ENERGY BOOMER

SAVE ENERGY AND SAVE MONEY BY HIDING YOUR WATERBED

In the wintertime, waterbeds use a lot of electrical energy to keep all that water at a comfortable temperature. While you are sleeping, they work like an electric blanket by keeping you warm no matter how cool the room gets.

Keeping your waterbed warm can save money by letting you lower the house thermostat way down at night. But, during the other two thirds of the day, waterbed heaters continue to use electrical power when no one is there to enjoy the warmth.

You can’t just shut them off to save money because it takes a very long time to warm all that water back up.

 

Minimize the energy waste by covering them up

Make your waterbed as soon as you get up. Your mom was right when she yelled at you to make your bed. Pile on the covers.  The covers will insulate it, and save up to one-third of the power that the heater uses.

Add a bedspread or quilt on top to save more. It seems strange that you save money by insulating the bed for the two thirds of the day when you are not using it, but that is the way it is.

By making your waterbed disappear from sight under blankets or quilts, you insulate that big bag of water and slow the loss of heat. You are not covering up a problem you are insulating it to save your money.

Now go make your bed.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

Related Posts:

9 WAYS FOR A QUILTER TO SAVE ENERGY

HOW TO MAKE ENERGY SAVING WINDOW QUILTS

21 TIPS TO SAVE MONEY ON HOME HEATING BILLS

.

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO SAVE MONEY ON MY ELECTRIC BILL

Joanna, one of the 180 or so Energy Boomer Update newsletter readers, has done a great job getting her air conditioning cost under control. She uses space blankets to keep the solar heat out of the windows and set her thermostat up high.

Recently she asked me what else she could do to cut her summer time electric bill. I started writing her a long e-mail answer then thought I would make it a blog post instead.

My answer to her looked like this:

I don’t know what appliances you use or how you are billed so my advice is in the Socratic method of asking questions to steer you toward answers that match your situation.

Do you have an electric water heater?

Is it set at 120 degrees or lower?

Do you do the laundry in cold or warm water, never hot? Link

Do you line dry clothes or use an expensive electric dryer?

Do you have a demand charge on your electric bill? Call your electric company and ask them. If you do have a demand charge, you should run just one electric appliance at a time. Well maybe two at a time is more realistic.

Do you have time of day billing?

Do you know the exact hours of the day that you are charged the highest rate (called peak hours.) Do you have a time of day when the electric rate is lowest (valley hours)? They are usually early morning. Call your electric company and ask them if you have time of day billing.

Here is a Link to an article on SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

If you have time of day billing, do you do your chores during low price hours? Ironing, vacuuming, laundry, dish washing, bathing,…? Everything that uses power or hot water.

Do you do your cooking in the microwave not on the range?

Do you use a hair dryer?

Do you use CFL light bulbs?

Go around your home and look at everything that has a power cord. Check your basement and garage too.

Ask yourself:

• Do I really need to use this?
• When do I use it?
• Do I use it only when the electric rate is low?
• Do I use it when something else is using power?
• Can I unplug it when I am not using it?

Do you air dry dishes in the washing machine?

There is a debate as to whether washing dishes by hand is better than machine-washing them. Hand washing uses more hot water; machine washing uses more electrical power. Everything that I have read claims that machine washing and air-drying in the machine, is the best on the budget.

At our house, we hand wash pots and pans and anything that is not dish washer safe. The rest goes into the machine. We share the hand dish washing job. My wife washes I dry, she talks I listen.

If it were up to me, I would wash the dishes with the kitchen lights off. When I try doing that, I get evicted from the kitchen. Take a lesson you helpful husbands out there.

I enjoy answering reader’s questions. They help me focus on a topic of common interest.

Click this link for a SPECIAL REPORT: HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON AIR CONDITIONING

If you enjoyed this post, then click here to subscribe to the Energy Boomer Newsletter.

Related Posts:

CAN YOU SAVE BY RUNNING ONE THING AT A TIME?

