How much is your electric bill.?

Changing over to CFL lightbulbs is a great start... read post above... I don't know about the UK and how they work. I know you are on 220 instead of 110 and you have your own plug so you might have to do some digging to find if they are available for you. Thanks Zelo

Our bill would be more than cut in half. For us, our power bill went up a lot since pre-Katrina that fuel surcharge was not on nay of the bills. It is a huge joke.

Yeah I haven't figured out what that is yet either except for a way for the electric company to make $$$ off us. My bill would be like $20 if not for all the surcharges. Thanks Zelo

We have Progress Energy of Florida. We all have those charges... the metering charge sounds a little high... do you have a digital meter or an analog one? With those numbers it got me thinking so I pulled a random bill from my safe... January 2008 ------------ Customer Charge: $8.03 Energy Charge: $22.71 (416 KWH) Fuel Charge: $17.80 (416 KWH) Total: 48.54 Taxes: 1.24 Grand Total: 49.78 So it definately looks like you have a lot more charges than what I have. Thanks for the breakdown! Zelo

Having a multi-story house does hurt and of course having such high ceilings hurts as well. It is great that you are using CFL bulbs and that you 'think green'. Every little thing helps so you might just want to go around the house and take a look... one place you might want to look is your computers... Computers should be set to turn off the monitor within 5 minutes and go into sleep mode within 30 minutes. I don't use hibernation or turning off the hard drives but that can save even more. Thanks for a well prepared post. Zelo

$85 is a lot more than some of the others that I have heard. That is cool that you can pay the same each month and then you know what you are paying whereas with myself I have no idea.... Great post Zelo

I have been trying to do that, but something in our home - like fish tanks - can not just be unplugged. We use the energy efficient light bulbs, which help a lot and makes sure that things we do not use all the time are unplugged or on a surge protector.

I have actually used a tester that shows how much energy everything in my house is using... they say the water heater is one of the biggest things that uses electric but it doesn't make sense for me to turn it off because by the time you heat the water back up you are breaking even and you don't have use of the hot water when it's heating back up... now if you are off on a long trip then it might just make sense. Thanks Zelo

One of the greatest things to do is to get a new heat pump that is energy efficient. At $100 for four people is not all that bad... remember there are only two where I live so there are times when we can leave for the day and turn the A/C way up (86/87°). Don't turn the A/C completely off... the house will get too hot and the heat pump (air conditioner) will have to work more hard than if it was on all day to keep the house cool. Thanks for the response Zelo

LED bulbs are coming and yes they are even MORE efficient than CFL blulbs (and more safe... no mercury) but it is going to take a while for them to come around and the savings from CFL to LED is not nearly as great (maybe 20% more) than the over 70% savings you see from a conventonial bulb to a CFL Thanks for the response Zelo

now change out those cf bulbs for LED and really be amazed at the savings. Though I do not know how practical that is at this time with the wiring needing to be direct current.

Thanks for the response. I hope that it will go down this year! Thanks Zelo

20 miles west... that isn't Western MD. I used to live in McHenry/Oakland Maryland. NOW THAT is Western Maryland! And cold and snowy, I remember we got 18" of snow one night and had school... on time! Crazy. Thanks for the response Zelo

If you know MD then you know Garrett County MD and I lived THERE. Talking COLD and SNOW... uugghh... Living there we used a wood-burning stove and bought the wood in the summertime. Two reasons... dry it out (although you should always buy wood that is dried at least two years) and it is cheaper. The thing about MD... from what I read when you factor in the heat and the humidity, Baltimore is the hottest city in the US during the summer. I have also lived north of Baltimore and I know the stifling heat that comes to that region. I didn't know BG&E (Baltimore Gas & Electric) had a parent company... I love MyLot... I learn something new every day! Thanks Zelo

Yeah, you were living in Western Maryland, cold and snowy. Yeah, Baltimore is very humid. We live about 20 miles NE of Baltimore. WE have been trying to move to SC/GA for the past couple of years but haven't had much luck. Now we have to sit tight because of the housing market. I vaguely remember Constellation Energy was trying to buy Florida Power and Light back in the summer but the deal fell through. A lot of people in Maryland were happy that it fell through. When we were out of our house, due to the water damage, we were still responsible for the electric. Our lowest was $60 and we only had one refrig, one freezer, and the hot water heater running, along with whatever power equipment the construction people were running. That tells you how bad we are being raked over the coals.

