Need to lower my electric bill!

[woodgeek]

While cleaning refrigerator coils is a fine idea....no studies have shown it to significantly reduce energy usage by refrigerators.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/more-energy-myths

 

[1750]

While cleaning refrigerator coils is a fine idea....no studies have shown it to significantly reduce energy usage by refrigerators.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/more-energy-myths

Doh! Now you tell me.

Here I was feeling all conservative for a change. Alas.

That's a great article. I have subscribed to a number of those myths in times past.

But not anymore, Woodgeek... not anymore.

 

[woodgeek]

Here's more dirty coil porn:
http://www.homeenergy.org/show/article/nav/appliances/page/15/id/914
Seems like cleaning will make a 0-5% improvement, at least in older units.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It has to let more air over the coil. I try to get to mine once a year. With a dog and kid there's always something to clean off of it.

 

[boo boo]

It has to let more air over the coil. I try to get to mine once a year. With a dog and kid there's always something to clean off of it.

That would be a good thread. Pic`s of what I found under my refrigerator! The last time for me it was cheerios and cat toys and a lot of cat hair and dust. No money

 

[woodgeek]

I'm quite afraid to look

 

[begreen]

Yeah, it was free from the local co-op around 10 years ago. I keep it flushed to remove any sediment and try to stay on top of the elements. I know there's something here that's causing our high electric bills, but I can't figure it out. We had a 30 gallon water heater in the old house and we always ran out of hot water. I've also put in low flow fixtures throughout the house.

I pulled the 80 gallon water heater and changed it for a well insulated, 40 gallon, fast recovery unit. That made a substantial improvement in the bottom line.

 

[Wolftech]

Putting all those phantom loads (that blinking vcr/dvd, tv box, the surround sound system) on a Outlet strip has dropped my bill....

 

[TradEddie]

We've got two kids, electric water heater, lots of laundry all going through the electric dryer, and everybody loves long showers (with flow restrictors removed) and our winter consumption is about 800 kwh per month. Last year we discovered a leak in our well pump piping, after two months of huge bills. A kill-a-watt is useful but you can't use it for hard-wired items like water heaters, well pumps, or septic pumps. Kill the breaker on your well pump, does the line hold pressure, listen at the well head, is it running constantly? Same for any septic pumps, the floats could be faulty. I don't know what the difference in 80gal vs smaller water heater would be, but we've only once run our 50 gallon heater cold.

I've switched out most incandescents for LEDs or CFLs, but it hasn't made a noticeable difference, probably just offsetting the increased consumption by the kids as they grow.
My next step in reducing bills is a better washer and dryer, almost 40% of my bill is hot water and dryer (they're on a legacy separate meter, so I can see their consumption).

TE

 

[TradEddie]

and 2 outside security lights( 20.00 a month).

That's a lot of unnecessary light, at 10c/kwh, that's 100W of lighting for almost 7 hours every night. $20/month is a huge waste, get some motion activated lights, or LED's, or even halogens in there, quick.

The only other cost we might have is the woodfurnace, which runs quite a bit, and it's a 1/3 hp.

A whole house furnace fan, or a woodstove blower? The former I hope, otherwise you need to get a new stove blower.

TE

 

[laynes69]

Our security lights light our side yard at night, and our bank barn mid way back in the property. While I would like to not pay 20.00 a month, they are on a separate line and they help me at night when I'm outside, and help to deter thieves. I live amongst nothing but farmland and woods, in a very rural area. My nearest neighbor is over a 1/4 mile away, only 1 neighbor I can see in the distance.

As far as a well leak, I'm not too sure. The line was replaced 10 years ago with a solid plastic line to the house. I've replaced the points in the past because they've burnt out. I did put in higher pressure points, but the pump seems okay with it. I do know here lately if we're running water for a bath and the toilet is flushed, the well will stop producing water. We then have to wait for a couple minutes and eventually it comes back. It's only about 60 or so feet deep and is pretty old. I've been out there before to make sure it's not running when not in use and it wasn't. There's lots of good ideas and things to check on.

Our fan is on our wood furnace. We keep the basement warm along with the 2 floors above with it.

 

[TradEddie]

I'd check the pump again, also the bladder tank after what you said about the pump not being able to keep up. A short cycling pump would certainly burn through the kwh. Bladders are easy to check, google is your friend.

I'm not saying you don't need those lights, peace of mind is worth far more than $20/mo, but you could have all that same light for much less by investing in some LED's. Constant use is where those bulbs really pay off, I keep two Cree 60W-equivalents with an on-at-dusk-off-at-dawn sensor, those cost about 50c a month to run 8 hours each night.

TE

 

[begreen]

Good suggestion on the air bladder tank. Check the pressure there. If low you are going to burn out pressure switches and relay points and have a short cycling pump.

 

[maple1]

I put in a new 80 gallon hot water heater a year & a half ago. Heated by wood most of the year, but in the summer months when it isn't it only adds about $20 or so per month to the light bill (@ 0.16/khw). 2 adults & 3 kids - one a teenage girl.