WOULD YOU BURN 10% OF YOUR ENERGY MONEY FOR ME?

Energy Saving Tips For Your Clothes Washer

HOW MUCH CAN I SAVE IF I UNPLUG MY_________?

RENTERS CAN SAVE ON LIGHTING ENERGY

.

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

WHY IS MY ELECTRIC BILL GOING UP?

If you live where the electric company is allowed to increase their prices, I’ll bet your electric bills are going up. If you have not seen an increase in your electric bill you will. There are two big reasons for the increase.

The first is the price of coal is jumping due to international demand.

The price of coal has more than doubled in the last twelve months. It has gone fro less than $50 a ton to more than $100 a ton on the futures markets. The price of oil is hogging the focus of the news media but the price of coal is just as much of a problem.

This big jump in coal prices is the result of the growing economy in China and other places around the globe. As of 2008, China has stopped exporting coal and is now importing coal for making electricity.

They are rapidly moving away from oil as a fuel for making electrical power. China is importing record-breaking amounts of coal from Australia and other sources. This activity in the coal markets is pushing up coal prices worldwide.

Some strange things are happening here in the USA. Coal mining has become a boom industry again. At the same time, we are importing some coal from South America. Coal has become a worldwide high value commodity.

The increasing price of coal is driving the cost of making electricity up.

The second is the price of natural gas is unusually high for this time of year.

Natural gas is the fuel of choice for meeting the peak electrical demand of air conditioning season across the USA. Natural gas prices are high now and expected to stay high through all of 2008.

The electric generating companies are being hit with higher fuel prices now for both coal and natural gas. If you use electricity, you can expect to be paying more for it. It may not be in your next bill but higher power prices are coming to your home and to where you work.

That is not good news. Higher electric prices hit every home and business.  Higher electrical rates will make everything more expensive to make and add to the overhead of all businesses.

Hang on to your wallet, the big bills are coming to get you. Higher electric bills make it even more important to reduce your use.

Click this link for a SPECIAL REPORT: HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON AIR CONDITIONING

If you enjoyed this post, then click here to subscribe to the Energy Boomer Newsletter.

Related Posts:

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

MY ELECTRIC BILL BLUES

FIGHT SOLAR HEATING TO CUT YOUR AIR CONDITIONING BILL

.

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

MY ELECTRIC BILL BLUES

I opened the envelope and read,” Greetings and salutations from your electric company.” I don’t ever expect that they will be that cheerful and I do not own any stock in the company so it is not my electric company.

The note went on to say that, I would be nice if I would send them a check for $70 with in the next couple of weeks or they might be less pleasant next month.

A nifty little bar graph shows how much power we used in each of the last 13 months. I notice that a year ago we used 10% less than for the current month this year.

How can that be after all those Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) I installed? We have a new low energy refrigerator and the weather was mild.

Oh yes, we did have a house full of family staying a few days this time around including two grandchildren. That would explain the difference.

I remembered seeing our son with his head in the refrigerator every few minutes, just like when he lived at home. Our son in law did not use much energy as he caught up on sleep while vacationing from his work. Our daughter stayed up most of the night tending to her new baby and keeping the hard drive on my computer singing. Our two-year-old grandson had to see and hear everything.

Right there on the bill it says I pay 6.3 cent per kilowatt-hour. I’ll bet some of you folks out there on the east and west coasts wish you had rates that low. For 566 kWh they want me to pay $68.25. Doing the math that comes out to 12 cents per kWh. That includes the customer charge, delivery charge, and transition charge what ever that is. I think the transition is from my pocket to their pocket.

What they really mean is that the next kilowatt-hour I use will cost 6.3 cent plus some other charges.

Way down at the bottom of the bill is the secret as to why it was a more expensive month this year than last year. A year ago, they had 28 days in the billing period and this year there were 31 days included in the bill. So our usage was 18 kWh per day both years. We used the same daily amount and had the grand children visit.

Wow, we did good.

In spite of have five additional people in the house for several days we used the same amount of power per day.