1. well insulated house 2. all appliances energy efficient 3. water heater is at the optimal temperature (why have it scalding hot if you don't run the dishwasher?) 4. CFL lightbulbs ($20/month savings right there!) 5. electric thermostat (automatically turns down the temp at night and turns it back up right before you wake so you don't wake up cold) 6. curtains (yeap makes a BIG difference in the summer) 7. maintainence (make sure the heat pump is working optimally and that it is energy efficient... make sure ducts in the house are clean and moving air throughout the house freely) 8. conciousness (which it sounds like you already have) I don't do ANYTHING out of the ordinary. I don't turn off everything before I go to bed or unplug things (I find that my TV does NOT leak power as many sites say they will). I am just very very concious about my energy. A lot of electric companies will come out and do a check of your home to see what can be done to save electricity... and they do it for free. If that is the case in your area I would take advantage of it. Just adding some extra 'blow-in' insulation to your roof makes a big difference. Thanks and good luck. Zelo

Electric heat is the most expensive heat you can use by far. Anything that creates heat uses a LOT of electric. Your monthly bill would probably be slashed in half with the correct type of heating system in your home. Thanks Zelo

I have a 50" flat-screen TV (plasma). It can take up to 400 watts of electric when it is on. CRAZY!!!! Reducing the brightness of the TV and increasing the contrast and other settings enabled me to have the TV run at a much lower setting. The only time you need it that bright is if there is direct sunlight on the TV which we do not have. As for underCLOCKing the computer... every computer runs at a certain frequency and those cycles use so many volts. My computer runs at 2000MHz at 1.5V... by reducing that to 1000MHz at 1.1V that decreses the amount of energy I am using. Now..... AMD processors have a cool program called AMD PowerMonitor (used to be called Cool 'n Quiet) that monitors what is going on with the computer and regulates how much juice it needs automatically. That is what I use. Now... want a reason to buy a new computer... dual-core processors run much more efficiently than older computers (use less electric). A P4 (Pentium 4) running at 2000MHz runs at about 85watts A dual-core AMD runs at about 65watts and is A LOT faster. I think that's our lesson for the day ;) Thanks Zelo

Underclocking... no not unless you have an AMD processor that you can run the software on. Other than that you need to get into the BIOS and all that and that can both be a hassle and be dangerous. As for the TV... I would check to see the actual wattage it is using... you might just be suprised! Thanks Zelo

Wow, very interesting. I don't have a large TV, so non-issue for me there. And yes, I made a faux pas on the underCOOKING of one's computer, LOL. Must have still had my mind in the cooking interests. Doesn't sound like something I should be messing with, either way.

That is a great point. I don't have a house that uses gas so using the stove, heat, etc... all use electricity. Wonderful response. Zelo

Wow what are you using to cool your house? You using central air or box air conditioners? Maintainence is a big thing too... it is amazing how much you can save by having your ducts cleaned and your A/C regularly maintained. Thanks Zelo

I am the same with the service fee.... Not only that I pay a service fee for water and get two water bills every month. One is for irrigation and even if I don't water my lawn once I still pay a service fee... now THAT bites. Thanks Zelo

I'm in Central Florida and the doors and windows have already been shut. Our A/C runs 10to12 months out of the year. Texas... the land of opportunity for alternative sources of energy... if the government would get off it's butt and DO something. Thanks Zelo

That is AWESOME! Two things I would recommend is an electric thermostat (under $50) and check to see if your water heater is energy efficient. If not it might be a good idea to buy a water heater jacket/blanket which is less than $30. Little things add up and you have found that out. Great post. Zelo