If it's the heater, it's likely the age of it & not the size that's using the juice. More insulation? Heat traps on the lines? Feel your lines to see if there is heat creeping out of it when it's not being used - maybe first thing in the morning before people start using hot water.

 

[Ashful]

80 Gallon water heater WOW I use a 30 Gal for 5-7 people. Never run out. We have 5 people all the time and up to 7 intermittently. My teenage daughter already takes 30-45 min showers.

I have trouble believing this. "Never run out" with 5-7 people, and "45 minute showers," simply do not compute with a single 30 gal water heater.

 

[sloeffle]

laynes,

I am about in the same boat that you are in except my house is all electric. I have changed most of the lights, new Marathon hot water heater, change air filters frequently on the furnace, newer mostly energy star appliances and heat my house mostly with wood in the winter or a very efficient geo unit and on average we use around 1000 - 1500KHW depending on the time of the year. I thought about buying a monitoring system but I have a hard time justifying 600$ for it.

I bought an amp clamp and once the weather turns warmer I am planning on double checking everything in the barn and the house. Possibly a phantom load ?

Scott

 

[maple1]

I just paid our bi-monthly power bill today. October 23 to December 19, my bill says we averaged 20.9 kwh/day. I'm feeling pretty good about that, since I know we have areas we can improve on yet. One thing is an older CRT TV that was hooked to a PS3 and on for several hours a day. It is being replaced by a smaller LED that showed under our tree last week. The other thing is our Kenmore fridge - it's 18 years old and I'm sure is using more than a new one would. It's been heavily abused & is showing signs of air leakage around the edges. But with our bill that good, or what I consider pretty good for us, I'm hesitant to garbage an appliance that seems to still be working good.

I hope it won't be for a few years yet, but when our 80 gallon hot water heater eventually goes kaput, it will be replaced with a heat pump unit of some sort.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I have trouble believing this. "Never run out" with 5-7 people, and "45 minute showers," simply do not compute with a single 30 gal water heater.

I did say my daughter who is the one who takes the 45 Min showers does run out. Im not about to buy a larger WH so she can shower for an hour+. I personally never ran out, but then again i dont try to shower right after my daughter. The rest of us take normal showers and dont run out. I replaced this WH about 3 times in 25 years and if i had to do it again today id get the same size. Also our washer and dishwasher both have their own built in WH so that helps.

 

[begreen]

I suggest everyone taking a shower before your daughter and let her get cold water after 10 minutes. 45 minutes in the shower with the water running is very wasteful.

 

[semipro]

I suggest everyone taking a shower before your daughter and let her get cold water after 10 minutes. 45 minutes in the shower with the water running is very wasteful.

I've turned the hot water off on my teenage sons mid-shower. They just keep going.
Maybe they understand the benefits of a cold shower.

 

[semipro]

That would be a good thread. Pic`s of what I found under my refrigerator! The last time for me it was cheerios and cat toys and a lot of cat hair and dust. No money

We have three dogs and a cat in addition to the humans.
When we bought our last fridge I actually used condenser airflow direction as one of the criteria.
I found one unit that pulled air in the back and exhausted out the bottom. I also put a filter on the rear intake.
Going on about 4 years now I've cleaned the filter yearly but the condenser is staying clean.
It didn't hurt that the fridge I liked also had the cool ramp-up LED light inside that my wife liked.

 

[woodgeek]

With an 80 gallon HPWH, my 13 yo daughter gets a 45 minute shower using only 40% as much energy as if we had a conventional tank. And there is still water afterward for anyone else who wants to take a shower.

 

[woodgeek]

We have three dogs and a cat in addition to the humans.
When we bought our last fridge I actually used condenser airflow direction as one of the criteria.
I found one unit that pulled air in the back and exhausted out the bottom. I also put a filter on the rear intake.
Going on about 4 years now I've cleaned the filter yearly but the condenser is staying clean.
It didn't hurt that the fridge I liked also had the cool ramp-up LED light inside that my wife liked.

Did you verify that the consumption didn't go up because of the filter reducing airflow?

 

[Highbeam]

I installed one of those whole house energy monitors that clamps around each of the power lines to the house in the panel and then has a display in the living room. It is a great tool to watch and monitor your actual consumption. I burn up over 1000 kwh each month and I blame the electric hot tub mostly.

What I found odd was that the base load is always a couple of hundred watts. You don't realize it until you do a breaker by breaker shutoff but the parasites are things like GFCI receptacles and appliance phantom loads like my modern electric oven burning 50 watts all the time.

The whole house monitor was only like 100 or 150 bucks and has been a great source of entertainment and even cost savings via behavioral changes. The kids even watch it to see who left a light on.

 

[Ashful]

I installed one of those whole house energy monitors that clamps around each of the power lines to the house in the panel and then has a display in the living room.

Brand/model? I would be interested in a recommendation.