After our friend from Home for Three create a post about how they are saving money, I thought I would create a post on how our electric bill for our 1,100 square foot house last month was $26. Just so you are aware, normally our bill is about $60, and we do have gas stove, but I will share the ways we stared off on the right foot to keep it down. After living in an apartment with "free electricity" we knew we had to make some lifestyle changes. I think we are both happy with the outcome.
New Shiny Appliances - Before we moved in we donated our old appliances, and got a new fridge, oven, and microwave. These are more efficient than the old ones. Luckily, my husbands Uncle took the old stove and fixed it all up for this cabin.
New Hot Water Heater- Self explanatory. The inspector told us we needed a new one anyway. The seller gave us money for the purchase.
"Newer House" with insulation - Our house was built in 1999. This only makes it about 12 years old. When we moved in the neighbor told us he saw it being built, and there is way more insulation in the house than there needed to be.
Smart Strips - We ordered two smart strips for our house. These will turn off the other electronics when the main one is turned off. For example, if you turn off your tv, the dvd player, cable box, and wii will also turn all the way off. We have one on our main tv, and one on my husbands "high power use" computer.
Automatic Lights and Dimmer- I did not know my husband could do electrical until we moved into our house. We now have lights that turn off and on automatically in the kitchen and bathrooms. We also have a dimmer on our kitchen light. These definitely save electricity, and are nice to have too.
Automatic thermostat- This means the temperature of our houses changes for when we wake up, when we leave for work, when we come home, and when we go to bed. I am glad my husband figured out all that technology :).
There are other things that I would would like to do with the house. These include adding storm doors to the front and back doors, getting a more efficient central air conditioner, and new washer and drier. I think that so far we have made small steps and we can keep making them to create an efficient house.
New Shiny Appliances - Before we moved in we donated our old appliances, and got a new fridge, oven, and microwave. These are more efficient than the old ones. Luckily, my husbands Uncle took the old stove and fixed it all up for this cabin.
New Hot Water Heater- Self explanatory. The inspector told us we needed a new one anyway. The seller gave us money for the purchase.
"Newer House" with insulation - Our house was built in 1999. This only makes it about 12 years old. When we moved in the neighbor told us he saw it being built, and there is way more insulation in the house than there needed to be.
Smart Strips - We ordered two smart strips for our house. These will turn off the other electronics when the main one is turned off. For example, if you turn off your tv, the dvd player, cable box, and wii will also turn all the way off. We have one on our main tv, and one on my husbands "high power use" computer.
Automatic Lights and Dimmer- I did not know my husband could do electrical until we moved into our house. We now have lights that turn off and on automatically in the kitchen and bathrooms. We also have a dimmer on our kitchen light. These definitely save electricity, and are nice to have too.
Automatic thermostat- This means the temperature of our houses changes for when we wake up, when we leave for work, when we come home, and when we go to bed. I am glad my husband figured out all that technology :).
There are other things that I would would like to do with the house. These include adding storm doors to the front and back doors, getting a more efficient central air conditioner, and new washer and drier. I think that so far we have made small steps and we can keep making them to create an efficient house.
Great work. The investement pays off over a very long time.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Your bill is that low? That is so cool! Ours is always atleast RM500 which comes about US$140+ a month. What a huge difference! I guess it's because we do use a lot of electricity. Plug points are never turned off, we have big 2 fridges running, computers & TVs are on stand-by all the time, air-conditioners are on quite frequently too, etc. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteSweet!! When we (eventually) get off campus I'm definitely going to be calling you for home owning tips!
ReplyDelete