How Much?
By Marie Anne
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
United States
June 24, 2008 5:51am CST
I'm on a fixed income and lost a good percentage of it a few months ago, so I'm scrimping and saving every way that I can. I'm a very frugal person to begin with, but I've had to take it even further than normal.
I've been really paying attention to my electric bill and decided to keep a spreadsheet of how much I'm using in kwh each day, and make notes on whether I did laundry that day, a lot of cooking, ran the air conditioner, etc, so I could see where I could cut back even more.
I found a website that shows how much electricity is consumed by the average U.S. household per month. The average for the state of Ohio is 875 kwh per month, which would be a little over 29 kwh per day.
I just checked my bills for the last several months and my usage shows anywhere from 731-1400 kwh per month. I was using an electric space heater until last month so that makes sense for the higher months, but my goodness, I'm living in a tiny 650 sf house and it's just my husband and I, and I don't have a lot of laundry, dishwasher, etc. How could that possibly be?
On Sunday we used 20 kwh, which is about average, but I used no fan, no air conditioner and didn't use the oven or anything for cooking.
Yesterday I did two loads of laundry and baked a batch of cookies and my usage was 36 kwh - and that's still with no laundry or air conditioner. That's nuts!
I'm very interested to see if what this website purposes to be average is really true. Do you know how much electricity you use per day or per month? Do you keep track of it at all, or can you access previous electric bills, possibly online? (I know I can).
If I used 36 kwh in one day without running heat or air conditioner, I'm curious to see what some of the rest of you with large families use.
15 people like this
32 responses
@lvaldean (1612)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I don't think I would count because my house is a bit over 4,000 square feet. However, I did last year do a spreadsheet to figure out usage over the course of a year month to month for electric, gas, and water. Living in Texas of course we spike in the summer on the Electric because it gets so hot.
One thing you might want to check is if you are losing heat at your doors or windows. This was one of our problems.
We have zone air conditioning and heat and we are pretty careful with it. All rooms that are not used are closed off. We don't use heat upstairs during the winter only heating downstairs and letting the heat rise, works pretty well for us, of course we have pretty mild winters here.
I only run the dishwasher when it is completely full, rinsing everything first.
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
24 Jun 08
This is a very old, drafty house so yes, I know heat was escaping. We bundle up and keep the thermostat very low in winter, and high in summer.
That doesn't explain why I used well over the average amount yesterday, though. No heat, no air conditioner, no fan - just one batch of cookies in the oven and two loads of laundry, and I removed them as soon as they were dry.
I still used 36 kwh.
So how much do you use with your large home? How many in your family?
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
24 Jun 08
That is a lot, but considering the amount of space you're maintaining, I suppose it isn't all that much.
1 person likes this
@lvaldean (1612)
• United States
24 Jun 08
There is just my husband and I. I know seems like a great deal of space for just two of us but we had some unique needs and this was the best house for those needs.
He is a musician and needed a big enough space for his studio including his drums, keyboard and recording equipment so it couldn't be just a converted bedroom.
While I travel for work usually I also work from home when not traveling. I needed a "true" office space. So while I don't mind converting a bedroom it needs to be a big enough bedroom.
We looked and looked when we moved back to Texas and couldn't find a thing until we found this place. It was a new house which I hated but it fit our needs. We still haven't completely moved in to it. We are still converting the public spaces to our use, like the "formal" living room / dinning room space is being converted to an adult play room with a pool table, bar and poker/game table so that my grown sons and their wifes can visit and we can have game nights. The upstairs is dedicated to my husband and I. His studio and my office are both upstairs along with the room we are converting to a gym. The guest room is upstairs also.
But to answer your question we average 130 per day through out the year. Of course the summer months are much higher than the winter, usually a little more than double.
1 person likes this
@missybal (4490)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I know that I only used a total of 400 KWH last month for my 400 square foot apartment, which I was real proud of. It's only me right now because my husband is overseas for the military. The cost of electric has gone up so I was trying extra hard to get the bill down. I've been unplugging things that are not getting used like my microwave that doesn't get used much (maybe three times in a whole week in the summer) and the toaster and the coffee maker and I unhooked the surround sound since I never use it and it just keeps sucking electricity. It's amazing what a difference it makes just unplugging things because it really does lose electricity just being plugged in. I've been very careful to not turn on lights unless I really need to and Not leaving the tv on unless I'm actually watching it. I use the computer a lot so that is pretty much the majority of my electric bill I know. I have been careful only to use the AC if I absolutely must, which for the most part new york hasn't been too hot yet and I love the heat anyways. With how the economy is right now every little helps no matter what your situation is. Gas is through the roof, and food prices are bad too.
