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YIKES! HUGE Electric Bill


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Ok, Ladies. We just got a $511 electric bill!! (Our highest ever was $295) I need help cutting this more than in half. Please submit ideas.

 

You need to know:

We live in a 2500(ish) sq. ft OLD house with no storm windows. I think this is the major issue, but we 1) don't have money to put all new storm windows on right now without going into debt and 2) the dh has visions of some renovations that will affect some of said windows so he has held off. (My POV is that we should have put the storm windows on to help with heating/cooling and if/when we get to the renovations, we'll cross that bridge. I think only a couple of windows will ultimately be affected. This is the beginning of year #4 in this house.)

 

So, the house stays quiet cool. We currently run the heat at 70, but we will need to drop that to 65-67 to probably make any kind of cost difference, right?

 

We have guinea pigs and a tropical fish that need a warm room. Our back room is a den and was an addition (before we moved in) so it gets even less heat than the rest of the house. We've been using space heaters in there (for the pets, mostly).

 

Outside of the obvious heat issues, what can I do to reduce the electric bill?

 

Would love to hear the obvious and not-so-obvious things you've done at your house.

 

Thanks!

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I would try putting plastic on the windows(on the inside) You can usually buy kits from store like home depot or lowes. I even think Wal mart carries it. And you might want to put old towels in front of the doors to outside to help with any leaks.

 

My heating bill was also quite high this past moth. So I am right there with you.:tongue_smilie:

Jenny

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There is a device that you can buy at places like Radio Shack - it reads the output of each appliance in your house. I think it should be around $50 - I forget what it is called but a little Google-ing should bring it up.

*anything with a clock on it saps energy even when they are not in use.

*high efficiency dryer cut our electric bill down by about 20% or so - our washer and dryer were very old.

*you can have insulation sprayed into your walls.

*a new a/c system is $$ but can pay for itself quickly in saved money on bills.

 

Electric companies are raising their costs in winter and bills are high all over. My mom is very careful and her studio apartment just received a bill for $100 - usually they are around $40.

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First, I would call the electric company and have them re-read the meter. If the difference is that high, it may not be you at all. I have had this happen to me. That is a significant change!

 

the last time I had a big jump in my bill it ended up being the heat pump, there was a leak in the "coolant" yeah it has to have some type of coolant to heat the house in the winter (Who knew"?)

 

they did a patch on the heat pump last winter and it dropped the bill but we had to replace the whole system last month, waiting to see my new lower energy bill (praying)

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Put plastic over the windows to prevent more heat from escaping. You can staple heavy mil plastic indoors to the frames or make frames to attach outdoors. My family did this for years until we moved to a house with new windows. Hang heavy blankets and drapes over windows to prevent as much cold air as possible from entering the home.

 

Make certain your house has more humidity. Moist air is warmer air.

 

Unplug every appliance unless you are actually using it right then. Radios, microwaves, etc continue to pull electricity even though they aren't on.

 

Dress your family warmer.

 

Space heaters can use more energy than a regular heating system. Use only when necessary. Use a ceiling fan to push warm air down from the ceiling. You may have to change the direction of the fan to get this to work.

 

Move animals and such to warmest rooms so you aren't running extra heaters.

 

Call the electric company and ask them for help and advice. First, they should be able to prorate your bill. Second, they may be able to give you more ideas that your house needs. Maybe you need more insulation? Or your hot water heater is so old that it is not heating properly and using extra energy.

 

I had my dryer vent directed into the house for heat in our 1950s drafty home. The extra heat from the dryer made a huge difference.

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We keep out 1900 square ft. house with terrible windows at 66 during the day and 60 at night. At least it's not an old farm house, but I still think it's very inefficient. I do cover the windows with plastic. Electricity has gone up quite a bit around here, we do use space heaters some. I would say keep the animals in an inner room with the least amount of windows, could you keep a lamp on them to help keep just their area warmer? I don't know but :grouphug:. I long for the day we can replace windows.

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Space heaters add up, turn off computers and everything that has a big plug at night and when not in use, insulated curtains or plastic on windows, drop heat to 60 at bedtime and 65 during the day. Do you have zone heating? Windows make a difference but so does insulation. My guess is that it's your space heaters and general temperature. We have an old house and I know how frustrating this is.

