A few months back I wrote about cleaning out and unplugging an ancient fridge in my basement. A month after the unplugging my electric bill dropped by 20 bucks or so.
I was amazed that I was spending that much to run an old fridge. So I decided to see how low I could drop my electric bill. I bought 4 of those energy saver, spiral bulbs; a month later our electric bill dropped another 20 bucks.
So I bought more bulbs, roughly 2/3 of my sockets now have those spiral bulbs. June's electric bill just arrived... we went from 100 bucks in February to 43 bucks in June. Almost a 60 percent drop!
That means I am going to keep $684 more dollars in our pockets this year. This also translates to a car payment and 2 weeks of groceries. Or a chunk of car insurance for the year or even a short vacation.. ok really short with gas prices but you get what I a saying.
Now I know some of you are skeptical about the light output of these bulbs, but I have found that you can buy them in all sorts of watts and voltages. I bought the higher watt bulbs for areas that need more light... I have a 13 watt over my key board and it is more than enough. Dimmer ones for low light areas like the hall or for my kitchen night light above the sink are just fine.
I spent maybe 40 bucks for bulbs on sale and saved more than 120 over 4 months. The bulbs have paid for themselves in a very short amount of time.
I am definitely switching all our sockets to these bulbs and am looking forward to July's electric bill. Well maybe not if it gets blistering hot.
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Comments: 58
LOOK at those huge motors, a small clipon fan in an area you are sitting in produces far more cooling, will get turned off more often and is far far cheaper to replace when the time comes..
I also gave up my big side by side fridge for a under counter type and a small upright freezer..
it really makes a difference!!! $$$
Lloyd
Another big energy draw - about 5% of your electricity is used by appliances plugged in waiting to be used. An extension of the "turn off the lights" idea. For plugs that are out in the open, like toasters, coffee pots, laptop power cords, unplug when not in use.
thanks clare;-)
I didn;t think about the fact that we are saving the planet too... less energy has to be good.
Oh well I guess I can't complain.
I have a question for all of you: what about electric dishwashers? My nephew contends that an electric dishwasher uses less energy than washing dishes by hand. I know that he's considering mainly water usage (and I could definitely stand to lower the water bill, too!), but I was wondering if anyone else had something to report on that subject? (I do dishes by hand now, mostly because by the time I rinse dishes off, load the dishwasher, run it, unload, it just seems easier to plain ole wash them by hand -- but there's only two of us at home, so not many dishes.)
Wendy, I would have to say a dishwasher is more economical... you fill it up all the way and it probably uses ha;f the water we let run down the drain while doig a couple of dishes.
Another way to save is to have a gas clothes dryer instead of electric. Plus, they last forever. My last one just died after 40 years!!
Did you join my group?
savemoney.gather.com
I also like what Lloyd said about ceiling fans, we have one or two in every room of our house in Texas, event he bathroom. I will be making better point of turning these off more often...I'm sure the savings will be noticeable!
Use sunshine rather than dryer if you can and think energy saving versus money. Energy use from appliances, lights,gas, even electric saw and drill increase the emission of CO2, increase demand for electricity and the price goes up there also.
Joyn the virtual march to stop global warming at : www.stopglobalwarming.com
I hope the address is correct...sign in and be counted...
Mandi, nice article....look up the site the have ideas there to save electricity also.
I did, or at least I tried to. I will try again.
Did you join mine? http://greatgifts.gather.com
Also, about the solar...check out the Solar Living Sourcebook. That way you can price out what to expect etc. Hey, the coal for the power plants isn't going to last forever...and even if it does I don't want any more miners to die!!
http://greatgift.gather.com
Whoops. And btw, Mandi I love your group, looks like my membership went thru...it's been a long day.
PK
I have one more to add which will also help out environmentally. Most of the bug sprays people use indoors are neurotoxins that are no good for you or your pets. You better know that when you spray that stuff a good amount of it goes airborne for all to breath in. They are also quite expensive. Now here is the tip, most insects don't need a nerve agent to kill them. You can accomplish much the same thing with simple dish soap. A mix of %10 liquid dish soap with water in a spray bottle will be enough. This will kill any ants, roaches, silverfish, or beetles with direct contact. I also use it for aphids and other bugs in the garden.
May I suggest Mr. Cat?