Just recieved my power bill after going a little green.

This bill opposed to my last one: 85.54 vice 168.92
Average cost per day on bill: 1.16

Past Electric Use:

Aug 08: 16.3 kwh/day
Oct 08: 19.8 kwh/day
Dec 08: 28.1 kwh/day
Feb 09: 25.4 kwh/day
Apr 09: 21.0 kwh/day
Jun 09: 17.8 kwh/day
Aug 09: 7.0 kwh/day


I replaced all my lamps with CFL's, became more power conscious, Sold all my big rigs (3) 2 which were overclocked and 1 which was overclocked to the nuts. Now run a laptop with power saving options on. Do laundry on a normal basis.


The main reason is where im buying a house. I found reasons/ways to save power, etc. Not because i'm poor (not that poor ). But just because we all can invest our money in better ways and costs of living are going up.



Anyone else want to front a good/bad electric bill?

I'd love to see bills like that but with my situation it just wont happen.

We pay for hot water. The missus insists on turning on the shower well before getting in and I have never ever seen her take less than a solid 20 min shower as opposed to by 5 mins tops. The washer and dryer is going non stop all day and night when home even tho I do my best to get her to cut down. Absolutely no go.

fustrating cause I unplug things that draw on power - home theatre, adapters etc when not in use. I even went so far as to set up greener power use with my pc. When i see the waste thats going on its nothing short of a piss off.

Why pay the power company when all ya gotta do is change a few habits and save ALOT.

Did you install low flow shower heads and regulate your hot water heater giving her no choice but to face the inevitable?

Also with the power bars. Instead of flipping the switch you can get remote and times modules from www.x10.com or goto kent and get the noma brand remote sockets.

I can't help you about the dryer. All I can say is that is retardation. There's no need for that as far as I know. But I would love to hear a explinatino on that one.

We do laundry twice a week I would say with a total of 4 loads. Mostly due to having the baby barfing on stuff.

I know when I build my next system it's going to be green more than a pile of overclocked systems that eat power. Maybe get a gamer laptop and keep the power saving options on when not in use. Still not sure on that one yet.

Have a old bill your willing to scan the usage on? I'm curious of your usage now!

I do have to add that our new home is electric heat with a vanmar fan setup.

What im hoping to do is get a pack of 5 honeywell programmable thermostats to regulate the heat throughout the house. I'm hoping it will help there as well as the new build construction should be more energy efficient as well as being on a 8" slab with no basement.

I have electric heating so that throws things a little out of wack when comparing energy bills to others but I've been fairly good so far. I called NS Power soon after moving in to set up an average payment system, so I don't get hit with big bills in the winter and small ones in the summer, and because the place was brand new they had a hard time estimating the amount of energy I'd use. I let them know I was in a 3 unit townhouse and the guy said he could probably get an idea by looking to see what my neighbors in the building were using but after checking realized it wouldn't work as they were using roughly 1/3rd more power than me. I was using something like 1500 kW/h and they were in the 2500+ kw/h. In all fairness I was pretty anal about closing rooms I wasn't in and turning the thermostate for them way down and even when I was in the room only turning it to 18-19*C but it didn't really bother me.

My girlfriend is living with me now and she tends to be cold all the time so I'll be turning the heat up a bit more in the winter but hopefully no higher than 20-21*C... We also do good with our hot water because we *cough* shower together *cough*... It saves energy and is a great start to the day.

As for the CFL, I haven't switched over yet but I've heard that it's actually "greener" to keep what you have and use it until it break and than replace it with something efficient than it is to scrap all your "old" stuff and rebuy green. So as bulbs burn out they'll be replaced with CFL's or maybe LED bulbs if they come down in price more.

If it helps Flam. I picked up a box of 10 CFLs which were rated at like 11 watts for 10 bucks at Wallyworld. This was a while ago though. If you are conscious about turning your lights off I guess I wouldn't bother too much. But once I move ill br rigging up on full CFL's (thats because they do make a huge difference)

I measured each one and it was under the rated power usage by a bit. Which was 9w each.

B

P.S. You could make some money on some shower videos.. Remember: Sex Sells!

CFL bulbs are awesome for power savings. especially in the winter when you're using them for several hours a day.
another thing is replacing CRT screens with LCD screens. hell, my 20" LCD uses less than half the power my old 17" CRT does.
one thing that kinda bugs me is that things like lower power CPU's (ie. the Phenom II 905e) cost more than better performing, but more power hungry, parts.

I will see what I can do about getting a bill posted.

In the meantime shes now all about filling up all the bulb holders in the bathroom and kitchen - having them ALL on cause she dont like the look of one or two bulbs on or empty sockets. I say WTF who cares.

Yes I got the energy efficient ones. Now she wants more.

*bangs head against the wall*

Well more is fine.

Considering I measured all mine at 9w ea. Thats over 75% more efficient than a 40W bulb!

Load er up!

What to do with the Mercury in those CF bulbs though? 1-5mg may not seem a lot, but when millions of the suckers start burning out, how many will be recycled properly?

Mercury in CFL's? Well I usually crack em open and eat it. Dont gotta worry about it then at all.

They way NS power is gouging, the last thing I wanna do is give them a reason to charge me more. The greener the better. I unplug things that draw on power when not in use. It does and will make a difference.

Now I gotta get a lower flow shower head and turn down the hotwater tank to help the bill. I do have a 2nd pc thats gaming quality that I do not plug in unless I need it for a repair I am doing for someone. Even then, the main rig is shut down. I have a KVM that I only used a couple times( purchased from MB ) that I am going to more than likely let go soon. If I really need two running, then I can rdp into it thru the router.

I think I am the only one in the apt that thinks green. I am constantly running around turning off lights trying to make it a little easier come bill time. We all should do our part. Pretty soon if the washer and dryer dont get a break and I taking a hammer to em both

The worst part about that situation is if she's doing half/small loads of laundry it won't be good if you get a high efficiency front loading washer and dryer because not having a (more or less) evenly balanced full load is hard on them. My neighbour does that and she's run into problems already with her set and it's only been ~6 months.

1/2 loads and small loads yes. I can put out a clean towel and go back 10 mins later its gone and the washer is going. She feels if there is any clothes at all to be washed that she HAS to do it otherwise shes being lazy. obsessive compulsive slightly I am thinking.

Me, I would let it pile up a little and wash a full load. otherwise, I wouldnt have it running. There are tons of small loads and not few regular ones. Thats the issue.

I seem to be holding steady at 21kwh/day. I really need to replace my hot water heater and fridge.

The hot water heater may just be losing it's insulating efficiency. This could be counter acted by using a insulating blanket which will cover the heater and nearby pipes.

This may be able to save you some power since it's keeping your water warmer and the heater to draw less power.

They are pretty cheap as well. I don't have any links but if you are interested ill drop by my fathers place and take some pictures of his setup. Just shoot me a PM.

Here is a link to one that crappy tire has it directly fits a 60 but with a little cutting which is very easy it will fit.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp;jsessionid=KThXMn1lB5LnvGxQpqhpvPL9wyVpbWpGyk1w3BBGwZLF0nkRPCGp!-1613096909?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443294683&bmUID=1251205399572