Often Overlooked Reasons for High Electric Bills
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- Electric costs have risen by 20% and are continuing to climb in 2022. You may already using energy-saving strategies. Yet, there are several often overlooked reasons for high electric bills.
In this video we'll explore why your electric bills may be so high - and the reasons may surprise you. Larry and I grab our Kill-a-Watt meter and test our electronics and appliances to see if they are sucking energy - even when they appear to be turned off.
Phantom or Vampire power happens when an item has "stand-by" function, meaning that unless it is unplugged, it may be adding unnecessary expenses to your energy bills. Find out what you need to do to defeat the foe of vampire power and lower your energy consumption by as much as twenty percent. If you're ready to lower your high electric bills, you're in the right place.
00:00 - Introduction
04:30 - Replace Old Appliances
07:17 - Keep Appliances Full
13:00 - Use Lower Energy Rate Hours
14:40 - Don't Charge Electronics Overnight
16:25 - Reducing Vampire Power
24:00 - The Formula for Determining Vampire Energy Usage
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![How Many Watts Does Your Generator Need![POWER YOUR HOME]](/img/1.gif)
A friend told me just today that his old friend back in the Rocky Mountains didn’t get electricity until 1985 because he didn’t want to pay the $400 to connect. Once he got electricity my friend asked how he liked it. His response, “it’s amazing, I walk in the house, pull a string and I can see to light my lantern.”
Hahahaha 🤣
Lololol!!!
He could of used batteries, lol😄
ha ha
Funny 🤣
Old appliances may use more energy but if old enough, they are more dependable. Newer appliances seem to break down more often and will cost you more in repairs. This has been my experience.
Definitely something to keep in mind as manufacturers build in planned obsolescence. I try to find bare bones appliances. The more features and buttons and electronic components the more that can break.
So much this. A friend of mine just had to replace a $3600 refrigerator that she bought 3 years ago. That's $1200 a year. We're hanging on to our old refrigerators and Maytag washer and dryer for as long as we can keep them running. I dread the day we have to buy the expensive junk they're selling these days.
I bought all new appliances 4 years ago and a year ago they all started breaking down . I wished I had kept my older microwave & the washer & dryer . My refrigerator is already making a noise and one of the burners on the cooking stove doesn’t work right . What a ripoff.
IF you can find anyone to repair them-lol, my parents had appliances for decades and they worked, I buy something and it goes out in 2-3 years and no one will repair them.
My experience as well!
Here’s another way to address your tip for charging things overnight. I have things that I need to charge every night, but I plug them into a timer with a power strip that begins charging a few hours before I get up. I do that with my phone, watch, iPad and laptop.
Great idea!
Since I have been washing my clothes in cold water I have been saving 12$ a month, I love your info. Thanks so much.
Hi .....We have been married 52 yrs. as of late this month. We have had a dishwasher a total of 17 yrs. , divided among 5 out of 10 places we've lived. We installed one where we've been living (since 1994) in Jan. of 2017. I have never minded washing dishes by hand for my entire life....but I have scoliosis which gets worse over time. It got to a point where it was too painful to stand & wash dishes daily & Ron wasn't interested in the task. LOL
HERE'S the THING: dishwashers have been greatly improved as well as other appliances. They are WAY more efficient than a ways back. When we got our dishwasher (from scratch 'n' dent aisle at Lowe's , btw), an elderly friend (who has a 30 yr. old dishwasher) warned me that we were going to notice our water bill go up. I tried to explain to her that old dishwashers used 16 gal. of water per load but NEW dishwashers use about 4.
We did NOT notice any hike in our water bill. And also, the dishwasher cleans some things WAY better than I ever could by hand. I'm glad we got it & my back is VERY glad we got it.
Absolutely true. Not only are new dishwasher more efficient than old ones, they are much more efficient than hand washing. It isn't even close. You aren't saving anything by hand washing. Certainly not water. And do you think you are saving electricity? Well, you are using more electricity or natural gas heating more water washing by hand. Pure foolishness.
@@joe3276865536 I appreciate you agreeing w/me....w/all due respect, tho, I must point out that how much water is used for hand washing dishes depends on how you do it. I used to waste a lot of water washing dishes. But now, for the pieces that have to be hand-washed, I would estimate I use no more than 2 gallons of water. I switched to bar dish soap. I wet my dishcloth, rub it over the dishwashing bar soap, then wash what needs washed....no water in the sink, none running. After everything is soaped up, I quickly give each piece a rinse. I don't have a lot of pieces needing hand-washed....so it's a very quick process, using very little water.
I am so glad we have a modern dishwasher. It's efficient, it cleans some things WAY better than Iwas ever able & it saves my aching back. Thanks,Joe H.
