smallhouset Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Everything here is electric also. We don't have gas. We both work at home so we are here most of the time. My last electric bill was $139.00 and that is a little higher than normal. We're getting low on oil and are trying to stretch it out by using a small space heater during the day.We don't want to buy oil this late in the season because we need to move our oil tank this summer and we want it empty so it's easier to move. I was suprised how well it works with the woodburner going. Our furnace hasn't run for the last 5 days, and it's been cold at night here. We did alot of winterizing in the fall, plastic on the windows, new weatherstripping on the doors and windows, sealed the door to the attic, that cut down on the draft coming into the livingroom. I put rolled up throw rungs on the floor by the doors we don't use very often, and partially closed the heat vents in areas we don't use much. Our house is small, and the woodburner is in the basement family room. DH cut holes in the familyroom ceilings and put register covers over the openings and that has let alot of the heat go upstairs to the livingroom and bedrooms. You can't tell the openings are there, they look just like the furnace vents. We also stocked up on the firewood. I think we used 4 cords this winter, most of it we cut ourselves. That was alot of work but it saved us alot since we didn't have to get the oil refilled. We only used one tank since October. Our nextdoor neighbor is on her third fill up! I hang alot of our clothes to dry. In the summer I hang most of it outside, and only use the dryer for socks and underwear, I just can't hang that outside. And I combine some dryer loads if they are small. I usually only have to run it for about 3 loads a week. I read some where if your frig is over 10 years old it is costing on average $15.00 a month to run it. I need a new stove and I'm thinking when we go buy a new one a new frig is coming home too. Ours is 18 years old, nothing is wrong with it, but I know it's not as energy efficent as it could be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avidcrazyquilter Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Our electric runs anywhere from $300 to $600. We do have a big house and 6 people living in it. We do have mostly the fluorescent bulbs throughout but since we are sort of 3 families in the same house we have multiple appliances, tvs, acs, and other items. We try to keep everything turned off and unplugged when not using and if we are very careful we can bring the bill down a little but not much seems to help. I think part of ours is that part of the house that we can't get to has the old knob and tube wiring. We have made several changes to try to bring out utilities down and are fixing to make another one. First my husband and I moved into a VERY small mobile home that sits beside our big house thinking using a smaller space would use less gas and electric. It has helped by about $100 a month but still not enough and the little trailer is driving us stir crazy so we are turning the big house over to my youngest daughter who makes more money than we do and is young enough to chase kids around and strangle them for leaving lights on. We are moving out to our farm into a bigger mobile home, 3 bedroom 2 bath 16' by 80'. My other daughter will be moving out as she finally got on HUD and her friend that has been living here is moving with her. So we hope all these changes will drop our bills by half. Sad that we have to leave my big house but at least it will still be in the family and the new house will be so much easier to take care of, leaving more time for minis and other things. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixiedrea Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 One of the items that quickly pays for itself is our tankless inline hotwater heater, that only operates when we turn on the hot water faucet. I'm a HUGE believer in these, and would have one if I weren't in an apartment. Not only do you save water because it's instantly hot (no running water waiting for it to warm up), but you save electricity because it's only in use when you use hot water (which is not all day long!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 We have solar panels so our electricity averages $5-$6 per month. Lisa R. Did anyone watch this show on the Green Network with Les Stroud called Off the Grid? Here are some YouTube videos if you have never seen it.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg7EaLIJrBw. Part Six. I know I know. That is alot to watch. They are each about 10 mins or less each. If you ever wanted to see what goes into *living off the grid* this is a very interesting show. You see, I told you I like to watch some really off the wall stuff! Part Seven really delves into Solar power. I would love to have solar power. Lisa, did your home come with the solar panels or did you add them yourselves afterward? If you do not mind answering, how much did it finally cost for the conversion? How many panels do you have? Do you ever have times when you really have to conserve your power in your batteries? I am really interested in this. I know you can get tax rebates for converting to solar power but that type of thing is not financially feasible for us right now. I sooo wish it was. If I won the Powerball, that would be one of the first things I would do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I want a personal windmill. People are starting to buy them out here, and say that generally, the electric company owes them money every month for the leftover energy their windmill sends into the system. They run 15-20 thousand, but pay for themselves in 5-10 years and the rest of your life, electricity is free and even earning you money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I'm not home, so I can't access the electic bills, but I do know that when the girls went away for 2 weeks over the holiday, the younger one left her PTAC unit (the heat/AC units in motel rooms) running at 90 degrees. I guess her 15-year-old skinny butt was chilly after her shower, poor delicate flower ... I dunno. Anyway, I didn't discover it until I went upstairs to turn it on the day she was returning so it would be warm up there for her and discovered a sauna. The bill for that month's usage was about $160 higher than usual. THAT I remember! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 . I guess her 15-year-old skinny butt was chilly after her shower, poor delicate flower ... Yup, I got a couple of those delicate flowers living in my house too. Got any weed killer? ROFL (just kidding) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 This has started something in me. I have started looking at other waste of money. I have written down everything and I am going to keep a log of what I spend on a daily basis. I have not spent any money today (i havent really gone anywhere either..LOL) I want to *plug up the holes* in the spending. I want to see how far I can go with less money on groceries. I want to see if I can go a week without buying anything but essentials. I am not even going to buy my beloved newspaper! That is costing me $7.50 a week. That is $30 a month on paper with ink on it. Our car is almost paid off. That extra money is going to go into the bank. Our credit union at the job does not offer money market accounts. I am going to check with our other credit union to see if they do. More money saved is more money for minis! hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justmesue Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I like the way you think Heidi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellee Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Just heard on the news that our electric bills will be going up 6-8% every year for the next 3 years.!! I can barely afford the bill now, So I am not sure what we are going to do. Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPCullen Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Mine have been around and over $200 per month for each house, and there's only one person in each house.... Both houses are appx 1300 square feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Kelly, I hear you. I have to sit down before I open the bill every month. I can cover the bill but it really leave no extra play money at all! You get desperate sometimes to just be able to buy something without having to think about it constantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodentraiser Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I have a wall heater for my trailer, but it was running about $100 a month and I decided to turn it off. One of the vents is under the couch and the bedroom heats too hot to sleep in. But also, the thermostat on the wall only goes down to 65º, so even if I turn it down all the way, it still kicks in at anything under 65º and that is way too hot for me! So I have the space heater that I use in just the living room and kitchen when I'm home and I turn the heat off completely at night. I think the coldest it's ever gotten in my bedroom was 34º and that was in December when the temp outside went down to the low teens and the pipes almost froze. So my bill now in winter is about $60 and in summer about $26 to $30. Believe it or not, right now I'm having a hard time paying that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakyshaky Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I have a question for you guys. I live on a dirt road and I was thinking of getting a clothes line but I am afraid our clothes will become dirty because of the road. Has anyone tried this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Put the line so that the house is between the line & the road, preferably where the prevailing breezes don't blow from the road. My biggest problem with line-dried clothes this time of year was POLLEN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogster Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 My highest was 27 bucks, last month 22. Those fluorescent coils really make a huge difference. My place has inset can lights, each had a 65 watt flood, replaced with a 60 watt equivalent flo that eats 13 watts instead. And they are becoming relatively cheap. I just bought 3 four packs of the 60 equivalents at Home Depot for $1.85 each. LCD TV, I kids you not, half the juice of a CRT, Plasmas? They're banning them in some countries cause they eat so much, up to 8 times the power of an LCD of the same size. I don't need my place lit up like the Blackpool Illuminations either, so that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butlerestates Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 My husband pays the bills so I do not see them every month but I do know that in the summer it is outrageous!! We have allergies so leaving the windows open is out of the question. Having ceiling fans helps some but not that much. The real killer is we are home all day long because my husband works at home so we had to have more than the normal amount of outlets put in and have them maxed out! One good part is that a portion can be used as business expense for taxes but not the entire thing. The pool filter in the summer is a major expense also. And if your A.C. is old it will cost you alot more. We did have a $800 bill one month and my husband almost croaked! Well our A.C's were old and not working like they were supposed to so we replaced them and that saved us money so if you have a high bill you might check that out to make sure. We have gas stove, and water heater so thats not a factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I have no idea because my husband pays the bills. I do know when a bill is high because I can hear my husband saying, "What!?!?!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 I think I would just about die if I did not know what the bills were every month. I have been doing it for sooo long. I let them all know what the bills are especially when they want stuff (fred included) and I have to tell them the bottom line. Sometimes I really wish I did not know. It can be draining sometimes. Not all the time but some months it can be. Usually when something happens that needs extra money. Part of me will be glad when the car is paid off next month. That extra money is going to be saved so we can have a cushion. We havent had a good financial cushion in a few years. You should always save..at the very least..two months of your paychecks..six months is even better. We always had about 2-3 months saved. Then it came time to start dipping to cover. Thanks for the tip about the tvs Andrew. We still have dinosaur tvs in our house. Flat screens will come when the ones we have die a painful death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Because our house is mostly propane, our electricity bill is only $75.00 usually. And that is with the grow lights which are on 18 hours a day and the computers which are on all day too. But when I use my kiln the power really gets sucked up and it usually goes up to $100.00 or more a month then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrea_burgess Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 We just bought a house and the electric company charges you $180 split into three month's payments on top of your bill if both parties have never had an electric bill before. I have at my old apartment, but my husband hasn't since he works for the Navy and lived on the ship until I moved out here. We just finished the last payment of $60 on top of our bill. Without the charge we pay betweent $70-80 a month for a 3 bedroom/2 bath/2 car garage-shop. Not too bad. But we have gas, so that is the crappy bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookmarm Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 $270 average. Horrible, but we have lots of laundry and cooling here. No gas bill...only electric. We should be better conservationists.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyinOR Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Our electric bill is approx $200-$250, depending how cold it is. Our whole house runs on electric, well pump, pressure tank, stove, furnace, heat pump, washer/dryer, water heater, one fridge, etc. 2 adults 2 kids, 3200sqft home heat included for $200 this last month. Summer months $80 since we don't run our a/c much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I don't feel so bad about our electric bill anymore, not after reading some of these posts. The highest electric rates in the US in 2007 and 2008 were in Hawaii, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Maine, New Hamshire and Alaska. The order changed during those 2 years, but both times, these were the most expensive states per kilowatt hour. Lucky you Heidii, Connecticut ranked #2 both times right after Hawaii. At our house we have oil heat and a propane stove with an electric oven, our house is fairly large. Our electric bill runs $125-$150 dollars a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntDee Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I have a question for you guys. I live on a dirt road and I was thinking of getting a clothes line but I am afraid our clothes will become dirty because of the road. Has anyone tried this? we live on a fairly heavily traveled gravel road. I hang clothes out on the line in spring summer and fall. The lines are behind the house and I have never had a problem with clothes being dirty when brought in. Saves on the propane bill. Rita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.