Our electric bill has just been doubled.

We are trying everything we can to cut down our bill.

Does turning out a couple of 60 watt light bulbs when not needed really save
much money?

Does turning out a couple of 60 watt light bulbs when not
needed really save much money?


I consider myself an expert on this subject.... My electric bill was $35
last month and I have no natural gas or oil bill. I use a woodstove for
heat.

No offense, but if you are asking the above question, you are probably
wasteful of many things. Or at least this is a symptom of the way people I
know are. They will leave lights on even during the daytime. And these
people have electric bills 10 times higher than my electric bill. They waste
electricity, water, food, and have cars which get low gas mileage. Two of
these families (different families) recently had to declare bankruptcy.

The first lesson is about money. Pennies make dollars. Dollars make hundreds
of dollars. Watch the pennies and the dollars will mind themselves.

2. Read the newsgroup misc.consumers.frugal-living and ask lots of questions
there.

3. Study this web site like there is no tomorrow...
http://www.energystar.gov

4. Read this...
Hidden electrical bandits
Things that use electricity even when they're off...
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/transformers.html

5. Read this...
A Tightwad's Guide to Frugal Living...
http://www.folksonline.com/folks/hh/tours/frugal.htm

a 60 watt bulb costs about 1c per hour (assuming 15c per Kwh), not alot
but it adds up

cheers
Bob

"Freckles" wrote in message
...
Our electric bill has just been doubled.

We are trying everything we can to cut down our bill.

Does turning out a couple of 60 watt light bulbs when not needed really
save much money?

Ours went up 40%. I think all of the power companies are raising their
rates.

Of course everything costs, that 60 watter may cost you 10-14$ a month
24 x7 , do some research you obviously have not. CFL cost 75% less to
run and turn them off when not used.

Freckles wrote:
Our electric bill has just been doubled.

We are trying everything we can to cut down our bill.

Does turning out a couple of 60 watt light bulbs when not needed
really save much money?

Yes, but maybe less than you think. Right now it may not cost you
anything. If you are heating your home with resistance heat, that light is
almost free as most of the electricity is going into making heat which is
staying in your home (not a porch light is it?) and a little goes to making
the light, most of which well end up turning into heat.

You high electric bill is likely do mostly to heating (rooms and water)
and the increase is likely do mostly to increased billing rates so you are
likely paying more per unit of power than you did last year.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
news:t56Bf.33533
Yes, but maybe less than you think. Right now it may not cost you
anything. If you are heating your home with resistance heat, that light
is almost free as most of the electricity is going into making heat which
is staying in your home (not a porch light is it?) and a little goes to
making the light, most of which well end up turning into heat.

You high electric bill is likely do mostly to heating (rooms and water)
and the increase is likely do mostly to increased billing rates so you are
likely paying more per unit of power than you did last year.

Depending or rates, that 60W bulb will cost about 1¢ an hour to run. As
Joseph points out, this time of year if you are heating, the cost would have
been spent for your main fuel anyway.

Electric bills are high right now because we are getting our bills for the
moth with the shortest days and the most lighting used, and perhaps some
holiday decorations. Take a look at your use for hte year. Mine is highest
in summer with AC, but second highest is December with added lights. May
and June tend to be lowest as less light, no heat, no AC. Many of us are
facing rate increases of 15% to 18% too.

On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 15:27:14 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
news:t56Bf.33533
Yes, but maybe less than you think. Right now it may not cost you
anything. If you are heating your home with resistance heat, that light
is almost free as most of the electricity is going into making heat which
is staying in your home (not a porch light is it?) and a little goes to
making the light, most of which well end up turning into heat.

You high electric bill is likely do mostly to heating (rooms and water)
and the increase is likely do mostly to increased billing rates so you are
likely paying more per unit of power than you did last year.

Depending or rates, that 60W bulb will cost about 1¢ an hour to run. As
Joseph points out, this time of year if you are heating, the cost would have
been spent for your main fuel anyway.

Electric bills are high right now because we are getting our bills for the
moth with the shortest days and the most lighting used, and perhaps some
holiday decorations. Take a look at your use for hte year. Mine is highest
in summer with AC, but second highest is December with added lights. May
and June tend to be lowest as less light, no heat, no AC. Many of us are
facing rate increases of 15% to 18% too.


In addition to the wise comments above, look at the number of days in
your billing cycle. At 34 days Dec. is the largest month for mine.
Also did you have company during the Holidays? Much more load,
particularly if you have electric hot water heater for bathing,
dishwashing, and laundry.

My bill actually doubled, but all those factors came into play in
addition to a 7 percent rate increase.

Replace every incandescent bulb you have with a compact florescent.

Turn lights off when not in use.

Turn computers and moitors off when not in use.

Turn TVs and stereo amplifiers and radios off when otin use.

--
Jim McLaughlin

Reply address is deliberately munged.
If you really need to reply directly, try:
jimdotmclaughlinatcomcastdotcom

And you know it is a dotnet not a dotcom
address.
"Freckles" wrote in message
...
Our electric bill has just been doubled.

We are trying everything we can to cut down our bill.

Does turning out a couple of 60 watt light bulbs when not needed really
save
much money?

Freckles wrote:
Our electric bill has just been doubled.

We are trying everything we can to cut down our bill.

Does turning out a couple of 60 watt light bulbs when not needed really save
much money?



no, but do it anyway

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

But look at the capital expenditure of doing it vs the running cost
saving. Waiting till the old bulbs blow might even be worthwhile!

And how the MTBF of your hard drive, computer and stereo bits falls
under the influence of power cycling. There use to be a general
statement about HDD's maybe 5 years ago that said if you leave them on 8
hours a day you might as well leave them on 24 hours.

Other big savers are;

- Lower your hot water service temperature
- Use full washing and dishwashing loads
- Lower you thermostat in winter and wear a sweater/coat
- Check central heating/cooling units for gaps/holes in the ducting and
fix. Also check window and door openings
- Shorten freezer/fridge opening times
- Let your cooking "coast" (unpowered) for the last few minutes on the
hotplate

There are obviously a host of others but these would be the biggest.

A HWS is about 1500W and some central heating is about 4500W.

Cheers Bob

Jim McLaughlin wrote:
Replace every incandescent bulb you have with a compact florescent.

Turn lights off when not in use.

Turn computers and moitors off when not in use.

Turn TVs and stereo amplifiers and radios off when otin use.