Monday, June 25, 2012
Water
I don't feel that I've done as much about saving water as I have electricity this month. I am now more aware of how my water bill is calculated and I try to run the water less when I am brushing my teeth or rinsing dishes. And Dennis and I timed each other showering the other day. Dennis got 2 minutes 25 seconds and I got 4 minutes. BUT I shaved my armpits and legs so that's really good.
I'm pretty much done for this month and am looking forward to some exercise. See you in July!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Kill A Watt
We got this Kill A Watt electricity usage monitor which calculates how many kilowatt-hours our appliances are using.
Not counting large appliances, the most energy sucking outlet is our living room entertainment center that has the TV, computer, receiver, and Wii plugged into it.
Most days the center is on for 4 hours, in sleep mode for 11 hours and off for 9 hours. This costs $84 a year. If we have it on for 4 hours, off for 11 hours and unplugged at night, it will cost $67 a year. That's a savings of $17 a year.
The second is my computer in the bedroom.
Most days I turn it on when I wake up and leave it on for 14 hours and turn it off at night. This costs $41 a year. If I only turn it on for 3 hours a day and unplug it at night it will only cost $11 a year. That's a savings of $30 a year. And it saves me from checking my e-mail, etc. all day.
So if we do just these two things, we will save $47 a year! This combined with keeping our thermostat a degree or two higher when we are not home (since I stay at home, I keep it at 78 all day) should be an easy and free start to being more energy efficient.
Not counting large appliances, the most energy sucking outlet is our living room entertainment center that has the TV, computer, receiver, and Wii plugged into it.
Most days the center is on for 4 hours, in sleep mode for 11 hours and off for 9 hours. This costs $84 a year. If we have it on for 4 hours, off for 11 hours and unplugged at night, it will cost $67 a year. That's a savings of $17 a year.
The second is my computer in the bedroom.
Most days I turn it on when I wake up and leave it on for 14 hours and turn it off at night. This costs $41 a year. If I only turn it on for 3 hours a day and unplug it at night it will only cost $11 a year. That's a savings of $30 a year. And it saves me from checking my e-mail, etc. all day.
So if we do just these two things, we will save $47 a year! This combined with keeping our thermostat a degree or two higher when we are not home (since I stay at home, I keep it at 78 all day) should be an easy and free start to being more energy efficient.
Monday, June 11, 2012
No Electricity....Sort Of
Sunday was no electricity day at our house! I thought it would be a good experience to help us appreciate something we take for granted a hundred times a day. We didn't go crazy and turn off the a/c (I did turn it up 2 degrees) or unplug the fridge but we kept the lights off, no dishwasher, no washing machine, no TV, no computers, etc.
I thought we would get more natural light in the kitchen so cooking (on our gas stove that I know uses some electricity) was difficult and my sweet husband washed all the dishes by hand. This is why we went to dinner at Chuys :) We sat outside to take advantage of the natural light and enjoyed someone else cooking and doing dishes for us. The kids were a little bent out of shape in the morning when we didn't turn on the lights but candles made everything OK. We went swimming and played in the backyard so they wouldn't miss their TV shows.
For me it was a huge awakening as to how much time I spend checking e-mail, stalking Facebook, drooling at recipes on Pinterest, etc. It was a little disturbing as to how many times during the day I had the urge to hop on the computer. So I've decided that I am going to keep my computer off unless I am working on something specific and only allow myself a designated block of time each day to check e-mail, read blogs, facebook, etc. This will save electricity as well as wasted time :)
In the evenings I usually piddle on the computer and read while my husband plays his video games. Last night we got to enjoy each others company and we were in bed by 9:00. We plan to spend more time disconnected in the evenings.
I thought we would get more natural light in the kitchen so cooking (on our gas stove that I know uses some electricity) was difficult and my sweet husband washed all the dishes by hand. This is why we went to dinner at Chuys :) We sat outside to take advantage of the natural light and enjoyed someone else cooking and doing dishes for us. The kids were a little bent out of shape in the morning when we didn't turn on the lights but candles made everything OK. We went swimming and played in the backyard so they wouldn't miss their TV shows.