Just goes to show you that you really have to read the bill to understand what you are paying for.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

HOW MUCH CAN I SAVE IF I UNPLUG MY_________?

SAVE ELECTRICITY SHUT OFF YOUR WATER HEATER

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

GIVE YOUR CHEST FREEZER A TIME OUT TO SAVE MONEY

Chest freezers are a wonderful invention. Ours gets filled with fresh fruit when they ripen in their season. Blueberries, strawberries, applesauce and corn are just a few of our favorite that we thaw and enjoy in mid winter. Some how my wife’s raspberries never make it into the freezer.

Folks do save money buying and freezing meat and fresh produce, when the price is right. Chest freezers are a real money saving appliance. They use little power for the benefit that we get. The shape of chest freezers doesn’t let the cold fall out when the door is opened. Most chest freezers are well insulated so the compressor does not need to run very often.

You can save even more money if you use an appliance timer.

You can save money by not allowing your freezer to run during part of the day.

My friend Denise at Frugal Village Forums is only allowing her chest freezer to run 7 hours a day. She gives it a long time out during the cool part of the night and morning. She allows it to run during alternate periods of an hour and a half or two hours during the heat of the afternoon and evening. Their freezer is not opened during the long time out and the temperature stays close to zero.

Ben H., one of my readers, is giving his freezer a time out over night on the same schedule he uses for his hot water heater timer.

By plugging your chest freezer into an appliance timer, you can limit how often it runs.

The Energy Boomer recommends giving your chest freezer a time out:

If you have time of day electric rates, give your freezer a time out when you are charged a higher rate during “on peak” hours. Let it run during low price “off peak” hours.

If your electric company charges you a demand charge, give your freezer a time out when you operate other appliances. If you use the dishwasher or laundry equipment on a regular schedule, set the timer on the freezer to avoid those times.

Set the timer to give your freezer a time out during parts of the day when the lid can stay closed.

Allow it to run during times of day when folks are likely to open it to add or remove items.

Give you freezer a long time out during the cool part of the day.

If you are worried, about it warming up above freezing when it is off, throw a blanket over it. That will remind folks to leave it closed and add some insulation while it is coasting through the off time.

Remember it freezes to about zero or minus 10 degrees and will not thaw anything until it gets to plus 32. It takes half a day or more for it to warm up that much. Filling empty space with old milk jugs full of water will help it coast for a very long time.

Play it safe, start with a short time out period and check the temperature just before it comes on. If it is not above plus 5 degrees, you can stretch the off time with confidence that you are not going to waste expensive food.

When selecting an appliance timer for your freezer get a good one that will be reliable. It should have at least a 15-amp power rating and have a three pronged grounded plug and outlet. Click here for a selection of appliance timers

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

Related Posts:

GIVE YOUR WATER HEATER A TIME OUT

SAVE ENERGY STOP KILLING SNOWFLAKES WITH YOUR BUG ZAPPER

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

BOOST YOUR POWER FACTOR TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR HOME ELECTRIC BILL

Just what is Power Factor you ask?

Power factor is like a percentage score of how well a motor or a transformer uses the power that it draws through your electric meter. A power factor of 100 is as good as it gets. Lower power factors cost you money. Think of it as a percentage 100% is great and 75% leaves a lot of room for improvement.

It is the nature of alternating current that things like electric motors cause an active and a reactive current flow. You get charged for both but the motor only uses the active portion of the total current. A high reactive current flow causes a low power factor.

Click on this link for a PDF file from the US Dept. of Energy on power factor

What you need to know

Not all electric appliances have a low power factor. Appliances that have heating elements have a 100% power factor. That means that your electric water heater, stove, oven, electric blanket and toaster are not the problem. Old fashion incandescent light bulbs also have a 100% power factor.

Motors and fluorescent lights have lower power factors. Our homes have motors for air conditioners, furnace fans, refrigerators, chest freezers, clothes washer and dryers, dishwashers, sump pumps, garage door openers, power tools, fans and more.