We have a consistent habit in our house: last one going to bed ist turning off the router / modem (plug out of the wall outlet), first to get up or need the internet plugs it back in. Same with leaving the house - when no one is home we don't need to use energy to run wifi.
Love from Germany!
Excellent. It's incredible how many things people just leave in standby mode - or worse, actually running :o
You save the electrical units (resistances) in the mashines when running them off.
Security-wise this is good too… if someone was to figure out your wifi password, they wouldn’t be able to use it when it’s off
i dont know what kind of modem or router you are using but i have a modem, router and a switch all combined its like $5 a month if that to leave on 24/7. it simply is not worth my time to unplug them and plug them back in and wait teh 5 mins for everything to boot. i can afford the.23 cents a day it cost to leave them plugged in and ready to use and never have to worry about it.
@@1st_Atom Agreed. I think somethings like that can obviously be left on to operate.
I've been binge-watching you guys ever since I discovered you about a week ago! I have followed most of these tips, other than the phones at night like most people LOL. Husband and I have made significant changes in our energy usage over the past week following your tips, and Prepper Princess on RUclips. Our usual daily usage would normally be $6-$7, but now it's averaging out to $3 a day!! HOLY COW! I've turned down the water heater slightly to about 110-115°, turned down the fridge/freezer from the "highest" setting, the the second-to-lowest setting, and don't turn on a single light during the day. Never knew we were using THAT much power 🤯 and MONEY 🤑
We're so happy for you! Great job.
Think of how low your electric bill will be if you
ELECT TRUMP
Me too, I'm hooked 😅🙌🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼💯
When I lived in San Diego they had “peek, off peek and off off peek “ hours. Off off peek was midnight to 6 AM. I would load the dishwasher and set a crockpot in the evening, get up at 2 AM to start them. PLUS turn the dishwasher drying cycle off. I got up at 5 AM, open the dishwasher and air dry the dishes. Put your electronic on power strips and turn them when you go to bed. AND unplug any small appliances NOT in use.
My energy bill was through the roof!! My house was built in 1978 and had the original HVAC system. It did have repairs through out the years but I was averaging close to $300 a month in the summer. I was able to do a cash out with my Home Warranty Co and that helped me to replace the whole HVAC system in 2020. I replaced at the end of summer and in the first year I had a 65% savings for the first year. I got $3700 cash out and paid $2000 out of pocket for a new system. Its worth it to replace your HVAC if its 30+ years old
I did the vampire power exercise a few years ago. Here are some items that draw vampire power you didn't mention: kitchen stove, dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer. Additionally, what I found was that after excluding all of the consumer electronics (TV, stereo, computer, WiFi router, etc.) the biggest energy vampires were hardwired and they included smoke detectors, HVAC system, irrigation controller, and doorbell. Also, just leaving your phone/device chargers plugged in all the time is much worse than actually charging your devices overnight.
Thanks for sharing. The items you found that were using electricity are really interesting. You're absolutely right that keeping electronics plugged in all the time is really hard on them - especially computers.
Easy. One small fridge, no air-conditioning, no clothes dryer, and never ever leave anything switched on in standby mode when not in use. Turn everything off as soon as you finish using it (in many countries - including my own - there are on/off switches on outlets). Only one light or lamp on per room, and only when that room is in use. At night when sleeping, literally NOTHING should be connected to the power or switched on except the fridge. In winter, heat only the living room. As for laundry, a full load cold water wash is a no-brainer .. as is outdoor drying on a line.
I borrowed the kill-a-watt meter from my local library so it’s worth a phone call before buying one. They also have a Roku stick to borrow to try if you are thinking of buying one.
I started the habit of unplugging my appliances when they are not in use. Now I just do it automatically. I do like the idea of charging your phone in the evening so you don't have to charge it overnight. I hadn't thought of that before.
@@faith4754 what is a solar charger and where can I get one?
For us in South Dakota, our Home gas usage has tripled in price since last November. It is chocking me. When the gas company tells you to use your electric space heaters to augment your house heating, you know it’s bad.
A brilliant video, thank you. One tip i have not seen mentioned is to crumple up old newspaper, place to a carrier bag, tie the top and place in your fridge or freezer where you have an empty space. This stops the fridge and freezer running to cool the air in that space or running every time you open the door. These can be used time and again as with the top tied the newspaper stays dry. Hope this helps. Loving the blue and white mug Hope!
My husband purchased a de-humidifier for our house. During the hot summer months this helped lower our electric bill quite a bit. I'm the one that likes to crank the air conditioner and we were worried about our utility bills with both of us working from home. We set the thermostat to 80 degrees and it was actually comfortable when running the de-humidifier.
