Turning off power

[JT]

Hi fellow Mustachians

We've been conducting an experiment at home over the last few months - trying to see how low we can get our electricity bill!

The first foray was just turning things off at the power point, after use.

After that, I turned a freezer off and then the garage door opener (when not in use).

This has reduced our bill from about $150 p/m down to about $100 p/m - which was immensely satisfying without feeling like we're missing out!

Recently, the retired mother of a friend told me she turns the hot water cylinder off and turns it on twice per week overnight.

This got me thinking and wondering, but being keen to see if we could drop below $100 per month - I thought what the heck and turned the hot water cylinder off.  The nights we turn it back on are Sunday night and Wednesday night.

We've not got a bill yet, so I'm not sure what the saving will be.  But the biggest surprise is the water is still warm enough for a great shower on Wednesday morning!!!  This has been a total surprise!

Does anyone else do this?  Or does anyone know if this is bad for the cyclinder?

Are there any other great electricity saving ideas out there?

I look forward to hearing from you.

[Karl]

JT,

I have thought about turning off the hot water heater (is this the same as a hot water cylinder?) over night.  I had not considered turning it off for days at a time because I had learned as a lad that the dishwater needed to reach a certain temperature to reduce the likelihood of disease.  I suppose if one used a dishwasher with an internal heating element, it might not matter for washing dishes. 

Just a thought,

Karl

[Nudelkopf]

My parents did the on-off thing with the hot water tank. In the end it didn't make much difference and they stopped. Their main problem seemed to be the tank was too big for the two of them, and not efficient enough.

[Alex in Virginia]

I had a $50 on-off timer installed on my water heater.  I can set the timer for the times that I want the hot water heater on (in half-hour increments).  I used to have it set for 5:30 am to 7:00 am, and 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm.  And yes, the water stays hot in the tank for hours afterwards.

I too saw a drastic reduction in my electricity usage.

Now, I've gone one more step and set the timer so that the hot water heater is only on from 5:30 am to 7:00 am.  But I have not experimented on how long the water will stay hot/warm.  That's next.

Oh... and if I'm going away overnight or whatever I just turn the timer off until I return.

Cheers!

Alex in Virginia

[gecko10x]

May or may not save you much, depending on how old your water heater is.

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/waterheaters.html

[Kazimieras]

I played with mine and found a negligible savings from turning it on and off. It was only if the house wasn't used for a period of a few days did the savings take place (since remember if it cools you need to spend the money to heat it back up to where it was).

Is natural gas available for your hot water tank? The savings are usually significant in my experience. Depending on its age maybe consider going for a tankless hot water heater, or solar heater.

[Bakari]

Are there any other great electricity saving ideas out there?

Yeah, I got a few....

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/my-guide-to-saving-lots-of-energy-with-little-to-no-up-front-investment/

[BlueMR2]

May or may not save you much, depending on how old your water heater is.

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/waterheaters.html

I'd be cautious with turning the hot water heater on/off.  In my energy saving research I've run across an awful lot of "my water heater cracked" stories involving turning it down for weekend vacations and then back up on a regular basis.

[Nords]

Recently, the retired mother of a friend told me she turns the hot water cylinder off and turns it on twice per week overnight.
We've not got a bill yet, so I'm not sure what the saving will be.  But the biggest surprise is the water is still warm enough for a great shower on Wednesday morning!!!  This has been a total surprise!
Does anyone else do this?  Or does anyone know if this is bad for the cyclinder?

Our solar water heater does this all the time during the winter rainy season.

When we had an electric water heater, we used to put a shutoff timer on the electric supply.  It was only on for a couple hours in the morning.