Older motors and inexpensive new motors have power factors of about 75% or so. Newer high efficiency premium quality motors have power factors of around 86%.

The real shocker is fluorescent lighting. I used my Kill-A-Watt meter to check my Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL). I found that they had a power factor of only 51%.

This means that for devices that have an average power factor of around 75% you are paying for 25% more for power than you could be.

How is the problem fixed?

Businesses that use large amounts of electricity use power factor correction capacitors to save money. This is a proven, well-established, method to correct a low power factor. The process of having an electrical engineer analyze electric loads and select the correct size equipment to install requires a big investment.

The cost of engineering and hardware is a good investment for a business because it reduces their electric bill two ways. It reduces the amount of power that they are billed for plus it avoids penalty charges for low power factor. Most utility companies hit their largest customers with an extra charge for power factors of less than 90%. The exact numbers very for each power company and by State regulations.

What can you do at home to save Money?

Until recently, it was not worth the cost to install power factor correction equipment in homes. Two things have changed that.

1. The increased cost of electricity
2. The availability of low cost simple to install equipment

Low power factor can be corrected by adding a simple device at the main electrical power panel in your home. Power factor correction capacitors can save 10 to 25% of your home electric bill by reducing the amount of power that passes through your electric meter. The exact amount of your savings will depend on how much of your power bill is from motors and fluorescent lights.

You can expect to invest about $315 for equipment plus the cost of installation. Installation is a 30-minute job that may take electrical contractor an hour to do. The work involves mounting a small gray box beside the main electrical panel, adding a 20-amp circuit breaker in the main panel and wiring the box to the panel.

If your monthly home electric bill is always more than $100, installing a power factor correction capacitor is likely to be a good investment for you. If your monthly electric bill is more than $200, payback is likely to be a year or less. The higher your electric bill the faster the pay back and higher the return on your investment.

Folks with high air conditioning or electric heat pump costs will get the best return on investment with power factor correction.

Warning this is not for every one.

Homes that have monthly electric bills lower than $100 will actually loose money by installing power factor correction equipment. That is because the added equipment uses a small amount of power all the time. It only saves money for folks that have above average electric bills.

For big power users adding power factor correction is the next layer of electrical energy savings after you have updated to Energy Star appliances and switched to fluorescent lighting.

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

SAVE ELECTRICITY SHUT OFF YOUR WATER HEATER

HOW MUCH CAN I SAVE IF I UNPLUG MY_________?

SAVE ENERGY STOP KILLING SNOWFLAKES WITH YOUR BUG ZAPPER

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

SAVE ELECTRICITY SHUT OFF YOUR WATER HEATER

Folks with electric water heaters can save on their power bill by shutting it off. Switch it off when no one will be home for more than a day. Heaters that have storage for several gallons of hot water, use energy just to keep the water hot.

In some parts of the, English speaking, world folks call their water heaters “geysers” or boilers. Whatever name you give it, your electric water heater wastes about half the energy it uses keeping the water hot. The other half of the energy is to make the water hot in the first place.

Keeping the water hot while it is waiting to be used is money that you can save when nobody will be at home. If you leave in a holiday or vacation shut the water heater off. If you go visit the grand children over the weekend switch your water heater off.

Yes, it will take an hour to heat up again after you switch it back on. Switch it on first thing on your return and by the time you finish unpacking the hot water will be ready.

Most folks will have to turn the power off to the water heater by switching a circuit breaker off. The circuit break for the water heater will be one of the biggest ones in your electric panel. Or, it may be two circuit breakers linked together to work as one. This is further proof that the water heater is a power hog.

When you determine which breaker, it is, label it clearly, so you know where to find it next time.

Do not stand with your face in front of the circuit breaker when you switch it. Get in the habit of standing off to the side when switching a circuit breaker, or any other type of switch. It may save your eyes.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

DO YOU KNOW A TEENAGER WHO TAKES LONG SHOWERS?