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We have combined electric and gas bills, and it's been running about $500 a month. It went down a bit after dh moved his office out of the house, but not as much as I thought it would. We have very drafty windows and inefficient heating, and I think that is part of the problem. I want to look into how much our electronics (cable box, tvs, etc) drain power when plugged in but not in use. We live with my inlaws, and there are a lot of tvs in the house, all with a cable box, dvd player, etc. I've heard these drain power even while not being used. The utilities company will come in and do an evaluation of energy usage and give ideas on lowering usage. That's on my to do list. I don't remember if it's free or not; it may be free for my inlaws because they are senior citizens and the house is in their name.

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My first step would be to call your electric company and see if they do free energy audits. Mine does, and we have one scheduled for next week. They will spend about an hour checking your house, even going into the attic and such, then they tell you what your biggest energy wasters are and ways to cut your usage. I specifically asked about low cost improvements when I called to schedule the appt, and the customer service person said to tell the evaluator we are on a budget and he will focus on less expensive fixes - she said some common ones are replacing the thin rubber tubey stuff (I can't remember what she called it) that goes in door frames to make a good seal, thick curtains over windows, and power strips for appliances and computers so you can completely cut power to them when you go to bed (they keep drawing power as long as they are plugged in, even if they are turned off).

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Put plastic over the windows to prevent more heat from escaping. You can staple heavy mil plastic indoors to the frames or make frames to attach outdoors. My family did this for years until we moved to a house with new windows. Hang heavy blankets and drapes over windows to prevent as much cold air as possible from entering the home.

 

Make certain your house has more humidity. Moist air is warmer air.

 

Unplug every appliance unless you are actually using it right then. Radios, microwaves, etc continue to pull electricity even though they aren't on.

 

Dress your family warmer.

 

Space heaters can use more energy than a regular heating system. Use only when necessary. Use a ceiling fan to push warm air down from the ceiling. You may have to change the direction of the fan to get this to work.

 

Move animals and such to warmest rooms so you aren't running extra heaters.

 

Call the electric company and ask them for help and advice. First, they should be able to prorate your bill. Second, they may be able to give you more ideas that your house needs. Maybe you need more insulation? Or your hot water heater is so old that it is not heating properly and using extra energy.

 

I had my dryer vent directed into the house for heat in our 1950s drafty home. The extra heat from the dryer made a huge difference.

 

:iagree:with all of this and we have done it all to bring down over $500 bills too. I would add closing off rooms that you don't use and dropping the heat, if individually controlled, way down. We keep the house at 60 in most rooms now. We also had to move to electric after the propane costs skyrocketed and we were paying close to $8000 to heat in the winter but we are in a very cold winter climate. Good luck - winters are painful but costs can be cut. Plastic and heavy drapes plus unplugging when not in use (especially those 220V appliances like washer/dryer) really help!

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A programmable thermostat has helped us immensely. I have it set around 68-69 when we're usually home and awake. Down to 62 downstairs at night (no one sleeps downstairs), 64 upstairs. Note that it doesn't drop until after we're all normally in bed. Mine allows for 4 settings on weekdays, and 4 settings on weekends. One for upstairs and one for downstairs as we have separate units up and downstairs.

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1) we have reptiles and put heaters designed for them in their cages. at night we drape the cages with a heavy comforter, which is on the top and backs of their cages all the time. i would move them out of the cold room for the winter and just close it off. not heating a room makes a huge difference, especially one that is not insulated well.

 

2) a programmable thermostat. we keep the house at 68 in the day and 65 at night BUT last month i kept the house at 65 in the daytime and we just bumped it up when we were cold, and we cut 1/3 of our usage, even with christmas lights! (our thermostat has 5 times you can set the temperature at, and i set the 6am one at 68, and then 8am at 65, one at 1pm for 65, one at 4pm for 65, one at 9pm for 65, so that if we bump it up to 68 it goes back down after a few hours). we tried going as low as 62, but it made us all grumpy; we could do it if we had to, though.

 

3) powerbars on everything (makes a little difference, but not a huge difference)

 

4) changing sleeping and waking times to be closer to the sun. if you go to bed by 8:30 each night, it saves a lot of electrical usage.

 

5) if you have an electric oven, organizing your cooking so you aren't just cooking one thing. if you use the microwave to defrost a lot, start putting things out to thaw in the mornings.

 

6) no space heaters. they use incredible amounts of electricity for what you gain.

 

7) warm feet count for a lot. we bought each person the fake uggs they were selling at costco, and that's what we wear inside. they are comfie.... and warm!

 

8) close bedroom doors and heat vents during the day.

 

9) check the setting on the hotwater heater, and see if it can't go down a bit. insulate it.

 

that's an inexpensive start at least.... the inventory idea is a good one. closing blinds and drapes in the bedrooms during the day should help, too, but open them in the afternoons if they face south.

