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How I brought my electricity bill down to $5
MNN's lifestyle blogger shares the details of her energy-efficient lifestyle.
Fri, Jan 07 2011 at 7:35 PM
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Photo: Adam/Flickr
Before I moved, the utilities in my apartment were included in my rent. That meant all my energy-saving efforts — from cleaning my fridge coils to installing Practecol switches to simply turning out lights when I wasn’t using them — didn’t reap any financial benefits.
So when I moved to West Hollywood, I was kind of excited — to be paying for electricity. Why? I’m a curious person. I wanted to see just how much electricity I was using — or not.
I'm proud to say that my most recent Southern California Edison bill came to just $5.03. I used just 35 kilowatt-hours in December!
Of course, I had to see how my energy usage compared to the average American. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 11,040 kilowatt-hours (kWh), an average of 920 kWh per month.” However, I live alone, while the average American household is made up of 2.59 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Calculated per person, the average American burns through 355 kWh a month — which means I use up a tenth of the energy the average American does!
This despite that I work from home — which means my wireless router and laptop are sipping energy all day long, along with my mini-fridge. However, those — plus a CFL bulb, if needed — are the only things I have plugged in most days. All kitchen appliances (except the fridge) remain unplugged, as do the printer, stereo, cell phone charger, and a few other electronics, except when in use.
And at night, everything is turned off and totally disconnected from sucking vampire energy with the help of Practecol switches — the computer, the wireless gateway, and — believe it or not — the mini-fridge, because in my tiny studio apartment, the thing makes too much noise when I’m trying to sleep.
Yes, I have energy-efficient light bulbs, too. I have exactly three bulbs — two CFLs, and an even more efficient LED bulb for the closet.
I get an extra reward for using less energy. Southern California Edison’s tier system means that those who use less pay less per kWh. You can see from the handy chart SoCal Edison puts on each bill (delivered and paid for electronically sans paper, of course) that I’m in the low end of the “tier 1″ pricing level.
After comparing my energy usage to other Americans, I felt so awesome about myself that I declared yesterday’s No Impact Challenge topic — Energy: Replace kilowatts with ingenuity — conquered for now. I mean, my next steps would be somehow rigging up solar panels in my apartment complex or getting rid of the mini-fridge altogether or inventing a solar-powered laptop — and I’m not ready to go there yet.
In addition to bragging, I hope I’m making clear in this post that steps like switching out light bulbs and turning off electronics when not in use and preventing vampire power loss really do make a difference — both for the environment and your pocketbook.
How are your own energy-savings efforts going? And do you have any not-too-far-out advice for me so I can get my bill under $5 a month in 2011?
Don't believe her? See her next post, which includes a copy of her bill.
The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
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Enter your comments
Do you use hot water to take a shower? What is it Gas powered? How about cooking. If you eat out instead of cook at home you are likely to be spending $10 extra each day so thats $300 extra per month.. So not much for savings. Also if you never use AC or Heater, how comfortable are you living. Why not move to a tent, you can save lots of money on rent! But I appreciate all the effort regardless. Keep up the good work.
I'd be interested to see what your bill is if you did everything wrong... i.e plugged everything in, left the fridge on, and switched to incandescent bulbs. In fact, just do an experiment where you switch to incandescent bulbs. With 3 light bulbs in the whole apartment I doubt that makes a difference.
umm most of us pay for our electric bill u living in an apt means u dont pay for heat etc.. the thing is ur article is poorly written ur title says how you brought ur bill down to five and u dont do a good job of explaining what you did exactly and also your situation is not applicable to the general public so thanks but next time write an article that everyone can relate to.
"the thing is ur article is poorly written". The response ain't all that great, either.
Our electric/heating bill in the winter is $400-something for 3 months...furnace downstairs, electric baseboard heaters upstairs. Temperature inside is rarely above 62F. Don't have TV, have a total of 7 lightbulbs in the house, do laundry 2x a week, always on cold...what on earth are we doing wrong?
I don't know, because I just got an electric bill of over $700.00 for a house that is empty. It has electric heat, ( gel baseboard ) but everything is set on 60 degrees or below. No lights, no water heater, no phantom loads or appliances. At the risk of being really crude, wtf? Or sorry, the house is in Pa.
www.FreeRecyclingQuotes.com has an online environmental store where you can get products to save you on your energy bill. Hope this helps.
My bill usually run from $ 250.00-$328.00 a month. We have total electric. I live in the state of La. and its 3 in the household. I can use all the tips possible.
I live in Boston and for some people who pay electric for heat thier is no way they can lower thier bills to 5 dollars unless freezing themselves. I have gas heat but still my electric bills run average between 30 and 40 for the winter and much more in the summer so you are just going without to actually save a buck. Nice though that u can live like that because I know I could not....
I lived in a shoebox studio, and then met my husband to be, and moved in with him before my lease was up but unplugged everything and still ended up being charged $33 for the month that I never even turned on a light. Maybe where you live, and who your company is can really push it down, or up. So smart to keep trying anyway we can!
every electric company in the usa has a minimum charge, it is impossible that you only had a $5.00 bill, you may have lowered it somewhat, but you lowered your standard of living to that of someone on the street along with it.
you're just plain wrong. Here's a snapshot of my electricity bill. As you can see, it's for $5.06.
Seil, Im proud of you and actually jealous.
My electric bill is four pages long! Minimum $$ just to have an account is 20,
distribution charge of 11, plus taxes & fees. Even If I get power from another
provider, I have to pay the bloodsuckers to use "their wires".
I wanna go to California!
u live in a tiny apt not a house like most folks and even if ur bill shows how much power u used someone is paying the base charge I pay a base charge of 10.95 tax included here in Florida and I live in a solar house
u live in a tiny apt not a house like most folks and even if ur bill shows how much power u used someone is paying the base charge I pay a base charge of 10.95 tax included here in Florida and I live in a solar house
u live in a tiny apt not a house like most folks and even if ur bill shows how much power u used someone is paying the base charge I pay a base charge of 10.95 tax included here in Florida and I live in a solar house
try living here they will stick it to you even if you dont use anything at all they have a fuel charge that will break off in you $5.00 that wont cover there paper bill charge
Must be nice living somewhere the monopoly electric co can't charge a "delivery"fee. Our bill is about $5.00 a month useage and $30 surcharge/delivery/whatever else we can make up... and taxes. Frankly I like being green but when the surcharges and fees amount to 6 times the actual bill I stop caring so much since there's no way to beat the suits and I have THAT in writing.
There are bulbs that contain mercury, not sure if CFL bulbs are one of them. When these bulbs break, mercury vapor gets released around, it is a serious health hazard. Proper disposal of these bulbs is also necessary. I am not sure why they don't outlaw such bulbs.
Mercury in dental amalgams is another disaster story for another day.
Yes, there is mercury in CFL's. However, there are places you can take them when they burn out. I know Lowe's has a recycling program for these bulbs and I believe that Home Depot does as well. Check you local hardware stores to see if they also have this program.
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