Congrats to  you all. I am finding its not an easy thing to do!  The last 2 months I have been vilgilant and one month cut it in half.  This last month it was 45.00 less.  Not as low as I would like but I am learning. 

I am sure there are others, like me who are home all day.  My situation is I work at home 12 14 hours at least 5 days a week.  So, comfort is a necessity and I wont go without the AC.  It's hot and humid here.

My question is:  Is anyone else turning off their water heater?  Mine is eletric and I have been reading on the savings.  Supposely turn it bk on 20 min. before bathing or other needs and you are good to go.

I would like to try this but I am always alittle scared of my water heater. It's old and cankerous and I am wondering if I would hasten it's demise by doing this. 

Any thoughts on this? 

 

 

Bethi:

Congrats to  you all.

 

I have a gas water heater & furnace, & a split level house with 3 floors.  I tried the suggestion about turning on just the furnace fan, & it really helped. In a minute or two, the temp went down a couple of degrees just by recirculating the cool air from the lowest level thru the house.  I have not tried turning off the water heater, because mine is gas.  We have not turned the AC lower than 77-78 degrees, even on the days that were in the 80's, and this last bill was $90, which is as low as we can get it.  Our lovely little city subsidizes their city cable TV & internet through the utility bill & we have so many fees it is more than a little ridiculous. The utility bill here includes cable (we have the very basic $8 that lets you see the free channels), garbage, municipal energy tax, electric, potable water, pressurized irrigation water ( which I can't even use - my sprinklers are broken, but it actually costs me less to water with the "house water" & a hose, even tho I have to pay the $13.50 base rate on the PI water every month all year!) , but not the gas. We thought aobut converting over to using a swamp cooler int he window, since Utah is so dry, but the price of water is pretty high here, too.

The first year we were here was the first time either DH or I had used AC instead of a swamp cooler, & our first couple of electric bills were almost $300.  It took a year or two for us to learn how to use the AC & adjust.  We keep the furnace at 62 in the winter & no lower than 78 for the AC in the summer.  Over the last couple of years, we have put slatted blinds in every window except the one over the sink. We also have curtains on most of the windows & the 2 together have done a good job of preventing the heat from making it through the windows into our house. I planted a tree to shade the bay window in front, but it isn't big enough to do much yet. 

 

I'm working hard on on reducing ours this summer too!  Our gas and electric are combined.  The June bill is usually $250-$300.  July and August bills are generally $350-$400, we've had as high as $425.  It's really hot here in the summer-July & August temps hover around 105 and often get to 110+.  Going without ac isn't an option for us to consider and I too am home all day.

This year, I am watching the weather extremely carefully so I can turn off the AC even if it's just one day that is below 90 (90 is about my limit).  This time of year we do have days that drop down to 88 or so, I have it off today as it's cloudy and around 85.  In the past, once it gets hot enough to turn on, it kind of stays on as usually, I feel like it costs more in the end to let the house heat up and then cool it off again.  But this time, I figure it's worth it if I can go a whole day and night without turning it on.

When I do have it on, I have it set for 80, which is pretty high for us but I'm trying to just deal with it!!  I did turn it down to 78 the other day, I was SO hot and could not cool off-I'm pregnant, in my last trimester, and sometimes that pregnancy heater just goes into overdrive!  I've caved a couple of times now and dropped the temp a couple degrees so I could cool off!

Doing the regular stuff too-hanging clothes to dry, keeping lights/appliances off/unplugged when not in use.  We have off peak rates so also trying to use the dishwasher at night instead of during the day and things like that.

I hope the savings really adds up.  May's bill was great at about $89 . . . but I know we're headed for a pretty big jump come June.  It's the AC that kills our utilities budget every year, part of living in a hot climate I guess but I am REALLY trying to control it this year.

jennylyn:

I was SO hot and could not cool off-I'm pregnant, in my last trimester, and sometimes that pregnancy heater just goes into overdrive!  I've caved a couple of times now and dropped the temp a couple degrees so I could cool off!

jennylyn:

(90 is about my limit)

 

90 is my limit too but I will say that carrying another human being would be an excuse to bypass anything else (congrats by the way! ... I like cold when I sleep so when I turn on my AC for night, it's 70... so the AC will run from whatever it is in the house down to that (highest was 78) The ways I'm thinking around turning the AC on is take a cool shower and sit in or under a fan.

Virginia Needlewoman:

It is hard to get an electric bill lower in Virginia because Dominion Virginia Power is always or so it seems finding a new fee to tack onto the monthly bills.

My electric was 49.00 this month, but it was estimated.  i hate it when they do that.  Seems like my being frugal is a waste when they do that.  Your Dominion Virginia Power sounds about like my Verizon telephone bill.  Always something seems to be added and i cannot understand half of it and if you call, they give you the runaround.

Luvd_Lioness:

The ways I'm thinking around turning the AC on is take a cool shower and sit in or under a fan.

That helps SO much!  We have a ceiling fan in the bedroom over the bed.  Taking a cool shower right before bed and having the AC at 80, then falling asleep under the fan.  It really helps a lot.  I find it SO hard to fall asleep when I'm hot, pregnant or not!  It's just uncomfortable!!

I remember the last note of my bussiness the power will be shut off if you don't pay well ahummmm it got paid thats when I got back from a run in idahoe my husband said oppppps forgot well out of the  bussiness account it really got paid working qithout a fan in a office where its hot in a small area is not fun and a hubby at the time saying ooooppppps I could have rang his neck but the bill got paid then they started the automatic bank pay thing to the power company phhhhhew!!! Congrats on your pay down on the bill its hard but get iit over with sooner the better.

Bethi - Re: your questions to turn off water heater. We set a timer on our electric water heater so that it automatically goes on for 4 hours in the evening. This covers our peak time to use hot water for showers, dishes, etc. I take my shower in the morning and there is still plenty of hot water. We usually have bad luck with our water heaters as they are designed to self destruct in 5-6 years. So far, so good with the timer on this one. Does anyone unplug appliances, etc. to save "vampire" electricity; did you notice an improvement in usage?