First energy bill under $100

Upgraded from the 30 yr old electric dryer that came with the house to a 10yr old gas dryer someone was freecycling, and dropped our electric use by almost 300 KWH. Didn't feel like we did that much laundry (2 adults and a toddler) but wow. even ran the furnace a couple damp 50F days when it was chilly but not cold enough to fire the stove. Gas use stayed under 25 CCF (lowest in 14 months was 17 CCF, so still ballpark). So even with $15 in fixed fees, we're at $91.

Steve

Nice!! I wish they had gas in my area. It looks to be more efficient for dryers. As it is, my last electric was around $180. That should drop to around $100 durning the summer since I don't run the air that much.

You guys need a clothesline! You can even use one in the winter if you put it in the basement or get the retractable kind or old fashioned kind that come off of the wall like long fingers.

I plan on using a clothes line this summer. When it's 90 out, I find it hard to justify running a dryer. But for Winter, I don't have a place I can dry in my home. And I don't like wearing clothecicles

We're actually doing clothesline weather permitting, but recently the pollen load has been so heavy it's prohibitive. The basement is no good, because int he winter it's really cold. Not quite freezing, but cold.

Steve

i hear ya with the pollen. can you image what you would be like in the morning after sleeping on some freshly washed sheets full of pollen

Got ya beat Steve,
My last energy bill was $84. Most of that electric. I'm also thinking of a gas dryer. With 2 teenage kids the washer and dryer are going pretty much 24/7!

Check your dryer vent - that is crazy high if your dryer was consuming 300 kWh/month. We recently found ours full of water - our builder had used flex pipe in the attic and during the winter, it was condensing and sagging. Finally formed a trap which we discovered when a batch didn't dry. Was about 2 gallons of water hanging in the flex pipe in the attic rafters! Ripped it all out and replaced w/solid ducting - much nicer.

Despite this, I just checked recently on our use and after 4 years in this house, we averaged 449 kWh per month, including electric dryer, 1200 GPH pond pump running 24x7, and summer air conditioning using two 5000 BTU window units. Works out to $59/month long-term average including customer fees. (thanks to tall deciduous trees making it easy to stay cool all summer)

We are fairly careful on selecting high efficiency appliances - front-loader washer spins clothes pretty darn dry before putting them in the dryer - that and Bosch dishwasher are probably two big savers.

-Colin