Hope and Larry, our supply rate went up 89% last month, but thanks to the tips we implemented after watching some other videos on your channel, January's usage was our lowest yet - 10% lower than our previous lowest month last year. Thanks for your help!!
(FYI I estimated what I would save if we transferred over to the power company's off-peak service plan - about $14/month. Guess what their additional monthly service fee is for that plan: $14. Go figure!)
Digital meters
You live a complicated life. Lower electric bill by
VOTING FOR TRUMP.
Follow the money!
Excellent tips, especially about vampire power. We actually turn the entire kitchen circuit off when we leave - we had our refrigerator wired on a separate circuit. A lot easier than unplugging each appliance. Thanks for helping us save money - and the environment too!
The problem with the current appliances is that they are not made to last longer than 5-10 years, way shorter than the older ones😔
That is because they are made in China.
this is because of the crappy electronics in them. the lights and bells etc.
@@broodieivie207 You are right. But there is another factor which seems unconnected, Banks
GM made most of its money through car loans.
Most refrigerator, microwave, stove, and etc. are paid for by credit cars
Plus most of our manufacturers are from China
Toyota is one company that builds good cars.
As a property manager I've learned that a faulty thermostat can often times give you a high electric bill.
Thank you Hope and Larry. I followed your tips to save on energy and my electric and natural gas bill went down substantially! Over $50 savings!
That's wonderful!
I scaled down my oven to an air oven, a small microwave, a crockpot. It's smaller than my now dead oven and takes less time to heat up and cook things. I have no electric cook tools. That saved me $20 a month.
You guys are great. I'm from Denmark, but some problems are universal.... and energy prices are on the rise all over. I poked around and found my big sweaters, turned down the radiators.... and i'm fine.
Using a kill a watt meter to accurately determine how much energy appliances use. Also unplugging app store items not in use via a power strip. We have a 2006 energy star frig that is still very efficient so would be waste of money to buy a new and possible less reliable frig. Also, the tightwade Gazette books have many helpful ideas
You guys freakin killed it! Literally all my questions about energy/saving money on the electric bill were answered. Seriously, your explanations are great and spot on. well done.
When purchasing a new frig, a top freezer frig that is energy star is best. Also, research one that runs on lower kwh. The smaller the frig, the less kwh. There are differences in kwh between frigs that are same size even.
In the upcoming days ahead, every nickel saved will help! Thank you for the video and the great ideas!
We have an ancient mobile home that is sub metered. (park gets the huge bill, pays meter readers then generates individual space bill) Our wattage for the 'house' is split, 50% on one side, 50% on the other. Our bills for years just for electric were $3-400.00 in summer months. Through a mixture of techy items and rechargeable lights we have brought our bill down significantly to $100 or less in winter and $100-200 in summer. County has even changed out our meter several times trying to track down where these high bills were coming from. We can unplug, turn off and are getting a kerosene heater but when an old house remains old bones/wiring, insulation there isn't much more to cut. Also energy, gas bills have flat fees, taxes on top of charges much of these were increased for us as well.
Over 28 cents/kw for electric in California, so every tip helps. I use neck warmer, blankets in the living room to run heater less to save energy and batch cook meals for multiple days. My splurges are hot water temp left higher and TV usage. Signing up with utility co. monitoring of usage for 1 yr. has helped; phantom load reduced. For me, flat rate usage is best as I use energy most during peak hours; if I worked from home could do chores during breaks, might pick time of use.
@@faith4754 Wow you are quite an inspiration on conserving energy. Thanks for taking the time to write and be well. Just got utility bill, down $10 from prior month.
Come to Europe, here those days was 0.95 €/c per kWh, not including tax
Also, eventhough it can be a little more inconvenient, try to use your chest freezer as your daily freezer rather than upright or draw freezers. When you open the door on an upright freezer, as cold air goes down, it will basically "tumble" out of the door, so when you close it again the compressor has to work more to cool the hot air that the cold air was replaced with. Chest freezers on the other hand keep most of the cold air in even when open because cold air goes down, and the opening is at the top, meaning the compressor has to work much less during the day to maintain the cold interior temperature, even when constantly being opened
Great video again, I love your channel and the money saving tips, they can be applied to any country too.
I'm from Torquay UK and energy bills are going up to 2000 a year in April
Cooling my home is by far my highest cost. Unfortunately I have single pane windows, and there are so many in the house that I can’t afford to replace them. We started putting that reflective water heater insulation on the west facing windows (the ones that “cook” our house) and black out curtains on all the windows and it helps quite a bit for a lot less than replacing the windows to keep the house cooler. We set our thermostat at 76+ during the hottest part of the day and use small fans to localize personal comfort. We are saving $$$ to better insulate the attic and add attic fans.
