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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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So basically the writer is saying that we should all live alone in tiny shoebox apartments with no television, no real fridge, clearly no washer/dryer, no microwave, no fans, no clocks, no hot water...I can also live cheaply if I live like a homeless person. My gas/electric bill is about $80-100 a month and I live in Southern California in a 1500 square foot home, that is certainly not a major expense, it's less than my cell phone bill most months.
CFL's use the most energy when switching on and were originally designed for offices and schools where lights burn many hours a day. Most homeowners have trained themselves to turn lights off and on so to save energy on the new CFL's only turn them on when you will need it during the day and keep it on until you no longer need it that day (or days). We made the switch to all CFLs and it cost me 10% MORE a month so watch the on and off on these bulbs.
That's a great way to save energy and keep the noisy hum quiet while you sleep. But I'm curious, doesn't your food get warm? Perhaps 6 hours or so wouldn't have an impact on leftovers and meat. Just curious.
Great job on saving energy and keeping your bill low. The first place for people who want to be like you is to take an energy survey from their utility -- SCE's is at www.sce.com/survey. We also have great tips for conserving at www.sce.com/tips. And we Tweet them too, @socaledison.
Keep up the good work!
Sharing actions like this, let the rest of the world know that it IS possible to make a difference.
I hear that all the CFLs are manufactured in China. Doesn't the dirty energy used to produce them as well as the oil burned to transport them negate the energy savings?
Where are other bulbs made? And, consider that the lifespan of a CFL is about 15x that of an incandescent bulb. Yes, locally made would be better, but cheap foreign labour + capitalism=made elsewhere, which is another (albeit important and related) issue.
LED lights are even better as they are even more efficient and long-lasting.
I for one would love to have LED's, but I don't know where to find them for the home. The last I heard, the technology hasn't made it worth it yet. But that's been a little while.
I have also heard that scientist are working on a light that does not use electricity. Now wouldn't that be nice.
Home Depot
Bulbdirect.com started selling Led's from GE and Sylvania
Truly amazing! I'm impressed!
I live in SF and while I have gas heat, a typical electric bill for me is abt $11.00 a month. (It was $7 one month---I was very proud!) And my gas bill is around $35 in non-heating months and $55 in heating months. It can be done. People just have to A) Care and B) Care enough to do something..even something inconvenient like putting everything on power bars and switching them off at night.
I have a family of 3 [me + 2 adult kids]. Our electric bill is about $35 per month. Our apt uses gas to heat, but ours has not worked in 3 years and we still get billed about $5 per month for not using it. I am seeking ways to save money, so I will try unplugging everything when not in use...
Don't be scared about mercury in CFL's as the amount of it in one bulb is almost negligible. Old CFL were notorious about high mercury levels, but not anymore.
Best,
Andrey
I agree. Old fashion bulbs (straight or U shaped) also contain mercury (probably more than the modern CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights). We all had them in our homes for years (I still have some). Lets focus on the forest instead of the trees! Saving is great but don't we really want cheap, plentiful power for our homes, our industries and our future?
Probably has gas water heater and stove
Ah -- This may disappoint you a bit -- My heating and cooking is powered by gas, and thus separate from my electric bill.
But I must take this time to point out that, in general, incandescent bulbs actually emit more mercury than is contained in CFL bulbs -- because mercury's released by coal power plants. And the EPA recently released new guidelines to clean up CFLs --
But if you can afford them, LEDs are great --
Just to clarify -- there is no exposure to the tiny amount of mercury in a CFL. No emissions from using it properly -- putting it in a fixture and turning it on or off. There is a little in the bulb itself, so if it breaks, that's where the exposure happens and there are special disposal procedures to follow. Home Depot and neighborhood haz waste sites take these bulbs when they're done or broken.
It is impressive to get your bill that low. Out of curiousity where did you start before these efficiencies?
Suspect it would be very difficult for most folks in the Northeast, where temperatures are below freezing much of the time in winter. (We have forced hot air heat in part of our house and I'm sure the blowers are run on electricity.) Of course there are those TVs that people watch to get through the winter when they aren't cooking food in their electric ovens to stoke the fires...
Sometimes going green can have more than one benefit! Keep up the good work and see if you can keep it going year round!
We try to help companies go green with their fuel purchases because sometimes you can't cut down what helps your company make money (traveling). We do, however encourage people to cut down their footprint both at work and at home, so again Great Job!
-Jesse
www.360Fuelcard.com
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