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
I unplug the microwave and coffeepot, and I never leave my can opener and toaster and such plugged in either, and only turn lights on when needed.
The bulk of mine that isn't laundry and that sort of thing would definitely be my computer. I don't always remember to turn it completely off at night, and I should.
@highlyclever (1111)
• United States
25 Jun 08
I've heard something similar, that when things are plugged in (even though they are turned off), they are still drawing electricity. (How else would a desktop computer manage to keep track of the time?)
Things as you say like the microwave, television, vcr/dvd player, radios - anything that you have plugged in - is drawing electricity and is running your bill.
Sometimes, too, you need to have the meter checked, because those things get to spinning... and sometimes are not indicative of what you are actually using. I've seen people get a credit for faulty meters, but you want to catch those things to make sure that everything is on the up and up.
@alokn99 (5717)
• India
25 Jun 08
You certainly seem to spending a lot of time and effort in maintaining these stastics. It is appreciated in terms of making us aware in conciuosly cutting down on the expenses which we can.
just a thought here:- as much as you are concentrating on cutting down on your energy bills to optimise your saving, I am sure you must have thought about increasing the "fixed income" by finding some time and trying to find avenues of increasing this income.
@rebelann (112875)
• El Paso, Texas
24 Apr 20
It isn't easy for older people to find ways to increase their income plus often the energy usage is due to the many items we forget to unplug when we retire. I usually unplug my computer and the only other appliances that are never unplugged are my refrigerator and washing machine.
@twilight021 (2059)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I pay my electric bill online so I can track how much power I use each month and see what my high use months are. Of course the colder months are worst, especially since we have electric heat (though given the cost of heating oil it wasn't too bad).
In the winter we try to keep our place around 60 degrees, and bundling up in sweaters and such instead. Also when I cook I always leave the oven door open after the food is done, to let the oven heat out. If we have guys over we will turn up the heat abit too. But we keep it low when we aren't home.
In the summer, we try to take advantage of cross ventalation the best we can, using fans and only using the AC if it gets up into the 90's. I don't have laundry so I use the building machines for that. Those are pretty affordable.
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I do all those things too.
So how much do you normally use per month in kwh?
1 person likes this
@checapricorn (16061)
• United States
24 Jun 08
Hi Ldyjarhead, Thanks for this post, I want also to learn from all of you by reading the responses here, I am not monitoring our consumption and I believe it' about time...I also tried to do my laundry at 7 pm up to save and not using anymore the dishwasher!
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
24 Jun 08
That was going to be the topic of another discussion - using during non-peak hours.
My electric company doesn't offer a discount, but I try to do my laundry and such during early morning hours anyway. It might not save me money on that particular bill, but every little bit that I can do so that electricity isn't wasted is a savings to the electric company and the environment.
1 person likes this
@supadave45 (34)
• United States
24 Jun 08
Wow that is some discipline you have their ladyjarhead I don't think I can do that but keep it up and save those pennies
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
24 Jun 08
Wow, you are a very disciplined person! How did you find out how many kwh you used in a day? Do you know how to read the meter? I can get my kwh from previous months, but it is done as a total for the month. I would love to track my kwh usage per day and correlate it to the things that we do such as laundry, cooking, showers and other things. We have recently turned our thermostat up on our air conditioning from 68 to 72, despite me having numerous hot flashes at present! We do all cold water wash and try to limit showers to 5 minutes or less. We just moved into this home 3 weeks ago so I haven't even received a bill yet. I know that I should unplug all things at night but that just seems to be so much hassle! I can't even get behind the computer desk with any ease to turn off the power strip as the poster above suggested. I really would love to do a daily tracking. Perhaps if I could see the results of crawling behind the desk I'd be more willing to crawl! Ha!