A couple of months ago, I started on a monthly level pay plan. I like knowing exactly how much to budget for on a monthly basis, which helps to relieve the "electric shock.:
We inherited an old fridge in the basement of our home when we bought it that we used to store milk and eggs that I bought in bulk. After a year of using it we finally calculated that it was costing us at least $15 per month to have that fridge 😬 I quickly found a way to fit my bulk milk and eggs into our regular fridge upstairs (that's only a few years old). Now we've cut the cost of the old fridge completely and our upstairs fridge is much fuller, making it more efficient as well :)
I feel like that often also applies to the separate freezer. For a person who has easy access to a grocery store, I don't think it makes sense to use that upfront cost, space and energy to capture food savings.
@@bigdavexx1 I think that depends on your situation and your shopping habits. We live 25 minutes from town, so we have a deep freezer that we have loved. But we also garden and use it to store a lot of our produce. When I can get things on sale or discounted with coupons and rebates, I love having space to stock up. To me it makes a lot of sense to have a deep freezer.
I live in Illinois too. I'm in the southern part of Illinois. A town called Herrin. Great video. Keep up the great work. I'm loving the nice weather down here. God Bless you both. Brandy ❤️
I bought a new fridge and a new freezer this past year. It now costs $20 less per month on my electric bill. The freezer was 20 years old and the 7 cu ft freezer was over 30. What a difference.
I'm in the UK - our power charges are going up by hundreds of pounds in April. We have a smart meter installed and I have been trying to reduce our power consumption as much as possible - thank goodness the better weather is coming as I can dry the washing outside again instead of having it draped above the radiators. All our home appliances are the highest economy rated we can get, dreading our next bill.
We had peak usage on a water tank . I had them remove it. It was a special deal the previous owners had installed with the tank installation. We had them remove the tank and put our own in. They were shutting the tank off when they had high usage , nothing more aggravating than needing a shower and the water is cold. I saw no difference in my bill. I think it used as much energy by having to try to heat itself back up after being turned off.
Thank you so much for doing the math for us! Great info ❤️
A tip I read in AARP was to turn off your ice cube maker in your fridge. Apparently, it has to heat the motor that dumps the ice.
My old frig went out last summer, it was 15 years old. No automatic ice maker, new one is same. I have read that refrigerators last longer without a ice maker. I’m old school, I can add water to my trays my self. 😎
I ❤️ watching you guys y'all have taught me & my family so much thanks for all you do🙂
Note the Kill-a-Watt measures kWh as well. You can plug it into something and leave it alone for a day or a few hours or so and come back and ask for the total amount of power used. e.g., when measuring your computer, you can measure the total amount overnight instead of just observing instantaneous readings periodically.
Your both looking well 🙂 Am so glad I watched this video x I went straight to check my off peak times and they weren't what I thought they had changed x Goes to show you might think your doing everything but there's always something to double check 🙂🏴🇬🇧❤️
I'm working my way threw the back log of your videos and just cann't learn enough thank you for the content . I was wondering if you have a top ten book recommendations ?❤️
Our last power bill was $854.00 for February. We averaged 20 days at -30f or colder bottoming out at -47.4f I am sorry , its hard to save anything when the furnace never stops. We are a total electric household that takes power from a dam about 1/4 mile from here. We have virtually no carbon foot print but we pay about 1/4 of that bill for carbon and another 1/4 in delivery charges and 13% tax so talk to me about saving without the power company finding out, they will come up with new charges to eat up any saving. The BIGGEST problem we have with electricity is the companies that provide it and the government who is suppose to protect us from predatory business practices
My electric bills for January and February this year 2022 were huge! For me it was massive for being in a one bedroom. On average I used to pay around $75 per month for electric. Not anymore. My last two electric bills were $130 each! I know that I wasn't using a lot of electricity. I only allow myself one night for doing laundry, and I do all of my food prep and baking one night every week at night since the rates are cheaper. So, I just chalked up my astronomical utilities to inflation and Biden. Before this, I haven't had extremely high utilities wherever I lived. Did it knock my socks off seeing my bills? Yep and I wasn't a happy camper. I always unplug my power strips when not in use. I only keep my fridge, stove, freezer, and washer/dryer plugged in. I rely on daylight and lamps at night. I use key wind clocks for time. I haven't noticed my gas bill sky high (yet), but I'm sure that's coming next. So, I'll just reach for my damn it doll. (And nope, they're not the lovely antique Hertwig Chinaheads in my thumbnail image). Those are safely locked in my cabinet. Thank you for your helpful information. I enjoyed your video. 🙂
We just purchased a new refrigerator as the one that came with the house we bought 4 years ago was 19 years old. We expect energy savings but also had concerns with the supply chain and what we would do if the refrigerator stopped working during the summer. Our configuration requires that we have a counter depth fridge so options are more limited. In winter we were able to put our food into coolers and stored them outside (in the Midwest) for the switch over to the new fridge, since you need to cool down the new fridge for 20 hours before putting in food to avoid spoilage. No idea what the old fridge was pulling for kWh but the energy star rating for the new one is under 600 with other models we considered closer to 700. BTW the cost for the old fridge was $1892 in 2003 and the one we just purchased (no indoor water service that the old one did) was $1899!.
