Author Topic: my electric bill journey  (Read 6034 times)

strider3700

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my electric bill journey
« on: September 26, 2012, 12:13:46 PM »
I've been pretty tight when it comes to my electricity usage for awhile now.  Two months after buying my first house which was all electric with baseboard heaters  I received my first electric bill which was $218 and covered December and January.  It worked out to 54.35 kwh/day and almost 7 years later is still the highest usage bill I received even though I've since moved across town to a house 3 times as large.    I started working on reducing my bill at that point  and it's pretty much all downhill since then.

Last summer my electric company offered a 10% challenge.  Reduce your consumption by 10% (adjusted for weather) and receive a $75 bonus. My usage the year before was 11655 kwh.  This is a 2400 sqft all electric 2 story.  I supplement heating with wood  but the primary is an air source heat pump.  I had intentions of installing a solar hotwater setup which would easily reduce my yearly bill by 30-40%  so I signed up Thinking it was an easy $75.   In the end I never did get the solar installed.  I continued on with the challenge anyways.  In the end they say I saved 21%(adjusted)  my spreadsheets show I saved 1984 kwh or 17%.  So I got the $75.  The 17% reduction however works out to an additional savings of  $206 before taxes, fees and other associated charges.   After all was said and done even with the constant rate increases in the electricity costs my bill was 19.8% lower then the year before.  This puts me at 49% lower then a comparable home with comparable family size in my area according to the power company.

This was all done  spending effectively no money on improvements, simply habits like using my clothesline more (538 kwh saved) making sure the heat is set lower and the heatpump cooling was only used 12 days all summer and quite sparingly when it was used.   
The best part was after it the challenge ended and they gave me my totals and cut the cheque, they gave me the option to sign up again.  So I did.  From Oct1st of this year to oct 1st 2013 I need to save 967 kwh.   My first thought was I had already trimmed most of the fat and it would take spending money this time.   I have however already found some areas to improve.  First off this PC never slept.  It was used for work, media center,... and ran 24/7.  I had planned on this when building it and it's quite low power usage at only 100 watts considering what it is.  However I decided it can sleep when not needed which is nightly for 8 hours a day at least.   this works out to 292 kwh a year  or 30% of what I need right there.    Having started hitting the sleep key when the PC isn't needed I've already noticed that my bill is 2-3 kwh lower then normal for the last week.  Either my PC is using more then I estimated or something else has changed around here as well.  Either way we're down to 15 kwh/day when my normal over the summer was 18 kwh/day and last year during sept I averaged 24 kwh/day

After that simply using the woodstove a little more and the HP a bit less should make up most of the rest.   I also have 5 IC bulbs that will be going LED shortly.  They haven't been used all summer but will start being needed as the days grow shorter.   The rest are already CF.   

After all of that I still want to get the solar hotwater going.   I have previously recorded it's power usage and had a daily average of 9kwh going towards heating water. This was based on 3 months of readings taken early last winter.     My analysis suggests that over the period of a year I can save 2873 kwh.     that would leave me with a yearly usage of 6506 kwh or 542 kwh/month.   At that level of usage I'm seriously thinking about installing a grid tied solar system.  Systems that would provide that amount here  are about $8000 plus racking and install.  It's possible with the rebates that the system could cost me less then I've spent on electricity in the last 7 years since this journey started.  My only hesitation is the net metering agreement here sucks.  At best I can break even,  they won't cut me a cheque for any excess.


if anyone cares to see the full numbers  my spreadsheet is here
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApVxorRXyiMHcEVIUFAxR1JHRnhOY0lTWTVCWW9XRXc&authkey=CJC147YI

Jamesqf

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2012, 04:27:48 PM »
On the PC, go further than just hitting the sleep key, and turn it off when you're not going to be using it.  And also all peripherals like monitor, router, modem, etc.  I have everything connected to a UPS/surge protector, so one switch does everything.

AdrianM

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2012, 06:01:56 PM »
How to you track what each item is consuming power wise?

strider3700

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2012, 06:11:41 PM »
kill-a-watt meter for the 110V devices.  For the 220V dryer  I used a clamp on current meter I borrowed and did the math for a few weeks worth of readings to work out the average I use on each load.  For the hot water heater I used the meter to record how much power the heater used when running then used an arduino and some current sensor's to record how often it ran and for how long. I then did the math to work out how many watts it was using.  I recorded that for I believe 2 months to work out an average of 9 kwh/day. 

On the spreadsheet linked my daily reading comes from reading the power meter directly every day at roughly 1:30 in the afternoon.

happy

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2012, 12:35:41 AM »
How to you track what each item is consuming power wise?

Adrian, you can get a power meter which you can use to measure anything that plugs in.. ie plug the meter in and then the item into that. I got one that cost $19.95 Australian at Jaycar.

For things that are hardwired in like a stove  its a bit trickier... but you could turn everything off (check the meter is not turning), run the stove for an hour and re-read the meter.

Ottawa

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2012, 06:59:41 AM »
Our local hydro supplier in Ottawa has a "peaksaver" program. It provided me with a fancy thermostat that can be remotely throttled by the hydro company (which happened once to me - cause I rarely use AC).  I signed up a number of years ago - Info here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2006/09/20/hydro-thermostat-peaksaver.html

Additionally, I will be having the following device installed (free) - which will allow me to monitor whole house real time!  I think it is around $100 bucks to buy.  I can let you know how things go with it (Installation will be mid October).
http://www.bluelineinnovations.com/Customer-Service/PowerCost-Monitor/peaksaverPLUS/

frugalman

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2012, 10:30:15 AM »
Question for you all that are knowledgeable in heating a home:
We just bought a 2nd, year around home in Wisconsin.  It's a rambler with a full finished basement, 2,160 square feet finished.  We plan to be up most weekends, and may move into this for our retirement home.
It currently has LP gas forced air furnace for heat.

What options do I have to save money on this setup? LP is probably going to be very expensive, and there is no natural gas utility to the house.  What about the mentioned electric furnace heat pump - would that be cheaper?

Jamesqf

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2012, 12:34:10 PM »
What options do I have to save money on this setup?

Insulation.  Easiest is attic insulation, also, since you aren't going to be there full time, think about foam inserts for windows to go in when you're away.

Zaga

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2012, 01:46:19 PM »
Also a programmable thermostat.  That may be obvoius but I thought I'd mention it.  They are very inexpensive, and I love that you can set them to warm up the house an hour before you wake or arrive home, plus each day can have a unique program in many of them.

strider3700

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Re: my electric bill journey
« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2012, 01:06:59 AM »
Definitely insulation, air sealing and the programmable thermostat.  If you check the graphs in my link above the difference between december/jan of 2005 and 2006 is a programmable thermostat.  Similar decrease in Feb/march  of those years.

I Moved in the summer of 2009.  Dec/jan of 2010 compared to 2011 is insulation.   

The other big heating decrease is in dec/jan of 2008.  That's the year I got a woodstove and my last kid free year.  After that I had to keep the house a little warmer due to the new baby.

The difference between 2011 and 2012 in heating has a lot to do with hours of work and a few can's of spray insulation.  I used fans to  lower the pressure in the house then I ran around with a smoke pencil, tracked down the leaks and then closed them up with spray foam.    It took awhile to get most  and there is still a few that need done  but it made a big difference in comfort.  When the air isn't moving you feel more comfortable even at a lower temp.