Alex wrote:
Hi all,

I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but here in Central Texas
(specially out in the country) the energy prices are doubling if not
more. My dad (who uses the same energy provider as I) got his bill
Saturday and it went from $140 the prior month to $270 this month.
Mine should be coming in a week or so, and if my usual $200 electric
bill is $400 I'm screwed!

So with that being said, can someone give suggests I've not thought of
to cut the energy bill? Luckily now through the next month or two is
good open-window weather for us, but come April the temps start
creaping back up and A/C starts coming on. If my electric bill runs
$200-$300 with NO A/C or Heat, what're folks supposed to do?

My home is all electric, and we've already quit running the dishwasher
and we're starting to hang-dry our clothes instead of running dryer.
We're buying fluorescent bulbs to replace all the incandescent light
bulbs in our house. We've never really left the TV on while not
watching, but we do run a little XM Radio for back-ground music while
doing stuff around the house. Also I have an older fridge in the garage
we use to store sodas andsuch, but I'm pulling the plug on that and
putting it in the paper to sell (takes up too much space anyway).

What else can I and anyone in my situation do to save some extra bucks
on energy? My home is 22 years old and on a concrete foundation. As
for insulation, I'm planning on adding another layer to the attic
sometime soon. Also I have some french doors I put in not long ago
that are sitll roughed out and not well sealed -- so I'm planning on
finishing that.

As for inside the house, we've bought binds and curtains for all
windows and the french doors, which I hope will help. We also have a
ceiling fan in our bedroom we run during warmer nights... but that's
not enough for those 90'F at 11pm nights we have in the Texas summers.

I've even thought about adding a hot water heater timer, but given our
hot water heater is only 2 years old and VERY efficient, I don't know
if this'll do any real good from what I'm reading.

Is there anything I'm missing? Our electric is from a rural Coop,
which isn't regulated like others, so I can't switch companies. Also
short of adding solar panels or wind-powered generators, not sure what
else to do.

Thanks for any insight or ideas. Also is this just a Texas thing or
across the US? Thanks --

Sam Alex


If you want to save power you need to know where it is going. And to do
that you will need to measure every major electrical load in your home
to figure out which ones are consuming the most and then find some way
to reduce those loads without making life intolerable.

I purchased my own power meter but I understand that some utilities have
such equipment for loan to their customers. In fact your utility may
well have an energy audit program where they will come in and tell you
where your power/money are going in the home and how to improve the
situation.

Your idea of unplugging the old fridge is a good idea -- old
refrigerators are really major energy hogs compared to new ones. You can
pretty safely start using the dishwasher again since most of them are
quite efficient -- just don't run it more times in a day than absolutely
necessary and turn off the heated dry if you can live without it.

In my area the electrical rates haven't gone up noticeably but the
natural gas prices are _way_ up. Water rates are flat but the sewer
charges have just about doubled because the utility let the
infrastructure fall apart and was forced to fix major problems.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com