ENERGY SAVINGS AND HEALTHY HOT WATER

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

SAVE ENERGY STOP KILLING SNOWFLAKES WITH YOUR BUG ZAPPER

While walking around at my day job I heard an interesting story. It was about the bug zapper mounted outside the main entrance. This fellow told me that bug zapper has been on every day for the past ten years.

He is a fisherman, so everything he tells me must be true. He said he particularly enjoyed watching the snowflakes get zapped in the winter.

In case you do not know, bug zappers are an outdoor appliance that uses light to attract insects to their doom. When the bug flies between a pair of electrified screens, he completes the electrical circuit. This causes a flash of light and a zap noise reducing the bug population.

Bug Zapper are a major source of commercial free entertainment in the Midwest.

In the fall, folks in the Midwest celebrate the first killing frost because it marks the end of mosquito season. It is also time to power down the bug zapper and find another source of entertainment like tomato battles. Rotten tomato fights are like paint ball games but with no expensive equipment.

Remember if you see a bug zapper killing snowflakes, it is time to save energy and shut it off.

What energy savings stories have your heard?

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

GREEN ENERGY SAVING GRASSHOPPER

SAVE ENERGY WHEN IT GETS COOL OUTSIDE?

NOW IS THE TIME TO PREPARE FOR HEATING SEASON

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

SHUTTING OFF THAT POWER SWITCH SOONER SAVES MORE

Would you like to be paid sooner, or would you choose later?

When it comes to getting money we all think sooner is better.

When we talk about saving money sooner is better too.

The sooner you shut energy using equipment off, the more you save.

At your home, and at most commercial business, the electric meter continuously totals up the number for your bill. Every second you wait to shut something off the higher your bill will be.

For large industrial plants, utility companies read the meter every fifteen minutes. They calculate the bill by adding up the 15-minute readings. The longer you wait to shut down the higher the bill will be.

At home if you delay switching off the lights, it costs you extra. Stores that leave their display lights on, even a minute, after closing are wasting their money. At work if a conveyor is left running, longer than need, money is wasted.

At home shutting the TV off as soon as you are finished watching saves you money. When you leave a room shut off the lights. Shut off the oven as soon as you can. Shut the bathroom vent fan off as soon as it has done its job.

At work shut off that cooling fan when you take a break. When you stop for lunch, switch off the end of line lights. As soon a work stops, at the end of your shift, shut down all that you can.

When production stops at the end of the week, shut off as much as possible as soon as possible.

When it comes to saving money shutting off sooner is better.

Click here for Light Switch Plates

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

LIGHTS ON LIGHTS OFF

IS IT BETTER TO TURN A LIGHT OFF OR LEAVE IT ON?

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

CAN YOU SAVE BY RUNNING ONE THING AT A TIME?

Yes, if your electric power provider has a “Demand” charge on your bill. You can save by limiting the number of major appliances that run at the same time.

Look at your electric bill to see if you are charged a demand charge. Power companies that base a demand charge on the highest amount of electricity that you used during the last 12 months. It is a service charge for them to make that much power available to you.

If you cannot tell if you have a demand charge by reading the bill, check their web site or call them. If you use the phone, try calling early in the day to get the shortest time on hold.

If you run every appliance that you have with all the lights on and max out your kilowatt score, you will pay for it for the next twelve months.

The way to keep your demand charge down is to limit the number of major appliances that run at the same time.

Your list of major power users is likely to include furnace, air conditioner, oven, stovetop, refrigerator, water heater, clothes washer, clothes dryer, flat iron, vacuum cleaner. Focus on the items that have motors or heating elements.

Must folks try to do as much multi-tasking as they can to get’er done.

Laundry day is a killer on demand charges. The electric meter spins fast when the washer, dryer and water heater are all using power. It goes even faster when you add ironing, baking or vacuuming to fill the time between changing loads of laundry.

If you can get the chores done while only running half your major appliances you are doing good. As an example: avoid baking and vacuuming the carpet while you do the laundry. Don’t run the dishwasher while the laundry machines are churning.