undoubtedly the percentage savings will be huge, but $1900 is still a really hefty price. i hope its a very big fridge, because otherwise that'll take forever to be worth the savings
Hello you guys? I am so glad that I found your video. Ya'll have told me so much about saving on my Electric bill and I really do appreciate you guys for your amazing video thank you and God bless 🙋♀️🙏
yes. here where I live our whole community is in an uproar over last two months bills. Mine 'only' went up 50 percent. But a lot of people have reported double and triple. Our rates went up, but the problem was not the rate increase, it was a switchover from one company to the new one. We think the meter reading had a glitch at the time of the switch. Anyway, I put all plugged in things on surge protectors and keep them turned off when I am not using them. I turn the water heater off unless I am going to use hot water, which averages only 2-3 times a week. I turned my heat OFF. My bill dropped below HALF of what it was last month. Frankly, I have not had a bill that low since I first had my house built in 2014, so I am happy about that. Going to the garage and turning off the water heater is worth it to me!! Thanks for all of your money saving videos. I am forwarding them into my facebook group that is for people on a low income.
The switch over to smart meters has also created huge electric bills for folks…the meters themselves use a lot of electricity and aren’t regulated like they should be and causing fires ….
The phantom load of your garage door opener may be mitigated partially by connecting the power circuit to a wall light switch so when you are in for the night you can just flip the switch off, and when you begin the day or first go out to get in your car flip it back on again so it is only drawing, when you are either in the garage or out of the garage with the car
We run our dishwasher at night N use the washer with with on cold water 💦 N was free !!! Thanks for sharing with us !!! Great 👍 video !!!
Great vid as always! My electricity bill has nearly doubled this year, and I need all tips and tricks that I can get. By the way, Hope, your top (or dress?) is beautiful!
Hi, I live in Cyprus we have more sun that we want , I have a Photovoltaic System install 5 years ago, it helps a lot, if you own a house and do not plan to move its a great idea , our cost for electricity is 28 US cent per kWh and going up. I did do a survey in my house for vampire power and I found a DVD that was plugged and not used for years. We charge our phones overnight, not good but we tend to forget turning the chargers back on.
HELP!!! Mine has doubled too & thank you for making this video!
just noticed the curio cabinet that is showcased during christmas with decor, etc was still plugged up! snatched that from the socket!
Seems to me that replacing appliances with a 9 year payoff every 10 years might not be that helpful.
What I would like to look at is comparative costs of various food storage methods. Freezing v.s. canning for example.
Canning is a great idea. Just wanted to add though that we just bought a giant deep freezer that cost $30 a year in energy and it only cost us $150 at target.
I'm also guilty of charging my appliances overnight. I also keep my reader on the charger unless I'm using it. All that will stop with these tips from you. Thank you.
I’ve had my washing machine magnets for years now so imagine how much cash I’ve saved over years & years. Most clothes not that dirty but hubby outside work clothes do get dirty & come out clean as if detergent used. I love them & I do use vinegar as fabric softner
Great info! Thank you!
I've got my days off for your premieres lately. 😕 Thanks to one of your energy-saving videos last year, I switched to Demand TOU. I just checked again what the residential on-vs-off peak hours are. For Nov-April, the off-peak hours are 9pm-6am and 9am-6pm M-F and all day on weekends and holidays. May-October, off-peak hours are much more workable for my schedule - 7pm-3pm the next day M-F and again all day on weekends and holidays. I try to do laundry on weekends and run our little countertop dishwasher after we're ready for bed. I'm wondering about the incubator and the grow lights I have running now. At least the grow lights are LED.
Just recd the lowest electric bill we’ve gotten in 11.5 years of owning our 4,250 sq ft house with an in ground pool on central AL. Have, 2 big fridge/freezers (1is 22 years old, the other 11.5 yrs) and 2 deep freezers (upright is 22 yrs old, sm chest type probably 30 yrs old we bought it used). We did not change anything about our usage but we are preparing to move so have packed and put into storage almost everything we own. No TVs, no other electronics except 2 laptops, 3 lamps that stay plugged in but seldom used, can count on two hands the outlets being used. Heat is gas. It was a nice surprise.
