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Big Money Savings on Energy

Submitted by: Nancy Sellers 04/10/2009 7:35 PM

My husband and I shower every other day. We turn the hot water heater on for one hour and that's more than enough for both of us to shower. The day we don't shower we bathe at the sink. Our power bill was $41 and we have a 2900 sf home. By comparison, our neighbors, who are not frugal, had an energy bill of $197. We also keep the house cooler and add a jacket or flannel shirt. We never leave any lights on that we're not using.

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Comments:

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Thank you, Nancy! Finally, somebody who gets it by saving on electric bills like I do. I also turn my water heater on for an hour (by the circuit breaker) every other day, but because its only me here right now, I can get 2 showers on one heatup while only having it on for one hour out of 48. The shower on that 2nd day has to be without dallying.

One of my rules (probably Nancy's too) is to NEVER take a shower with the water heater turned on. Why? Because the water heater & the emptying water are fighting each other for supremacy during the shower & the odds are not with the heater. The heater will strain & run up your bill during your entire shower & then some extra time after turning the water off.

I also keep my heatpump, washer, dryer, dishwasher, & range unplugged at the circuit breaker until only when I use them. Range? Yes, who needs a 240 volt appliance all geared up with a clock in it when I can just look at my watch?

I also plug my countertop microwave into a power strip & leaving the on/off button of the strip accessible in the back but to the side so I can turn it off easily. Again, why have an appliance geared up at the ready just because it has a clock in it?

I don't know about your electric company, but mine is now charging 2 different fees; F&E (Fuel & Environment) charges just for the privilege of delivering power to your house. These total charges/fees (basically a tax) were under 10% in my case UNTIL June/08 when they slipped upward quickly & remain unpredictable except for the fact that the more kwh you use, the more your F&E will be. For example, in Sep/08 my added fees were 11.8% of my bill on 33kw/day. Two months later, my fees were 23.5% again for 33kw/day. However the total kws used were different in those 2 months so the higher kws used produces the higher fees, right? Wrong! The lower fee of these 2 was for 1114kw, vs 795kw.

So my point here is that they'll change the fee percentage at will with seemingly no rhyme or reason & its like money going down the toilet, but its more unproductive money down the toilet as you use more kws. So the more I lessen my kws, the more I save in 2 different ways with my electric company. Maybe yours is the same!

When shutting down the computer, I also shut off the monitor, the printer (if I used it), & unplug the modem. This last one is good too for keeping out viruses while you're not using the machine.

Posted by mrfrugal on May 20, 2009 12:51 AM

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