All of these activities generate heat in the house. Try turning the furnace thermostat off while you are having a housework marathon.

Take a break between loads of laundry and read a book while you are saving energy.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

WHAT TEMPERATURE SHOULD I SET ON MY THERMOSTAT?

DO YOU KNOW A TEENAGER WHO TAKES LONG SHOWERS?

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO SAVE BY USING POWER AT A DIFFERENT TIME

If your electric power provider has different prices for different times of the day you can save your money by watching the clock.

Look at your electric bill to see if you are charged a different price based on the time of day that the power is used. Most utility companies call the high price time “On Peak” hours and the low price time “Off Peak” hours. The low price time is sometimes referred to as “Valley Hours.”

There is often a big difference in the two prices. If you cannot figure it out by reading the bill, check their web site or call them. If you use the phone, try calling early in the day to get the shortest time on hold.

If they do have “peak hours,” write them down and post it on your refrigerator. Normally wintertime “peak hours” include early morning when folks get up and turn up the heat. They include most of the daylight hours.

In the summer “Peak Hours” are pushed back to cover the heat of the day. They include early evening, the time when most folks get home from work and crank up their air conditioners.

You can save your money by avoiding the “Peak Hours.” Shifting such things as running the clothes washer, clothes dryer and dish washer during the ”Valley Hours” will shift you to lower price power. Baking, ironing and running the vacuum cleaner during “Off Peak” times will help keep your bill low. Same idea applies to power tools and computer usage.

In the summer, the highest cost will result from doing the laundry, ironing and baking during peak hours. It hits the high price time on the electric meter and adds heat in the house so the air conditioner has to work harder too.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

SAVE A LUMP OF COAL TODAY BY SAVING ELECTRICITY

DO YOU KNOW A TEENAGER WHO TAKES LONG SHOWERS?

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

HOW MUCH CAN I SAVE IF I UNPLUG MY_________?

The question I get the most is, “how much can I save if I unplug my __?” I could make a good guess. But, it would just be an educated guess. If you want to find out, the best way is to measure it.

The Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitor is just the tool for the job. It is easy to use and is intended for home and professional use.

Any household device or appliance that you plug into a standard outlet (USA 120-volt AC 15 amp. 60 Hz) in your house can be plugged into the Kill-A-Watt.

In addition to reading the total power used you can monitor the flow and quality of your power by displaying Amps, Watts, Voltage, Frequency, and Power Factor. It gives you more data than you are likely to need, all with 2% accuracy.

It is small, easy to use and allows you to check the amount of power any item is actually using.

A large LCD display counts consumption by the Kilowatt-hour, same as on your electric bill. You can have fun with math and figure out your electrical expenses by the hour, day, week, month, even an entire year.

Yes, it is like working out a story problem in high school math class. Take the billed dollars on your electric bill and divide them by the kilowatt-hours you used. Both numbers are printed somewhere on your bill. The answer is your own gross cost per kilowatt-hour.

My last home electric bill was $70.24 for 588 kilowatt-hours of power. So, my gross power cost is 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. The bill says they charge 6.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, but that does not include the taxes, service fees and delivery charges. I estimate that my incremental cost of power is about 8 cents a kilowatt-hour. That means my next kilowatt-hour will cost me about 8 cents.

Test Driving a Kill-A-Watt

I checked my home computer workstation (laptop computer, printer and cable modem.) In one hour of normal use, it used 0.01 kWh so it costs me a tiny fraction of 1 cent an hour. That is about 2 cents a day if I left it on all the time. Not very much money so I don’t need to feel guilty about blogging. If you are using a desktop computer, rather than a laptop, your cost will be higher.

I took my Kill-A-Watt to work.

My “at work” computer monitor pulls power like a 75-watt light bulb when I am working full speed. In sleep mode, it uses only 2 watts. It is an old TV tube style monitor. My at work desktop computer pulls power like a 100 watt light bulb. Combined they run up the bill at a penny an hour at their power cost.