We live in Ohio and only pay .05 per kwh with the supplier we have. I thought we had a really good rate and now I know that we do. I was surprised when our electric bill for the month of February actually went down from $97 to $85.That was a bill for 32 days. We do heat with propane but everything else is electric. One thing that really lowered our bill was when our water heater needed replaced, we got a hybrid water heater. they are expensive but we bought it on sale and also got a rebate from our electric company making the price just a little more than a regular electric water heater.
what the hell do you do to have such a high bill? i pay $0.35 per kWh here in Germany and i only pay about $70 per month (averaged over the year) for electricity... and thats with a 70" tv, a big 5.1 surround sound system and a fairly powerful pc. so you are using about 9 times as much electricity as me. thats crazy.
@@La_sagne Probably air conditioning. She lives in what is effectively a temperate rainforest. I'm curious, what is the cost of electricity and gas in Germany right now?
Thank you, very interesting!!
I'm in the UK and have lived in my house 22yrs and my bills have not changed that much but now my bills are going up massively, now my bills are going up 54%
I did put one of my tv setups with DVD player on a power strip & I love it…. Per your suggestion in another video. Thx
Our electric rate in New Hampshire is
22 1/2 cents per kilowatt hour. That's pretty high.
We installed a new Heat Tape on our roof edge to help prevent ice dams and inadvertently left it on all month. Our electric bill came in at a little over $500.00. Needless to say we are now going through our home and re-assessing EVERYTHING.... We're talking draconian people!
Luckily our house is well positioned for Solar... so that's our next step.
My hubby also sent for one of those Kill-O--Meters that Larry uses. Thanks Larry!
About phantom power. I was told that anything plugged in is using power such as a lamp not in use or a toaster. Even power stripes. Is that true?
And yes this year elec./gas bill hit my all time highs in upstate NY.
Thanks for the great tips. Will try the charging before bed
I refused to turn the heat on this winter, except for a few days that were freezing cold. I still got a 200 dollar extra bill. Same with electricity, but we have gaming computers and they cost a fortune. Still didn’t expect to pay 200 extra for that too.
My fridge is from 2007 & is original to my apartment, but they refuse to replace it. I only turn my tv on for 3 months during the year (Big Brother season with my antenna) so that is crazy to hear that I’m paying for it to sit there plugged in. Well, I WAS until now. Thanks! Love the Taotronics coffee machine. I have one of their desk lamps & it’s the best!
How weird that I found you in my recommendations today because just last night I signed into my power company's app and got a shocking eye opener at my daily power usage! Holy Moly! I've been an over the road truck driver and lived in my truck for many years....no bills except food and clothes! I retired 9 months ago....end of June....and 3 months later my hip implant got loose and rendered me housebound. I had bought an old mobile home that I had hired people to remodel while on the road but had to stop now and my place is not weatherproof. I had to use an electric heater a lot because my leg simple couldn't bear the weight of a good, warm blanket. Spring has arrived in southern Arizona and last night was the first night I didn't need extra heat, so I looked up what my daily power usage has been and it flipped me out.! After sleeping in loud semis for years I've been leaving the TV on all night here at home as well.....the noise helps me sleep, lol. I am unplugging EVERYTHING from now on (except the reefer)! I would even leave the TV on for the dog if I had to run to town. My last few months bills have been around $115 per....$80 more than last year while I was working and gone. My gas bill is only $11, even though I turned up the water heater and used the oven very low for extra heat.
Thanks for these great tips, so glad I found you!
I have 2 top freezer refrigerators, one from 2010 and the other from 2022. Both use a similar amount of power and both are around 20 cu ft. I did make sure to buy a highly efficient model when I got one in 2010 though.
Also before I was married with kids I used to get $5-25 bills in the mild Texas winter monthly. Now with a wife and 3 kids it's hard to get under $100 a month.
I've been slowly upgrading my wall insulation as I remodel my house. The original build had only R13-15 fiberglass which had degraded to probably R10-12. Using foam board, spray foam, and rock wool insulation my exterior walls, after upgrade, are air tight and R25.
I'll be taking the attic next with the same strategy.
My other favorite here in Florida is a hybrid water heater. It helps dehumidifier the house and keeps my garage 10-15' cooler. Yeah the price these days makes you want to cry, but the ROI is pretty quick especially if you can get a refund voucher from the power company.
What is the difference in the USA between the supply charge and the delivery charge? Which one is the electricity or gas that you actually use (and can therefore affect)? Presumably the other charge is the same as my "standing charge", which is just for having the facility there to be able to use the electricity or gas?