For me it was a huge awakening as to how much time I spend checking e-mail, stalking Facebook, drooling at recipes on Pinterest, etc. It was a little disturbing as to how many times during the day I had the urge to hop on the computer. So I've decided that I am going to keep my computer off unless I am working on something specific and only allow myself a designated block of time each day to check e-mail, read blogs, facebook, etc. This will save electricity as well as wasted time :)
In the evenings I usually piddle on the computer and read while my husband plays his video games. Last night we got to enjoy each others company and we were in bed by 9:00. We plan to spend more time disconnected in the evenings.
Friday, June 8, 2012
I Love Graphs!!!
I spent some time on the phone with the electric company yesterday and the lady I spoke to was so excited to talk to me about conserving energy. We have Pedernales Electric and they have 'MyUse Energy Reports' that track the cost and kwh we use every day. They even include the high and low temperatures for the day on the graph. I am a total dork and find this super exciting.
This is the graph from our last billing cycle. I was curious about some of the peaks and valleys so I looked back on my calendar to see what could have caused them.
4/25 - This huge peak was more than likely caused by laundry. My in-laws left town the day before and I am sure I was doing lots of laundry the next day.
4/28 - We were out of town.
5/8 - There was a cold front that day so my guess is that the air conditioner didn't have to run.
We have already replaced 90% of the bulbs in our house with CFLs and are just waiting for the others to burn out because they are dimable and will cost a lot and all of our kitchen appliances are energy star efficient. I wash all of our laundry in cold water except for our sheets which I do in hot once a week. Our washer and dryer are not great but we don't have the money to replace them right now. So areas we have for improvement are the air conditioner temperature and electric devices around the house. We bought a Kill A Watt detector which will tell us how much electricity the devices around the house are sucking, so that should be fun. We are also going to work on our daughter turning off lights as she leaves a room.
This is the graph from our last billing cycle. I was curious about some of the peaks and valleys so I looked back on my calendar to see what could have caused them.
4/25 - This huge peak was more than likely caused by laundry. My in-laws left town the day before and I am sure I was doing lots of laundry the next day.
4/28 - We were out of town.
5/8 - There was a cold front that day so my guess is that the air conditioner didn't have to run.
We have already replaced 90% of the bulbs in our house with CFLs and are just waiting for the others to burn out because they are dimable and will cost a lot and all of our kitchen appliances are energy star efficient. I wash all of our laundry in cold water except for our sheets which I do in hot once a week. Our washer and dryer are not great but we don't have the money to replace them right now. So areas we have for improvement are the air conditioner temperature and electric devices around the house. We bought a Kill A Watt detector which will tell us how much electricity the devices around the house are sucking, so that should be fun. We are also going to work on our daughter turning off lights as she leaves a room.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Water and Electricity
My goal this month is to find ways for our family to conserve water and electricity. I looked at last year's bills and our August/September bill was highest for both water and electricity.
I've already been busy at work talking to the City of Austin about our water bill. I wanted to find out how they calculate our wastewater usage and found some really important information that I wish I would have known several months ago. They track your water usage for three months in the winter (ours was from Nov. 19 - Feb. 19) and take the average amount of water your household used during that time and charge you that amount for wastewater for the rest of the year. And they charge a lot more for wastewater than they do for water.
Water:
1st 2000 gallons is $1.17 per 1000 gallons
Over 2000 gallons is $3.08 per 1000 gallons
Wastewater:
1st 2000 gallons is $3.79 per 1000 gallons
Over 2000 gallons is $8.38 per 1000 gallons
So, I plan on finding ways to save water around the home year round but when it comes time for our next wastewater calculation period, I am going to be super conservative. You may want to stay away because showers will be in short supply!
I've already been busy at work talking to the City of Austin about our water bill. I wanted to find out how they calculate our wastewater usage and found some really important information that I wish I would have known several months ago. They track your water usage for three months in the winter (ours was from Nov. 19 - Feb. 19) and take the average amount of water your household used during that time and charge you that amount for wastewater for the rest of the year. And they charge a lot more for wastewater than they do for water.
Water:
1st 2000 gallons is $1.17 per 1000 gallons
Over 2000 gallons is $3.08 per 1000 gallons
Wastewater:
1st 2000 gallons is $3.79 per 1000 gallons
Over 2000 gallons is $8.38 per 1000 gallons
So, I plan on finding ways to save water around the home year round but when it comes time for our next wastewater calculation period, I am going to be super conservative. You may want to stay away because showers will be in short supply!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)