I tested a one-quarter horsepower fan at work. It used 12.55 kWh in a day or 69 cents a day at their power cost. Sound small but it totals $250 a year, for just one fan. If someone shuts it off when it is not need, their power bill will go down.

Back at home

I plugged my cell phone charger in to the Kill-A-Watt for 35 hours 29 minutes before I noticed that it registered its first 0.01 kilowatt-hours. (The Kill-A-Watt has a timer that lets you know how long it has been collecting data.) It took two, over night, charging cycles for the Kill-A-Watt to register anything. I estimate the cost, leaving it plugged in all the time, is about 20 cents a year.

Folks in the government say the problem with cell phone chargers is that there are millions of them. I don’t think they are a problem considering the benefit we get using them. We all have bigger opportunities.

Measuring the usage helps to focus your energy saving efforts where there is a significant pay off.

How much does it cost to make toast, use the electric fry pan, the microwave, blow dry your hair or warm up with the electric blanket?

Get a Kill-A-Watt and find out.

The ENERGY BOOMER uses a Kill-A-Watt at home and on the job.

Order yours today by clicking this link Kill-A-Watt.

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

Related Posts:

IS YOUR HOUSE LEAKING ELECTRICTY?

SAVE ENERGY WITH YOUR COMPUTER

WOULD YOU BURN 10% OF YOUR ENERGY MONEY FOR ME?

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

Ya, I know you read it every month when you open your mail.

The bill from every power generation company is different from other companies because of local regulations and rates. But, there are some common things to look for.

Look at your bill and answer these questions:

Are you paying the right rate for your electricity?

They may have you listed for the wrong rate or you may be missing a special rate. Some power companies offer a lower rate for folks who use electricity to heat their home. Some power companies have special rates for segments of their population. If you do not know write the question down in your notebook to ask them. They may have a special rate for old over weight fat folks like me. I checked and my power company does not but maybe yours has a special rate for you. You will not know unless you ask them.

Are there different prices for using power at different times of the day?

Some power companies charge a high price during “peak” hours and a lower price during “off peak” hours. At times of the day when there is a high demand, they charge more for their electricity. You can save by doing the laundry, running the dishwasher or cooking during off peak hours. Watch out some power companies change the schedule of peak hours seasonally. The may have one set of high price peak hours during the summer air conditioning season and a different schedule of peak hours in the winter. Typically, summer peak hours are during the heat of the day. They include the time when most folks get home from work and crank up the air conditioner. In the winter, the peak hours may be shifted toward morning to cover the time when folks turn their thermostat back up after a cool night.

Does the price of power change after you have used a certain amount of electricity? For example, I have seen bills where the price is lower for the first 1,000 kilowatts. Then a higher rate is charged for the next 500 kilowatts and an even higher rate beyond that. Knowing that the price changes may help motivate you to reduce your use to avoid the high prices.

Is there a demand charge?

This is more common for business and industrial power users but some homeowners see it too. The demand charge is a fee based on the highest amount of power you used during the last 12 months. If you have party with a house full of friends and relations and end up with a power bill that was unusually high that month, you may be paying for it for a whole year. Under this scheme, the electric company charges you a “demand charge” for making that extra power available to you. It will haunt you for the next 12 months.

If you son decides to do some welding on that wreck of a car he bought, do not let him plug the welding machine in at your house. Tell him to take it to his friend’s house.

Can you buy the power from one company and have it delivered by another?

In some parts of the USA we can buy electricity, on a somewhat open market, and have the local power company deliver it just as if they made it. You may be able to do this to your advantage. If you use a lot of power in your big house, you should investigate this option. You pay one company for the commodity and the other for the delivery. Competitive pricing is supposed to lower your cost.

If you cannot answer these questions to your satisfaction by reading your bill, call your local power company and get the answers.

The money you save may be your own.

Advertisement: Save energy money shopping at Amazon

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

SAVE A LUMP OF COAL TODAY BY SAVING ELECTRICTY

WOULD YOU BURN 10% OF YOUR ENERGY MONEY FOR ME?

