I was very happy to see my electric bill this month, only $27. I used 180 kwh in March averaging about 6 kwh per day. $0.058 cents per kwh comes to about $10, so the other $17 is just basic service charges to deliver electricity to the apartment. Following advice given on this subreddit and doing my own research helped bring it down so low. It used to be as high as $75 in the winter and as high as $40 in the spring/summer/fall. Things I've done to bring it down in the past month:
Tracked my daily kwh usage by checking the meter every morning at the same time each day and writing it down on a piece of paper on my fridge. If one day seemed particularly high, I think back to what I did yesterday and adjust accordingly. Did I leave a light on for too long? How long did I leave the TV on?
Even though it's officially spring, it was quite cold this month, but not cold enough to run the heaters to heat the house. Got myself an electric blanket and used it just before getting into bed at night. This was a life saver.
I started unplugging the microwave and oven/stove when not in use. I only actively use it about 1-2 hours at most each day. The only reason to leave them on 24/7 was because they used power to display the time. Decided that I have a cellphone that tells me time so I didn't need the kitchen appliances on at all times.
I unplug the internet modem at night and when I'm at work during the weekdays, but leave it plugged in all day and night on the weekends only.
Tv and all connected game consoles are connected to a power strip. I switch the power strip off when not in use. I also tried reducing how many hours I have the TV on. I used to watch the TV for hours every day, but now I try to only use it mostly for my gaming consoles or while I exercise in front of the TV. If I want to watch youtube I just watch it on my tablet sometimes instead of switching on the TV, makes it easier to multitask and get things done around the house too.
March 31, 2018 at 01:10PM
