't run fans when rooms are empty, the cooling comes from the air rushing across your hot body and evaporating perspiration!).

Put a fiberglass water heater blanket on your water heater if you haven't done so.  And check the setting on your water heater.  If you have the heater set too hot, you waste energy.

Wash clothes at the cold water setting.  Hang dry if you must (I don't).  I bought a water efficient front loading washer and discovered that it not only drastically cut water use, but it spin dries clothes so well (it extracts lots more water fromt he clothes) and so much better than my tub washer that drying time is cut 50%.  Don't know the exact savings from that, but it must be high.

When you run the dishwasher, use the air dry setting, turn the heated dry setting to "off" and just leave the dishes in the dishwaher for a few hours to dr..  The heated dry setting uses electric heat to dry the dishes -- totally unnecessary.

Next time you are in the market for air conditioner, get high SEER model.  I replaced an old central A/C unit (running at maybe SEER 9) with a 19 SEER unit and it uses half the electricity.

The CFL lightbulb bulb suggestion is a solid one.  I have used CFL's for years.  They run cool so they don't use a lot of electricity for light plus they don't heat my rooms as much as incandescent -- that cuts the need to cool the air heated by lightbulbs.

Make sure your attic insulation is adequate to your region.

If you have old refrigerators running, they consume much more power than new Energy Star models.

Check out Popular Mechanics magazine, June 2007 for an article on energy consumption.

Answer 11

You are doing a lot. One thing I do not know is the age of your ac unit. If it is ten years old or older, it may not be very efficient but you must weigh the cost of replacement to the increased cost of electricity. Another thing is check for good tight seals on doors, draw curtains over windows that face the sun while the sun is shining on them. Is gas available in your area?  Replace your electric water heater with a modern gas one. Use a good toaster oven as much as you can rather than firing up the big one; really saves. Install timers on your bathroom fans so they do not run forever. Install ceiling fans to help keep you cool You can get them at Wal Mart for as little as $45. Run the AC 15 degrees below outside air temp. Outside is 95? run the ac at 80 as most will not cool more than 15 degrees below outside temp. .

Harry

Answer 12

Purchase solar panels.