MOTORS ARE ENERGY HOGS

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

WOULD YOU BURN 10% OF YOUR ENERGY MONEY FOR ME?

What would you do if I asked you to burn 10% of your cash?

I bet you would give me a suggestion of what I could do with that idea.

Warning: while you are reading this, standby power is burning up 10% of your home electric bill.

Standby power can be as high as 15% for houses where everything is left warmed up and ready all the time. The U.S. Environmental Protection checked homes where everything was switched off. They found that they still used 100 to 105 watts of standby power all the time. That is like leaving the light on in your closet all the time.

Digital video recorders, battery power tools and chargers for cell phones are all part of the problem. They use power even when they are done charging your batteries. Some adapters can draw as much as 20 times more energy in standby mode than is actually stored in the battery that they charge. Most stay plugged in day and night for their entire lifetime.

The EPA estimates that there are more than 1 billion battery chargers in the U.S. and predicts that number will grow. Energy Star has began a campaign to make chargers at least 35% more efficient. By doing this, the EPA believes it can save more than 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. That is equal to the output from 150,000 cars.

Many electronic devices in your home are always warmed up and using standby power. DVD/VCR players and cable/satellite converter boxes are among the most wasteful. These devices, known as "set-top boxes," draw 30 or more watts of power. The problem is that these boxes do not ever shut completely off. Computers and printers are also a huge standby drain. Traditional desktop computers average 35 watts in standby, while laptops average 16 watts. Screen savers actually make things worse, using 28% more power than normal.

What can you do at home?

Unplug your cell phone charger when you are not actually charging with it. Same with your battery powered tools and digital camera.

Us a power strip for your computer, monitor, printer and modem. A single master switch on a power strip or power box will stop wasting power by all of them.

Do not unplug items like TV’s that need to be reprogrammed.

Some DVD and VCR units will reboot ok and can be unplugged or switched completely off with a switch on a power strip.

Ask for Energy Star rated electronics and appliances when you shop for a new item.

Any electric appliance that has a little light on it showing that it is ready to use, even when switched off, is wasting power.

What can you do at work?

Many work places use about 40% as much power in standby mode as when they are in full operation! You can cut it in half.

Make sure your computer monitor is set up to use a sleep mode when you are away from your desk. If you desktop computer is not tied into an operations network shut it down when you leave work.

Keep your desktop printer switched off unless you are using it. Unplug appliances like stereos and coffee makers when you finish with them.

Unplug or switch off air-circulating fans before you punch out.

Switch off task lighting, production line lighting, quality inspection lighting.

Many companies burn up huge amounts of cash to power equipment that is left on after production has stopped.

When you stop work, don’t leave the electric meter running.

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

SAVE MONEY BY READING YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

IS YOUR HOUSE LEAKING ELECTRICTY?

SAVE ENERGY WITH YOUR COMPUTER

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

SAVE A LUMP OF COAL TODAY BY SAVING ELECTRICITY

In this part of the country most of the electricity we use is generated by burning coal. That is a good thing because we have a lot of coal in the USA.

Electricity is expensive because coal does cost money. Carbon compounds and things that are not good to breathe go into the air from burning coal.

Reducing the amount of coal that gets burned to keep factories operating is the right thing to do and good business.

A single 400-watt light hanging from the factory ceiling uses the electricity from a pound of coal every two hours.

When you leave a 100-watt bulb on at home for eight hours, a pound of coal gets burned.

A single air circulating fan also uses the electricity from a pound of coal every two hours.

How much coal is that? A lump of coal just a little bigger than a major league baseball is about one pound.

Turning off a pair of 100-watt light bulbs for eight hours would prevent the smoke going into the air from a chunk of coal the size of a football.

That may sound small but when you count the number of fans and lights that are on in your neighborhood when no one is around we could avoid burning a truckload of coal each day.

You save your money when you shut off lights and other electric appliances.

Save a lump of coal today.

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

EARTH DAY

POLLUTE LESS AND SAVE MONEY

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page