How much do you spend a month (or a year) on electricity?
I saw on "Living with Ed" on Planet Green network last week that Larry Hagman - of "Who shot J.R.?" fame - was spending $37,000 a year on electricity before he installed his solar panels. (Now, he pays $13 a year, which is largely for administrative costs and supplies power for four nearby, lower-income homes. Awwww ...)
But $37,000? That's more than $3,000 a month. Granted, he's got a $46 acre farm, but it's not like he's growing corn that likes to use the computer all night.
On "Wasted," also on Planet Green, a family mentioned that their electric bill is routinely in the thousands - thanks in part to more than 100 light bulbs in the house.
That seems absurd to me, but am I just living too frugally to know what other people's bills are like?
How much do you pay a month for electricity? Go ahead and comment. You can make up a user name, so your neighbors don't know your business, and only I'll be able to see the e-mail address you type in.
Tell me what your electric bill is like.
- Give us the good, the bad and the ugly. Is it miniscule in February but shoots up in July like the corn?
- Do you consider your bill low, average or high? Why?
- Is there some particular thing that really affects your bill? (Example: If you read the "more than 100 lightbulbs" thing and thought, "That seems reasonable," tell us.)
You show me yours, I'll show you mine ... in a future entry. I don't want to sway anyone into thinking theirs is too high or too low.
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
My husband is retired and I work part time. We have changed our light bulbs to the compact fluorescent type. We keep the AC at 80, and don't turn it on unless the humidity gets really high. We put the mercury light in the back yard on it's own switch so its not on unless we turn it on. Also we use the hose to water flowers instead of sprinklers. We have a computer, laptop, ceiling fan, and TV on except for when we sleep. It is a small house and well insulated. I recommend signing up for the "budget" plan with ComEd and Nicor. At least you know what to expect for the bill every month. Good for people on fixed income as we are. We are at $63.00 a month right now with that budget billing plan. I cannot imagine paying thousands or even hundreds for utility bills, something is wrong with that !!
80 on the air-conditioning! You're more frugal/green than I am. You're doing something I can aspire too. I've got it at 78, but with the newly-repaired air conditioner from 1990, I suspect we're going to get a shocking bill.
I haven't tried the budget plans, I confess. I suspect if I don't see each month's number, in black and white, I might not correct my ways if I start slipping into energy guzzling. Once I get a better sense of our usage -- we're relatively newly married and still getting used to quirks that include when the air should be on -- those might be a good idea.
Good on you for the fluorescent bulbs. I never expected they'd take such a chunk off of my energy bill. They're very, very handy. I still have some going strong that I bought six years ago.
Thanks for filling us in. This is exactly why I wanted to see what other people are doing. It motivates me to clean up some of lavish ways and bolsters my suspicion that the folks paying hundreds of dollars each month to ComEd may be special TV examples. :)
I recently moved into a new house in the area. And since Im the only occupant, its fairly easy to keep an eye out for how much energy Im using.
I have a 'contest' with myself every month to see how low I can keep the electric bill. And thanks to ComEd's handy graphs that are printed directly on the bill, its fairly easy. Not being on the budget plan, it varies every month, but the lowest bill I have had so far is $67.35, happening just this past May. The highest has come in the winter time, at about $107
I love, love, love the contest idea. That's how I get a lot of stuff done too.
The first time I had an apartment by myself, I was watching every dime. Seeing that bill come in with the bar lower than the previous month was like winning an Oscar.
A lot of people need to consume (whether it's eating or buying) to get gratification. You're getting a bump by saving money and saving resources. That's fantastic.
I'm going to go into details on my bill later. I'm just trying to see how people keep the bills down right now, but I will say it's harder to track now that I'm married.
I have to think that my usage hasn't changed, that any differences must be from my husband's usage. But that's hard to really know. So my husband ordered a product that tells you how many kilowatts an item actually uses. I'm hoping that will help and will make me compete against myself again.
Thanks!