I'm a fairly new Mustachian, but I've taken some steps in the right direction. We don't have a tv, our grocery bill is down, I'm not even sure what a movie theater is anymore, and our kids are forgetting the luxuries from before (and have all but stopped asking for them).
My question is about cutting back on energy costs. Our utility bill is still much higher than I'd like, and I was wondering how I could make cuts.
Some background:
After some repairs are done to our duct work, I estimate our utility bill (including electricity, water, sewage, gas, and some random fire dept charge) will be between $250-$300/month. Ouch!
* We are a family of almost 6: my husband, myself, and kids ages 7, 5, 3, and one on the way.
* We live in Florida. AC is a must during the warmest 10 months of the year.
* We do about 6-8 loads of laundry a week. Recently, I decided to stop using the dryer. It uses so much energy, after all! Guess what? In the Florida humidity, the clothes went sour before they were dry. Yuck! We have an energy efficient washer and use the sensor on the dryer.
* We're using energy efficient light bulbs.
* I run the dishwasher every day (and it's full every time)! I do a lot of from-scratch cooking, to save $$ on the grocery bill, but it comes at a price.
* We keep the thermostat at 78 degrees during the summer, and use ceiling fans in the living room and bedrooms, as needed.
* We recently had an energy audit, provided by the city. They didn't find any heinous problems with insulation, leaks, etc...
Here's the Consumption from a recent bill (edited to reflect recent changes)
Electric: ~1000 KWH
Gas: 16 CCF -- $37.04
Water: 54CGAL -- $24.92
Sewer is determined by water consumption
County Fire charges: $14.91