There are going to be tariffs to choose which will have off-peak periods coming soon, apparently. I am in the ideal position to be able to take advantage of those so I'll be looking out for them.
Thank you both for another great little video that will help me continue to tweak things more efficiently and save me money!
We have a new refrigerator because it’s great 👍 on electricity and we had to get one because our was had broken down N now we saving more money 💴 !!! $50.00 to run it a month !!! Thanks for sharing with us !!!
Hope navy blue is definitely your color! On utility bills, I heat primarily with propane-fired hydronic systems, but I leave the upstairs on the chilly side. Last month I had my little hot oil heaters going in the master bath and computer den, and forgot they were on. My bill came in $30 higher so it looked more like a summer bill w/A.C. going. Not smart. My electric co-op has very reasonable rates and I'm happy with them.
Hi Larry & Hope, great video right on 🎯 for us. We are working down to FIRE and currently trying to cut our cost of living. In 2021 our Annual energy bill was $1,950 in 2022 it's going to climb higher. Looking at the back end of our bill we discovered our 16 year old fridge freezer in the garage was costing us $17 a month to run. We unplugged it on the stop and moved all the items into the kitchen appliances. I've started tracking the KWH daily and it's eye opening. At 2pm/4pm daily we have a huge spike in usage ever when no one is home. We are trying to wrap our head around it. Wondering if you are your followers would have an idea why. ❤ your channel and all your outstanding tips. Thank you Bar & C
My guess would be your water heater is cycling at that time of the day to keep the water in the tank hot. That may be increasing your usage even though no one is at home.
I've only lived in my apartment about five and a half months, from October to March, but my bill usually averages around $70-ish. It got up to $81 the month before last and now my current bill is back to the upper $60's, nearly $70. While I don't unplug everything, I do keep some of my appliances unplugged when not in use, such as my toaster and coffee maker. I like seeing the time on both, my microwave and stove, so those also stay plugged in. I should, however, u plug the TV and PlayStation 4 as I rarely use them (the living room isn't furnished and I don't want to sit in my camping chair most days).
I don't keep my personal or workplace laptop plugged in, but I should also unplug the monitor for work and the office lamp. I also have my phone charger plugged in at all times (even if nothing is on it) and two night lights, one made out of resin that my mom made me, stuffed with "fairy lights" that use a remote, and the other is a salt rock lamp. My apartment's ceiling fans also plug into the walls and while I can unplug them too, it also means turning off the lights and plugging them in repeatedly would be annoying.
I cook every few days, wash laundry about once or twice a month (super loads on cold water), and have a fan running beside me at all times I'm in my bedroom as I don't like pure silence or hearing people or things around me. The fan is about ambient noise but also keeps my room cool. I don't use the AC or heat, a space heater (with a fan function) was my choice in winter (and that $81 bill was the highest of the year). I'll take a bill in the $80's over the $140 bill I had when I roomed with my sibling last year.
This is my second time looking at this video. . . and it has given me inspiration for electricity savings. Inspired by this video, I have been working on my own version of saving money on charging my phone and laptop. Your idea was to charge these items for a few hours before bed and not leave them charging overnight, which would waste electricity because they would be fully charged within a few hours. However, my iPhone 8 powers down VERY quickly. So, I was thinking if I kept it unplugged overnight it will shut down in the middle of the night. Therefore, I came up with the idea to leave it on low power ALL the time. . . and it powers down MUCH slower now. I do have to put in my passcode every time I pick up my phone now, which is a little annoying, however, I just told myself to buck up, lol. Also, I FORCED MYSELF to quit going to sleep with a video playing on my laptop. . . and therefore it plays ALL night long! I have started leaving my cell phone and laptop in the living room and NOT taking them to bed with me, so that I WON'T be tempted! I read a book last night instead. Which also causes me to be less dependent on electronics, which is another goal of mine. NOW, I can work on charging my phone and laptop for a few hours a day. . . and see how that goes. I just had some prep work to do before getting to that point. Thank-you for the inspiration. I have subscribed :)
We have all kinds of things that need help from you guys doing today !!!
Thank you very much great video ✨
Months back I watched another one of your energy saving videos. Larry and Hope, I applied your tips. We historically, used less electric than the neihgborbors in the complex we lived in already. The kicker is that we have to keep the temperature cool for my son's medical needs. Plus he has numerous pieces of durable medical equipment that has to stay plugged in. Most of our neighbors sit our side in the heat with the air shut off. We keep it pretty contract. (Ours$90/ month - most neighbors $150/ month. That was before the rates jumped.)
