Help me slay this electric bill?

[edjanuary39]

Men are definitely fortunate in that way huh! Cold, hot, cold hot, although I dont have the hot so much as the cold quite yet, but my day is coming. I have on 2 pairs of socks, leggings, and 2 sweaters on, thermostat says its 74 in here, and my toes are frozen! I'm breaking out my slanket! Those of you who plan to buy a snuggie- get a slanket instead! They are just a blanket with sleeves, completely square, but the sleeves are placed just right so there is a 'hood' and its longer than the snuggie, my toes can be wrapped up all the way when laying/sitting on the couch. Its almost as big a the top of a queen size bed, may actually be that big! I'm 5'7 and 1/2, so its pretty nice length. They may be cheaper than snuggies or same price, I have no idea where to get one so Google it. Mine was given. And its a lavender color, not so bright as that snuggie blue. Perfect for sports, I wear mine at the baseball games-early spring might as well be winter! And football when it gets too cold. And even I stay warm- except for my feet- I won't wrap my shoes in the blanket, just seems like the wrong thing to do.

 

[k15n1]

I"m new to this board having migrated over from the BackyardChickens forum b/c my electric bill is making me ill. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why it's so high ! New construction, 2100 sq ft cape, well insulated, 2 adults, 2 teenagers. Electric Energy star dishwasher, refrig., hot water heater -- gas stove/oven. Elec heat pumps with avg. SEER ratings -- couldn't afford top of line. Always use cold water to launder. Heat set at 68 in a.m. and p.m. till we go to bed and reset to 64. ALL CFL bulbs. And we still avg. 75-100 kwh per MONTH! I"m just heartsick. I haven't gone the extra step of putting everything on power strip but I guess should be first step.

When I read how little some of you all are using / month I feel like there's just no way ours is "normal" - there must be a huge suck somewhere. Could it be the meter? Or just us?

Any thoughts would be so appreciated.

Karen in VA

YES -- I mistyped!! 75-100 kwh PER DAY -- we used 2934 kwh last month and it usually floats between 1500 and 2000 per month for the one year we've been in this house. So sorry for the mistake

That is high. Sounds like you have a failing appliance or something. Get a kill-a-watt meter, record themeter every day for a month and journal about the day's activities... i expect 11 kwh per day----and i wish i could get it down a bit more!

 

[Britesea]

My friend's household electric bill was very large and they could never figure out why until they had a problem with the plumbing. While checking things out under the house (it's a manufactured home) the plumber discovered a spot under the water heater that was bulging. Turned out there was a stuck valve or something (not a plumber so...) that was causing a continuous slow leak from the hot water heater, which was causing it to have to continually heat the water as hot water leaked out and cold water replaced it. A $20 dollar part, and now their electric bill is normal.

 

[FarmerChick]

Yea if you are doing nothing yourself out of the ordinary then you have an elec leak somewhere with something.

I am 2100 sq ft. I use about 800-1100 per month. Sometimes as high as 1200 or so with worst ac months. So you have more than doubled me and I do use my elec.

You need an audit and an investigation. That seems VERY high.

 

[Denim Deb]

That is roughly what we use. And, it would be less if it was just me. I have the wood stove going, but hubby HAS to have the heat on when he's home. And, since he's read that these new convection heaters use less electricity than our baseboard electric heaters, that's what he's using. We don't sleep together-for one, I get stuffed up if it's too hot in the house. Unless it's really cold in my room, I don't have any heat on, and it's not unusual for it to be in the 50s in the room when I wake up. Then, I walk out of the bedroom, and feel like I'm dying.

Normally, I'm fine in the house, but outside is another story! I rode my motorcycle out to the farm to feed yesterday afternoon. I froze! And, that was in spite of the fact that I had on insulated jeans, my carhartts, 2 vests, a fleece jacket, heavy gloves, and one of these hats that covers the face and neck as well as the head. My friends all went riding at Island Beach St. Park, but because of my knee, I didn't go, and I was glad!

 

[FarmerChick]

Wind Deb
it will kill ya every time

when I lived in PA you had to dress so much before stepping out in winter. face mask and more. the wind would cut you in 1/2

wind down here in my face gives me a sinus headache most times.

I run from wind

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

I don't know how many people have to pinch watts like I do being off the grid, but maybe some of you like to! When we switched from a propane fridge to an electric refrigerator, We took the icemaker out and saved quite a few kwh/year. (I can't remember exactly how much now- but it was around 100 kwh/yr.) I just make ice the old-fashioned way, with ice cube trays.

 

[Denim Deb]

I don't use ice, so that's not something I have to worry about.

As for dishwashers, when it's done washing, I try to open it right away. That way, it doesn't go thru the dry cycle, and that saves money. I do rinse off my dishes first-in about 2 inches of water. Then, I use the light wash. That way, I only need to put detergent in 1 cup. It runs less, and uses less water this way.