@missybal (4490)
• United States
24 Jun 08
You should be able to find the meter on the outside of your house. Just check it everyday around the same time. I live in an apartment building so I don't know which meter is actually mine but if you own your house it should be out there somewhere. I've seen a huge difference when I started unplugging things I don't use.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
Yes, as Missy said, you just check the number on the meter each day. I go out and look at mine in the morning and subtract yesterdays number from that and know how much I used. I get up within an hour of the same time each day, so it should be pretty accurate.
My meter is digital, so it's even easier.
@youdontsay (3497)
• United States
25 Jun 08
The problem might be that you have older appliances, etc., which are not energy efficient. That's a catch 22 because you can't afford to place them with better ones and you can't afford the rising costs.
See if you can lower the temp in your freezer and/or refrigerator without spoilage and don't open and close their doors more than you need to. Keep your freezer full, it will run less. If you don't have food for it, fill it with milk cartons of water.
Anything that creates heat is using lots of energy. Try using the new low energy light bulbs. I know they are expensive to buy but they save money in the long run. They last for years. Watch for sales on it. Lowes has good prices on them often.
Be sure to turn the lights off anytime you will be out of the room for more than a minute. And unplug or turn off at a power strip your computer hardware, the t.v., other electronics that don't turn completely off when switched off. We have an iron that lights up even when it is turned off.
In the summer block the sun from directly coming into your windows. Open the blinds/drapes when it is shaded and cooler. Use an exhaust fan to pull out the heat and pull in the cooler air in the evenings/night. Do you have a basement? Pull that cool air up when the upstairs is warmer.
Get an insulating wrap for the hot water heater. That saves an amazing amount of energy. If possible, air dry your laundry on racks or clotheslines outside or in the basement, on a porch, wherever. Driers gobble energy.
When it is really hot, try hanging out at the library or the mall where it is air conditioned on THEIR bill. 
Those are some things I do. Hope it helps.
Those are some things I do. Hope it helps.@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
I'm already doing all of those things except for the light bulbs, but that's on the list. I don't use lights here much anyway, so that's not the culprit.
My refrigerator and stove are both less than a year old, and the washer/dryer are only a few years old. The freezer, I'm not sure, but it's on the back porch so during the winter months it wouldn't be using much.
Again, I'm curious as to how much the 'average' family uses in kwh per day/month.
1 person likes this
@youdontsay (3497)
• United States
25 Jun 08
Dang. You are living frugally.
Go to your electric company website and see if they post averages. If not, email and ask them. Or just phone them. But I doubt if the customer service person would know the answer.
Do they do energy audits? Some power companies will send someone to the house to identify areas you are losing energy. Maybe there is something wrong with your meter that they could check and rectify.
@TriciaW (2441)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I can't remember what mine was per month but the electric company even told me it was more then average. They told me to check for shorts in things that may cause it like my water heater. We couldn't find any however I had one space heater this winter that is old so I am thinking that is the main reason. I am waiting to see for this bill if that was it since we stopped using it. I have been trying to cut down on my electric too so have been running behind everyone shutting off lights and such. I also moved the air conditioner upstairs and so far it has kept the downstairs cool too where as last year we could hardly be upstairs cause it was so hot so we will see if that helps. Good luck with your experiment I hope it works.
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I think space heaters are a big draw, but it was that or pay the higher price for oil, so when I looked at the figures, it was still a lot cheaper.
This house is very old and the wiring is lousy and I'm always afraid of a fire. I wonder if electrical system being old and outdated could possibly be a factor?
My BIL is an electrician - I think I'll ask him.
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
26 Jun 08
You are not alone in your frustrations over the huge amounts of electricity that is being charged to you monthly.
I too have a family of only me and my spouse. We do not use the air conditioner unless there are guests, which are rare.
And we work almost 14 hours a day, sleep for a good 5-6 hours a day, that leave us with only about 4-5 hours of usage a day. Even on the week ends!
So on average, other than watching TV, bathing and washing of laundry, I do not know where all the excess electricity is going to.
My usual consumption reflected in the bill is about 300KW.
Take for example, we went on a holiday trip the last month and was not at home for a good three weeks!
The only thing running in the home is the refrigerator.
The bill that came up, shows that I consumed 160KW. I mean, duh... I am not at home for three weeks. And my fridge is an energy saver, how could it be possible that I still consume as much as half of my average when I am not around for three whole freaking weeks?
I have made a lot of noise with the power provider, but till today, they have not done anything about it.
It is really frustrating!
