WOOT! Gas bill waaaay down!

Dace

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Pam, I buy cheap candles and really just turning off the light when you are done is simple enough in theory, but I am trying to create a dramatic and serious change in our power use. My kids are not good at just turning out the lights.. or else my bill would not be that high!
 

FarmerChick

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I can not handle the way candles flicker. Drives me insane. I use a camper lantern. that type of thing when power goes out etc.

I have some back up candles in the drawer for emergencies, but haven't used them in, oh, 10 years...LOL

Candles are more expensive now definitely. Those fancy ones in the pretty jars for the holidays etc. I love the fragrance in those candles but don't buy them anymore.


Anyone make their own candles?
 

Dace

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I would really like to make my own, especially since we love them so much :)

Dh & DS made one recently, but we do not have the proper set up to really make candles. I saw a nice kit on Craigslist for $75....good deal but I don't have an extra $75 to spend right now :(
 

FarmerChick

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I came close to making candles but got overloaded in the soap business...I can't handle more mess..HA HA HA

I wonder if anyone ever made the old fashioned type...where you dip the long wick over and over and over again.....I seen them make the old timey ones at a craft fair...really interesting.....put them on a broom stick and dip the wicks, pull out, dry a sec, back in, over and over to make a fat candle.....hmm....now that is too time consuming for me :) but it would be cool to maybe try, when I have a minute..HA HA
 

Farmfresh

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Dace -

Since you live in a hot climate I have a few suggestions for keeping that AC bill down.

We get might hot in Missouri, but I have learned a few tricks.

#1 and BEST = Shade windows from the OUTSIDE! Most people in hot climates already do the sunblocker shades inside, but when we added roll down shades to the outside windows that got direct sun it made a BIG difference. Added benefit you can keep windows OPEN when it rains as the shades deflect all but really hard driving rain. I want to replace my $5.00 plastic roll ups with shade cloth in a frame this summer. I have to budget these projects.

We also open the house and use fans to pull in the cool night air all night long then keep the cool in by shutting drapes and some windows during the day. If your house has an upstairs you can create a chimney effect by exhausting hot air upstairs and blowing cool air in downstairs. This can lower our interior temperatures by 10 - 15 degrees a night.

Changing light bulbs to CFL's will help. Incandescent lights produce lots of extra heat.

Watch adding moisture to the air too. I can on the back porch using an electric turkey fryer to eliminate the extra steam.
 

poppycat

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I used to make dipped candles once upon a time. They were really time consuming. Plus you had to constantly refill the or they'd taper too much.

I think I might try to use a little more candle light instead of electrical light. Although the thing that made the most difference in our electric bill was getting a new energy star fridge. The old one was 18 years old and just limping along, and then last August it gave up completely. We had to buy a new one even though it was NOT in our budget. Since we got the new one our electric bill has been down about $25 a month! The old one must have really been sucking the juice.
 

shareneh

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We switched to woodstove heat and boy are we saving!! If there is someone awake to keep the fire going the house stays nice and cozy day and night.

The temps here in North Dakota are getting close to zero now. I checked with the propane company about a month ago and the price was $1.85 a a gallon, I bought some Friday at $1.55 a gallon, saving .30 a gallon or $60.00. :celebrate

I work nights so most of the time it works out so we don't have to be cold at all. We plan to only use our furnace at night because staying awake to keep the fire going is sometimes out of the question.

In short I have only had to spend $300 for this year's home heating compared to last year's total bill of $2300.00. :weee
 

PamsPride

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Thanks for answering the candle question! I have started to pick up candles at rummage sales...the $1 a bag day if I see them to kind of stock pile them. I did not realize we had hardly any candles until the power went out when Ike came through here. Since I have been on this site so much I have became more and more aware of being prepared so now I watch for these for sure. I am also going to watch for the oil lamps to hopefully go on clearance right after Christmas with some of the oil because they seem to put those out with holiday stuff here. Right now we only have one working oil lamp.
I want to make a list of things I want to add in to my regular grocery shopping trip to stock pile for emergencies/future and oil lamps is definetly one of them.
 

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