 

:grouphug: that must have been a shock!

ann

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These are all great ideas. Thank you for thinking out loud for me. It was/is quite a shock and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. We have 3 girls and they have rooms upstairs. I don't venture up there very often, so who knows about lights left on, radios left on, etc. (We've had a quick family meeting about this already this morning.)

 

I am heading to the local electric website for ideas they have and will see if they do free energy efficiency visits. I would welcome one of those.

 

I will check back in later for any more ideas. I'll keep you posted on what happens next month!

 

Meanwhile, I've knocked the temp back to 65 and told the girls to layer up!

 

Thanks, all!

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:iagree:

 

My house came with these programable thermostats and I adore it! I don't have to remember to turn the head down etc. My house is very well insulated and I can have it go down to 60 over night, bump up to 70 from 5am-9am and then back down to 60 for the rest of the day. I live in upstate NY (currently well below zero) and we do just fine. Well, the kids have been known to stalk the heaters starting about one hour before it is due to come back on but I can live with it.

 

A couple of years ago I had a HUGE leap in my electricty. It tripled in one month. It turns out it was the dehumidfier in the basement. We must run one or our basement will turn into a mold pit. What we didn't know was that it had broken and was running non-stop at a very high level, even when not needed. We shut it off and replaced it with a much better model that was made to withstand cold basement temps.

 

Does your town have peak usage? If so, see if any of your appliances have timers. Things like running the dishwasher in the middle of the night can save some money.

 

My friend would only run her electric water heater for a couple hours each day. She said it saved quite a lot.

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We have about the same size old farm house. If we kept it 70* here (in Texas) our bill would be close to $1000/mo.

 

I keep our temp at 60-62 and we wear layers. :)

 

The outlets on the exterior walls could be leaking. There is insulation for those.

 

We do have space heaters for just the rooms we're in. When the girls are in their room working, they have theirs on. We have one for the dining room when we're all in here. I can't imagine that they would be more expensive to run than turning on our heater. Ann, do you have a site I can look that up?

 

I rarely run the dryer. I plan wash days around the weather so I can hang clothes up outside. If I have to wash on a cloudy/rainy/very cold day, I'll run the dryer for a little while, then hang clothes on hangers in the bathrooms.

 

In our previous home we had an instant water heater. Since we had propane, it saved us hundreds of dollars.

 

The crock-pot gets used more than the oven here. I will cook in the oven on a brutally cold day, then leave the oven door open so it heats the house when the food is done.

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We do have space heaters for just the rooms we're in. When the girls are in their room working, they have theirs on. We have one for the dining room when we're all in here. I can't imagine that they would be more expensive to run than turning on our heater. Ann, do you have a site I can look that up?

 

.

 

from wisegeek.com

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-much-energy-do-space-heaters-use.htm

 

"Space heaters are considered energy hogs with very good reason. The smallest electric space heaters can use about 3,000 watts (about 10,000 BTUs per hour). Larger electric space heaters may use over 11,000 watts (about 40,000 BTUs per hour). Using space heaters instead of central heating may increase your overall energy costs for heating by about 70%."

 

and here's a consumer reports article that has some good ideas

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/resource-center/saving-on-energy-costs-10-07/overview/energy-ov.htm

 

"Portable heaters could save you money--if you're willing to keep most of your house much chillier and use the heater in just one room to supplement your regular heating. Otherwise, as we say in our space heater report, you're likely to spend more on electricity for several heaters than you would to run your furnace. What's more, open floor plans can make sealing off just one room to save energy impossible."

 

and here's a link to their space heater guide

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/heating-cooling-and-air/space-heaters/space-heater-buying-advice/space-heater-getting-started/space-heater-getting-started.htm

 

hth,

ann

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Check your meter and see if it shows a lower number than your bill- ours did in December- they charged us double what we actually used. There is a small thing on the paper bills that tells us they don't actually read the meters here December-March- they just 'guess' based on what you paid previously. We weren't even using our heater unless the temps were in the 20s outside at night. The house stays around 60-65.

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from wisegeek.com

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-much-energy-do-space-heaters-use.htm

 

"Space heaters are considered energy hogs with very good reason. The smallest electric space heaters can use about 3,000 watts (about 10,000 BTUs per hour). Larger electric space heaters may use over 11,000 watts (about 40,000 BTUs per hour). Using space heaters instead of central heating may increase your overall energy costs for heating by about 70%."