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
27 Jun 08
Oh heck yeah... I switch off anything that I do not use at the mains. So there is no reason why it should be still so high in terms of consumption.
And my stove uses gas for cooking. So that does not add to the electricity bill.
In fact, during my trip, the only thing that I have plugged in is the fridge. Everything else is plugged out of the socket!
That is why is puzzles me on why the consumption is still so high even when I am not at home!
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
26 Jun 08
Do you leave everything else plugged in?
Water heaters use quite a bit of electricity so if that wasn't unplugged, there's a chunk of it right there. How about your TV? They draw a little bit of electricity all the time that they are plugged in, ever since they came with the 'instant on' feature many years ago. Microwave too, since the clock is always on - it will draw a small amount 24/7.
I'm looking at my figures and the only thing that is different about the day that I thought it was high was the two loads of laundry that I did. Fortunately with just the two of us I don't have much laundry, so it should be much lower on the days that I'm not running the machines.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
25 Jun 08
Do you have your water heater plugged up
every day all day? When we kept our water
heater plugged up, our electric bill was nearly
thirty dollars higher every month.
Now we only plug up the water heater for
bath time, dishes and laundry.
We also have a leaky bathtub faucet that
would run all the hot water down the drain
night and day if we left it on.
So, we turn off the hot water right at the
hot water heater, and unplug the water heater.
It saves us lots of money every month.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
28 Jun 08
OK! Now I see what you mean.
Good question. I just got our
electric bill the other day and have
it with me now.
It says that we used on average:
For May 20 - June 19, 2008
36 kWh per day (this May/June)
35 kWh per day (last May/June)
kWh this month (30 service days): 1088
kWh this month (last May/June) 1056
Our bill was: $113.02
It's a whopper for this time of year.
Our bill normally doesn't go up this high, so soon.
I think we are using the same amount of energy
we used last year, more or less. But they are
charging us more money. That is a theory.
Our bill is normally between $85 and $145.00
depending on the time of year.
The bill will drop after September when it cools
off in our area.
Right now, I'm running three window air conditioners
cause it's too hot.
Later tonight, I'll turn all those off, cause
it will be cooler.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
I do everything I can to conserve, to the point of unplugging everything that's not in use.
I'm curious to know how many kwh everyone uses on average per day/month.
@zweeb82 (5653)
• Malaysia
28 Jun 08
36kwh - cookies - oven? The oven does use quite a bit more of electricity. The other ones you mentioned were air / heat conditioner. The water heater as well as the iron consumes a lot as well. I do notice that western people do leave the lights & air condition on unnecessarily, well at least majority of them through our observation. Like we just came back from a friend's house who's an Australian not long ago & they leave their water heater on even though we said we don't use the heater
As for ironing, we normally iron a whole load of clothes rather than 1 at random times as that would help save on electricity as well
As for ironing, we normally iron a whole load of clothes rather than 1 at random times as that would help save on electricity as well@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
28 Jun 08
Yes, I baked one batch of cookies that morning, but I did not use the heater or air conditioner at all that day. I did two loads of laundry but I didn't iron anything, and haven't used an iron in probably a year.
Yesterday I did one small load of laundry, baked a batch of brownies, used the air conditioner for a few hours when the heat was unbearable in the afternoon/evening and one small fan all night, and that used 25 kwh.
I just did some calculations and my average for the last week has been 21.32 kwh per day. That's pretty good!
1 person likes this
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
30 Jun 08
You are doing really well, Ldyjarhead! I've found the nicest thing in winter is to have a hot water bottle! I know it sounds old fashioned and funny, but if you have it on your lap with a blanket over your knees, it's lovely and cosy and you won't need to put a heater on. It's safer, too - and more ecologically friendly than lighting a wood fire, which we have. It also saves on having electric blankets on your beds, which use up a lot of power and can also be dangerous.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
30 Jun 08
I've never used electric blankets and don't plan on it. I am not very trusting in that area.
I haven't used a hot water bottle, but I do have one of those things filled with gel that you can put in the microwave or freezer for hot/cold treatment of pain.
I put it in the microwave and use it here in the office to arm my hands and lap in winter. Ohmy, it feels so good!
@smtrego (181)
• United States
28 Jun 08
Honestly, I have no idea how much we use. I do have a few suggestions for you though. Keep in mind that anything plugged in, even if it isn't being used can be using energy. The microwave, oven and VCR clocks, any type of night lights you may have plugged into outlets, plug in fragrances (Glade, etc). I don't know exactly how much electricity these things actually use, but it is something to keep in mind.