We needed to move out of our cheap apartment to a safer wheelchair accessible rental apartment that would raise the rent $200 a month. Our old place rent was going up anyway and our energy jumped to $112 in the heat with central air. So, what were we going to do with $200 we don't really have?
I found a newer energy efficient place twice as big and for that $200 more above budget. The former tenant average energy was only $80/ month. We have been here in the new place for 3 months with 80 to 90 degrees temps. We are only using $75/ a month. (That helps with the rent.)
We don't have leaks. under the doors and windows. In fact the back side is 1/2 under ground.
The filters are changed every 3 months and the vents are not shared and filthy with the neighbors.
The newer frig is bigger than the old. I keep big ice packs up their to fill the freezer part.
Oh my! What a blessing, we have a dishwasher. I run it after 10 pm. I cut the water bill form $20/ month to only $8/ month.
I use motion sensor lights in the bath room so that I am not turinging on 8 expensive bulbs over the mirror.
I don't turn on the over head light except for the florecent in the kitchen. I turn it on once- not on and off. The lights are just small bulbs. They use almost zip. I unplug everyappliance that I can right after use.
The laundry room is the room right by our apartment. The new machines actually had hot water. (The old one only had cold) The price was 50 ents/ load less. Since I don;t have to carry wet laundry a block, I only wash laundry. I hang it up inside our large whellchair acceible bathroom on a rack to dry. Since the newer washer spins so well, the clothes are nearly spun 1/2 dry. Botta Bing. Bott Boom! ( I have a lot of incontentnet bedding to do for my bed bound "room mate". But, still, I am saving over $30 a month with better washer fully loaded - but not over loaded.
And thanks guys for more tips. Our goal now that it is cooler and our new home with the door and windows shut still maintinas heat and cool air. Our goal for our October bill is $50 electric. We are fully electric except for the water heater.
This was a game changer for me in Australia 🇦🇺 👌👌👌
Talking about charging devices... be sure to unplug the charger after your device is charged. It can still draw power, even after if the device is not plugged into the charger.
Use a heating pad & keeps u warm.
Totally agree, a heated blanket or throw only uses 150w which is especially useful for a one or two person home!
I have Con Edison and they absolutely suck! For The past few months, my bill just keeps getting higher and higher, and the thing is that I always conserve energy, and I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to be paying $400-500 a month
Also,check the seal on your appliances.if they don't seal right, energy wasted
The videos you guys make are so very helpful. Thank you!
I always wash in cold but now I am trying to only do full loads. I also do not raise the heat until the kids come home from school. So it is bit cool when it is just me but I wear a sweater or a blanket and keep the heat down. We replaced our dishwasher and fridge. So hopefully that helps. But I am trying to get the kids to turn down lights.
I have just about everything hooked up to powerstrips. When not in use I just run around the house and flip off the powerstrips not needed.
Just a heads up that leaving most modern portable electronics on chargers overnight is probably better for the devices and only costs pennies a month. It probably saves $ overall to leave your phones and fitbits on their chargers overnight.
Yes, my utility bill was its highest ever in Feb. 2022. I've been in this house for 18 years.
My energy bill usually comes around $40-30. I always turn off and or unplug things when I head out. I forget sometimes but better than just leaving it on
Wow! Mine is budget billed at $343 a month!
@@Myfavorites877 around 343 is my monthly salary...
Do energy companies charge basic fee for use of power or does it increase with the amt. of power you use???
we have 2 chest freezers as one is more for veg and bread. the other one is for our yellow sticker's meat's as that's how we keep our food bill down really low plus we have olio over so we do get some food for free to stop it going into landfill
Thank you, I only wash in the morning with cold water and full loads 😇 if I understand here 1 to 5 pm are higher cost, I need to check the again 👍
I am very much inspired with everything you do and I am trying my best to do thesame as well, I hope you can do a house tour in the future it looks like you have a lot if interesting piece in your house I am obsessed with vintage items too but because I am practicing frugality I am trying to hold back
Hello Larry and Hope, Great Video...........Great weather here today in Southeastern Indiana high of 65* I just turned our HEAT OFF......Cowboy hasn't noticed as of yet LOL .....Im tired of a $404.00 Are you kidding me......INSANE........warm and cozy is great except when the rates went up SO much......I'm having better days now.....xoxo
I love your videos! Very helpful! Thanks!
We have changed suppliers, use battery operated lights around the house. Open all the curtains during the day and use the sun light. We unplug all devices when not in use. We keep our heat low and no higher than 66 degrees. We wash our dishes by hands. I’ve been cooking with an electric skillet as it uses the least amount of voltage along with a toaster oven. We do have a fireplace and plan on getting it cleaned out to begin using next year as we just bought our home last year. Doing some home renovations so we weren’t able to use the fireplace this year.