 

and here's a consumer reports article that has some good ideas

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/resource-center/saving-on-energy-costs-10-07/overview/energy-ov.htm

 

"Portable heaters could save you money--if you're willing to keep most of your house much chillier and use the heater in just one room to supplement your regular heating. Otherwise, as we say in our space heater report, you're likely to spend more on electricity for several heaters than you would to run your furnace. What's more, open floor plans can make sealing off just one room to save energy impossible."

 

and here's a link to their space heater guide

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/heating-cooling-and-air/space-heaters/space-heater-buying-advice/space-heater-getting-started/space-heater-getting-started.htm

 

hth,

ann

 

Thanks, Ann! I'll have to re-think our use of heaters. :001_smile:

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My electric company sometimes does ESTIMATED bills as opposed to actual readings and what happens is they *always* underestimate. So then an actual comes in and it's a few hundred higher.

 

That said-

 

Put heavy curtains up. In my family rooms I have a wall of old windows that would leak heat like the jet stream if not for the heavy Roman blinds I put down. If you can, put them up on all of the windows and just open them for sun while the sun is out. :-)

 

Don't leave your chargers in the walls while no appliance is in them.

 

Is one of your electric appliances going bad? A fridge that is about to die will suck enormous amounts of electric. Ask me how I know this? :glare:

 

Lights out when you leave a room.

 

Set the thermostats at 68 for the day and 66 at night. The fish will live. Get slippers and sweaters and bundle up. Put an afghan on every couch.

 

Turn your computer off at night.

 

Turn all of the zones that you are not in down. If you're not in your bedroom till the evening-turn it down to 65 and close the door.

 

Close the doors to all of the rooms that you don't use and turn the thermostats down.

 

HTHs.

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If you have an electric water heater, either install a time for it or turn the power to it off (via the circuit breaker) at night. When we have been diligent about this, it has lowered our electric bill about $40 per month. We turn the water heater on in the morning for a few hours. Then we turn it on again before bed to have hot water for baths.

 

During the day, we have enough hot water, unless we do lots of laundry or dishes. If we start to run out, we just turn it back on for an hour or so.

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Many areas within the South have had a record cold winter. I am curious if these high electric bills are coming from this region of the country? People who live in places which regularly experience Winter seem to heat with natural gas. That is not an option for us, hence a higher than usual electric bill this year.

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This happened to us last month as well. I called the electric company hoping it was a problem with the meter. No such luck. The rep said the electric heat is very expensive (I had ours set at 70) and that the space heater we have (800W) costs about $12 for 4 hours run time.

 

On our meter it tells what your average KWH hours are since your last reading. I am trying to keep that at 70 or under which will mean a bill of about $250.

I have my thermostat at no higher than 67 and am hanging towels, etc. overnight to dry to save on the dryer.

 

Other than that, I am just trying to make sure that things are turned off and unplugged (chargers, etc) when not in use.

 

Best wishes!

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We had two really abnormally high bills in our 14 years here on our farm.

 

The first time the refrigerator was going, and going, and going. The compressor hardly ever turned off, but we didn't catch it for some reason. The bill was a couple hundred higher than normal. Once the fridge was fixed we didn't have problems.

 

The second is when our well pump stayed on. It kept pumping water back into the well (when we weren't using it). Like the fridge, not having the pump turn off when it should have cost us an extra $200 in just one month.

 

Wait, there was a third time - when we first moved in. An electrical wire to the barn was shorting out under ground. Our horses could feel it and would spook over it, but we could never figure out why as WE couldn't feel it. When that first electric bill came in hubby went around trying to determine the drain on the electric and found it. Once it was replaced our electric bill was much more reasonable.

 

It really can be reasons other than too much [normal] usage. It's worth checking out.

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This is our second winter in NC, and we are in the same boat with electric heat. Our last electric bill was $730--compared to $207 in the prior month for a 2,500 sq ft lake house with walls of glass in almost every room. My husband, the engineer, has spent all week trying to get to the bottom of it.

 

The bottom line is that electric heat is very inefficient at below freezing temperatures because your heat pump can't maintain the inside temperature and kicks in the auxillary heating coils which use a lot of electricity. Typically your auxillary heat will kick in when your inside temperature is somewhere between 1/2 and 2 degrees from the actual temperature. Yes, my husband spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with Honeywell the maker of our thermostats! My husband has been tracking our usage every 24 hours and our electricity use doubles when it gets into the 20's. There may be a way to turn off your auxillary heat, and it will probably be fine unless the low temperature get into the 20's.

 

Set back thermometers will typically result in higher use of auxillary heat to bring the room back up to a higher temperature! When we moved in, my husband replaced everyone of our thermometers (3 different heat zones, and heating units--don't ask!) and was so proud of himself...after his discussion with Honeywell he stopped setting them back!