Our electric company sends out a newsletter with every bill (and is available online) which provides suggestions on how to cut down on electricity use. The other option is to go to a home improvement site (Lowes, etc) to get some suggestions too. Even though you are renting and don't want to do any renovations, they still may be able to provide you with suggestions on how to more efficiently use what you do have.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
28 Jun 08
I think I've got all the ways to conserve pretty much covered. The thing that is bugging me is why my usage was higher on that particular day.
The other days before and since have been pretty consistent.
1 person likes this
@dfollin (25351)
• United States
25 Jun 08
Iam on a fixed income also.But,I do not own my own home,wish I did.Every place I have live in,just about,including this one cost me extra money.The landladies don't want to fix things and the last one was making my electric and water bill higher.This one make's my electric bills higer and costs me more in food and having to buy paper plates,cups and plastic ware.Because the dishwasher doesn't work.The price of food is high and not having a car I have to have my food delivered and that costs more. I don't even know where the electric meter is for here.Because of the clothes washer not working right I have to run more loads.That's more electric and detergent.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
Why can't you wash your dishes by hand? Using plastic is a lot more expensive, not to mention what you're doing to the landfills.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
25 Jun 08
Most plug in appliances will have their energy rating in Watts (Or Kw!) on a plate or sticker somewhere on it..,or if you keep the manual or leaflet that came with it,could be mentioned there..Ovens,Heating,Aircon,Kettles,etc,can have quite high ratings.fit Low Energy bulbs.Don't leave appliances on standby-they're still drawing power,it's not just that little red light..turn them off or unplug!
My Meter is inside the house,so I can keep a check on it.
good luck finding your culprit!
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
28 Jun 08
I pretty much unplug everything that is not being used, so there's not much more I can do.
I only had that one day that was higher than I expected, so I can't figure out why that particular day. Odd ...
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
25 Jun 08
With my family of 3, our electric bill on average, is $40 a month. Less in summer, more in winter. I never actually calculated what our usage actually is thou.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
I'm not really interested in what everyone pays, because that will vary by how much your electric company charges per kwh.
I'm curious to know how many actual kwh people are using per day or per month.
I just checked this morning and I only used 18 kwh yesterday, even less than Sunday.
@derek_a (10874)
•
25 Jun 08
Yes, when I was struggling with a family and little money coming in, I used to take electricity and gas readings from the meter each day and work out where I was using most. I had to have a car for my work, but when I was not working, the car wouldn't move. I also used to keep a thermos flask at the side of the kettle and every time it was used, the remaining hot water would be poured into the thermos and used at the next boil-up. The kettle would boil quicker and use less electricity. Out of habit I still do that with the kettle now..
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
Wow, I would never have though of actually saving the hot water in a thermos jug, but I suppose it would work.
I use the microwave to make a cup of tea at a time, so that wouldn't make a difference for me.
@terri0824 (4991)
• United States
25 Jun 08
It is getting tougher for all of us with the price of everything just to live going up daily. That's good that you are keeping track of how much you use daily. But how do you do that? Do you check it everyday at the same time to know how much you have used? My cousin which is my neighbor as well has installed a solar panel on his roof, and he has been testing his different appliances by using his solar panel to run these different appliances with. I know he has used it for his refridgerator, washer and dishwasher. He is still in the testing stages of it, but I am sure it is saving him on his electric bill. I too try not to run the air conditioning unless it is just absolutely necessary.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
Yes, I go check the meter in the morning when I get up. It's right outside my window here, and I always go out and check on my plants first thing in the morning anyway, so it's no big deal to take a quick peek at the meter.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
25 Jun 08
for just the two of us we have been averaging about fifty in the winter and close to one hundred in the summer unless we try to
cut back more on the air conditioning. and there are only two
of us, me and my adult son. I think our old ge fridge has a lot
to do with our large billbut new fridges are so expensive. we
have saved a little using those odd shape light bulbs that look like a big screw. they do save a lot of power too.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
25 Jun 08
LOL, 'that look like a big screw'.
Might you be referring to the compact fluorescent light bulbs, commonly known as CFL?
Do you have any idea how many kwh you use per month?
