Power usage question, how can I do my bit for the environment?

Question

Our residential light and power is sitting at 1053 KWh, our Hot water is sitting at 703 KWh

(for 3 months of usage.) This is lower than it has been, but mostly because it's summer here at the moment!

It's only my partner and I in the house, what are some good tips to reduce our usage? Especially during the coming winter?

Answer 1

There is only two of us and our last bill was under 500KWh for a month where we didn't use heat or air conditioning. Here is what we did.

1) It's a new house with only 1500sqft. The refrigerator is new and the electric stove is new, the heat pump is new but we didn't use it this past month.

2) Wrapped the water heater with a fiberglass blanket. (Sold at local hardware stores)

3) Wrapped the hot water pipes with pip insulation. Particularly the ones near to the water heater.

4) Switched all light bulbs to compact flourescent bulbs (CFL)

5) Turn off lights when not in use.

6) Only run the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher when it is full.

7) Turn off the coffee maker as soon as possible. That little guy really sucks the juice!

8) Installed low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators throughout the home.

9) I purchased a "Kill-a-watt" meter and used it around the house to see how much various appliances were using. These can be found at Amazon.com for around $35. (They are really cool.)

10) When I buy new appliances, computers, TV's etc, I think about the power use and consider the more efficient models first. I've ditched my desktop computers for laptops. They draw less power.

11) I set my laptop's power settings to save power.

12) I try to turn things off when I'm not using them. I gave away some of the old appliances that I'm not using, but that were still plugged in. Some draw significant power when still turned off - in standby mode.

Note that I haven't been in the house long enough to know what it is going to cost to cool it, but I ordered light colored shingles to keep it cooler and it is a smaller house with few windows. I intend to keep the draperies drawn on the sunny side of the house. My hope is that the air conditioning bill will be manageable. I have ceiling fans and a programmable thermostat as well.

Timothy D.

West Melbourne, FL

Answer 2

Switch off lights, appliances and electronics when you leave a room.  Use energy efficient light bulbs; most use only 25 to 30% of the energy of regular bulbs producing the same amount of light (also great in summer because they produce less heat).  Keep your windows open during the day to absorb sunlight, especially when it's colder.  Don't leave your computer running; don't watch TV and use computer at the same time.  Use a timer and set a goal to decrease your bathing time.  Close the refrigerator before walking your food over to the countertop.  There are so many ways.

Answer 3

Unplug appliances etc when not in use.

Buy Smart Strip power strip.

Take shorter showers.

Wash your face and hands with cold water.

Don't prerinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

Turn off the heated dry function on your dishwasher.

Turn off lights when you aren't in the room.

Use solar lights or candles to light your house after dark.

Don't use your dryer instead use a drying rack.

Use your microwave or toaster oven for smaller tasks instead of the oven.

Take shorter showers.

Don't run water while brushing teeth or let it run to warm up.

You can see what else my fiance and I are doing at our blog http://badhuman.wordpress.com

Answer 4

do laundry using cold water (use detergents that are made for washing in cold water)

wash dishes in the sink and wash full loads

as light bulbs burn out replace with CFL bulbs

turn off lights in rooms when not in them

turn thermostat down 3 oc wear a sweat shirt if cool

install a programmable thermostat to turn down when not home and to turn up just before you get home

Answer 5

Lets start with that hot water bill, its too much.

http://www.titanheater.com/

Find out how to switch your plugs, so when you leave a room, one switch turns off all things plugged in.

When its time to upgrade your refrigerator, look at these.

http://www.sundanzer.com/Home.html

http://www.sunfrost.com/

I live in Flint, Michigan, if I had a wood stove, I could heat my home with broken furniture, left on the curb.