 

We are just praying that winter temperatures get back to normal (lows in the mid to high 30's), otherwise, my husband is seriously considering installing a geothermal system in the lake! Somehow, I think Duke Power, who owns our lake and is also our electric company, will take issue with his plan!

 

Good luck!

 

Nancy

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This is our second winter in NC, and we are in the same boat with electric heat. Our last electric bill was $730--compared to $207 in the prior month for a 2,500 sq ft lake house with walls of glass in almost every room. My husband, the engineer, has spent all week trying to get to the bottom of it.

 

The bottom line is that electric heat is very inefficient at below freezing temperatures because your heat pump can't maintain the inside temperature and kicks in the auxillary heating coils which use a lot of electricity. Typically your auxillary heat will kick in when your inside temperature is somewhere between 1/2 and 2 degrees from the actual temperature. Yes, my husband spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with Honeywell the maker of our thermostats! My husband has been tracking our usage every 24 hours and our electricity use doubles when it gets into the 20's. There may be a way to turn off your auxillary heat, and it will probably be fine unless the low temperature get into the 20's.

 

Set back thermometers will typically result in higher use of auxillary heat to bring the room back up to a higher temperature! When we moved in, my husband replaced everyone of our thermometers (3 different heat zones, and heating units--don't ask!) and was so proud of himself...after his discussion with Honeywell he stopped setting them back!

 

We are just praying that winter temperatures get back to normal (lows in the mid to high 30's), otherwise, my husband is seriously considering installing a geothermal system in the lake! Somehow, I think Duke Power, who owns our lake and is also our electric company, will take issue with his plan!

 

Good luck!

 

Nancy

 

We just had a heat pump installed, so we don't know quite yet the energy savings. Our auxillary heat doesn't kick in until it's 6 degrees below the set temperature. I don't know if that's a setting with the heat pump or with the thermostat (we have a Honeywell, non-programmable). We do the opposite of someone else upthread - we set the thermostat at 66 during the day and turn it UP to 68 at night. That way, the electric furnace will kick on at 62 instead of 60 on cold nights. We have two toddlers that don't always stay wrapped in their blankets, and I get tired of getting up every hour to cover someone up.

 

It's quite a battle, having all electric. We keep getting more insulation, more efficient appliances, lower the thermostat, unplug the computers... and just when we get the monthly bill to go down, they jack our rates up to be even with what we were paying before. If they're determined to charge us $240/month no matter what, then forget this energy savings stuff. I'm putting in a hot tub.

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Plastic over the windows. Put something behind the exterior doors to block any drafts. We have an old house too, with two old wooden doors. Last year, we put storm doors in front of them, and it was amazing, the difference in temperature. Do you have rooms you could close off and not heat regularly?

 

I'd be looking into alternate forms of heating, like wood or something. Even if you heated part of the house with wood, that would reduce your electric costs, though IDK about your wood costs. A programmable thermostat has helped us a lot too.

 

Also, if you have no other options, talk to your electric company about an equal payment plan. For us, we have slightly higher electric costs in the summer due to AC units, and much higher electric costs in the winter because of the electric heat, but with the equal payment plan, we pay the same all year round, so that in the spring and fall, we're paying ahead for the higher costs. (They do settle it up once a year, so we can still get a higher bill one winter month, but this time, it was only a few dollars higher, not astronomical.)

 

Are you in an area where you have options for suppliers? Check into those.

 

My ILs have a thingy that turns off their hot water heater during most daytime and nighttime hours, just leaving a few hours in the morning and evening. That wouldn't work for us, but it might work for some other families.

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I would try putting plastic on the windows(on the inside) You can usually buy kits from store like home depot or lowes. I even think Wal mart carries it. And you might want to put old towels in front of the doors to outside to help with any leaks.

 

 

In the cold midwest everyone in an old house nailed plastic onto lathing strips around each window. Made the view hazy, but it is hard to appreciate a view with chattering teeth.

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It shouldn't be an issue with carbon monoxide, but my hubby (Civil Engineer who also inspects houses) said it's a terrific way to grow mold (the bad kind) and mildew. He's seen the results of it in some of his inspections.

I can see that. The reason it worked for us was bcause my washer and dryer were in the middle of my large kitchen. The moisture wouldn't build up there like it would in a small enclosed area. Lint was an issue though and I had ot be diligent about cleaning around the dryer. Even with the special vent thing made just for doing this, we had lots of lint that came back in. I was afraid of a fire hazzard.

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