historically accurate Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 (edited) We just installed an electric water heater last month. We live in a mobile home and special venting on the gas one would've required a $3000+ outlay for replacement. So we opted for switching over to electric, which was pricey, but not $3000+. But I just got my electric bill for the month. There is a HUGE increase in price, like almost double last month's. Our usage went way up, so my bathtimes are now out. We are a family of 2 adults, 1 teen, & 2 preteens, so we do do a lot of showers here, and I've been taking baths in the cold evenings. I have not yet gotten our gas bill to see how much it went down, but the gas bill in total is less than the increase we just got on our electric bill! Any other ideas to minimize water and electricity usage? Cheaper to hand-wash or dishwasher? Edited April 27, 2017 by beckyjo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mona Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 off the top of my head...I consider changing light bulbs to the LED instead of incandescents if you haven't done that. LEDs use less energy. Also, consider unplugging anything that is not being used. Appliances still use a low amount of energy when plugged in. Our TV, DVD, XBOX, etc. are all plugged into a power strip and we turn that off when we are not using it to cut the power to those things. Lower the temperature of your hot water heater. If you prefer to use the dishwasher, you could turn the heated dry setting off to save your hot water heater from having to heat up. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 In our house, we use LED bulbs, hand wash dishes, use a clothesline when possible (I have an indoor drying rack, too), only run the heat/ac when we're home, cut out heat-generating electronics when possible, and keep an eye on our daily usage. I can see when our peak hours are on our provider's website and adjust as much as possible. We also adjust our water heater, keeping it as low as possible to be safe, and only turning it up when necessary. We also redid the insulation in the room it's in so that it doesn't lose heat that way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 You probably already have one, but I've found a programmable thermostat to help tremendously. We, also, turn off everything that might use electricity, especially at night. Chargers, especially, used to be left plugged in when not in use by my teens. We try to run the dryer and use the stove when it's cooler outside to avoid heat build up, but we live in Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 turn off electronics when not using them. standby mode eats a lot of electricity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 wash clothes in cold whenever possible showers are for sanitation, not recreation celing fans keep A/C bills lower 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 (edited) My dh has become a real nerd about this since we bought our older home. He's got the basement lights on a motion sensor, the rest of the lights communicate with his phone. He uses his phone to program certain lights to go on or off at certain times. All lights go out at 11pm if they are still on. All lights go off if it detects no one home (unless on an out of town setting). Its almost absurd the amount of automation. He just got a system that was installed into the breaker box that collects data on energy usage on every appliance in the house and transmits data to Dh's phone. It will track usage by appliance over time and make recommendations on when replacement would be cost effective. It will also help us know where we are wasting. Right now replacing our ancient AC system is the biggest savings opportunity. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited March 30, 2017 by SamanthaCarter 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Line dry the clothes. Electric dryers use more electricity than most home appliances. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 My dh has become a real nerd about this since we bought our older home. He's got the basement lights on a motion sensor, the rest of the lights communicate with his phone. He uses his phone to program certain lights to go on or off at certain times. All lights go out at 11pm if they are still on. All lights go off if it detects no one home (unless on an out of town setting). Its almost absurd the amount of automation. He just got a system that was installed into the breaker box that collects data on energy usage on every appliance in the house and transmits data to Dh's phone. It will track usage by appliance over time and make recommendations on when replacement would be cost effective. It will also help us know where we are wasting. Right now replacing our ancient AC system is the biggest savings opportunity. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Do you recall the name of his system or any of his automation stuff? My DH is an automation nerd, too, and wants to install all of this, and soon. We are just waiting for the day we all live on the Enterprise, and control everything by saying, "Computer, ... " 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 To reduce electricity costs do NOT move to Ontario, Canada. Things are really, really bad here now. Just count yourself lucky, unless you already live here. ;) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Insulate your pipes & the hot water heater itself, if it isn't already. There are special "blankets" and pipe insulation available for this at hardware stores - dramatic improvement in our (cold) region. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Do you recall the name of his system or any of his automation stuff? My DH is an automation nerd, too, and wants to install all of this, and soon. We are just waiting for the day we all live on the Enterprise, and control everything by saying, "Computer, ... " The lights are all internet enabled led bulbs and the energy usage monitoring system is something called "Sense." He's also got the ecobee thermostat so he can monitor that from anywhere. This is the full extent of my knowledge. [emoji6] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Handwashing uses much more water than the dishwasher will. The water needs to be heated by your hot water heater. As others have suggested, allow your dishes from the dishwasher to air dry rather than dry on the heat cycle. I also wait for sunny days (windy even better) and do laundry on those days even in the winter so I can hang it outside to dry. Even if it's not totally dry, it will either then dry overnight on hangers in the house or just take a quick spin in the dryer. I think that saves a lot of electricty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Since you just installed the hot water heater, try to determine the temperature of the water coming out of the faucet. You may be able to turn down temperature setting on the hot water heater. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ealp2009 Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 I don't know what you keep your thermostat at but we keep ours at about 60 in the winter, so usually wear a hat indoors and will wear one to bed if my husbands not home. I also hang clothes to dry. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 Thanks, everyone. DH turned down the water heater today - apparently it was set at about 150. We discussed showers with teen who is the only one who luxuriates (besides me; I'm probably the worst). Since the water heater is new, it is well insulated. We can't have a clothesline (we're in a mobile home park and those are the rules), but I already hang as much as possible since my dryer senses and adjusts for amount of clothing/wetness. The dryer is fairly new and I honestly didn't notice any change in my bill when we got it; it's another appliance we've switched from gas to electric. The electric one was a great deal, and the house was set up for either, so we went ahead and got the electric. So it has to be the water heater that is causing the huge increase. We'll be cutting back water usage, and hopefully, turning down the temp will make a difference. According to the sticker on the side, the water heater should cost $555 per year to run. If last month's increase was due solely to the water heater, we'd be paying almost $900 per year for the water heater! Looking back on our bills in the last 5 years, we've never had a bill this high. I hope to not see it again... And I'd like to thank y'all who said dishwashers use less water - that made my day! Also, I noticed that the Heated Dry button on the dishwasher had gotten hit at some point, so I clicked it to air dry. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how much of a difference it will make until next month's bill. That's a bummer since I want to make sure we are making progress. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 We keep our heat low in the winter and dress appropriately. If we had air it would only be used when neccasary and only on low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Depends where you live. You may find turning it down does the trick - just don't go below 60 degC (140 F). Baths only once a week and short showers. No heating unless actually cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinnia Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 We are on a time of use plan. From June to September, 2 to 7pm, we pay 9 cents per kw hour. The rest of the time, we pay 0.09 cents. Before this we were on a tiered aystem. Four cents for so many kw hours, then 7, then 9. So we were paying the 9 cents for peak hours anyway. But this way, all of our other hours are discounted. We have seen a noticeable descrease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Contact your utility company - at least here, the baseline allowances are different for "all-electric" households vs those with gas too. It's possible to put an electric water heater on an appliance timer, so that if you like to take a bath in the evening, you can do it after the water heater is off for the night, and it won't immediately heat up a full tank of water and keep it hot all night. Set the timer so it can come on a little while before hot water is needed the next day. (Disclaimer - I've always had gas hot water heaters, so I've not done this myself. I've just heard talk of others doing it.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Also (and this is my frugal-geek showing), there is a device called a Kill-A-Watt that you can plug in to your wall that measures PRECISELY how much electricity each appliance is using. Our library has them available for check-out, and they were rather eye-opening for me (some things we were doing were totally not worth the hassle, and others really were). Our electric company also has an "electric audit" you can have done at your home, where they will come out and check things for you, to see if there's a way to reduce your costs. I live in a part of the country where electricity costs more than in other areas, so this is something we pay attention to. If you're going to re-train your family's comfort level with cold, do it gradually; we've been able to back our thermostat down quite a bit over time, and I secretly think it's healthier, anyway, for it to be a little bit cold. We also burn wood, which helps a LOT (obviously not with hot water, but with general energy consumption). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 T Unfortunately, I can't figure out how much of a difference it will make until next month's bill. That's a bummer since I want to make sure we are making progress. Can you go online and get your energy consumption to date? My electric company provides weekly updates and you can get a chart that has shows energy consumption by the hour for the past week, so you can see what times of day you are consuming the most. Or, is your meter some place you can check to monitor usage? That way you could see if you are making progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Programmable thermostats made a HUGE difference for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Our electric usage is pretty high even when we're doing all the right things. The only options we have left are expensive home upgrades, like improving the insulation in all exterior walls and the roof. Most electric companies do offer a budget program. It doesn't save us any money, but it helps to spread the cost of our heat usage for 6 months across the warmer 6 months. (We only run a window AC as-needed, which isn't very much.) Without that program, our deep winter bills would hit $1,000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 Can you go online and get your energy consumption to date? My electric company provides weekly updates and you can get a chart that has shows energy consumption by the hour for the past week, so you can see what times of day you are consuming the most. Or, is your meter some place you can check to monitor usage? That way you could see if you are making progress. I did look online at the electric company's website. The capability of monitoring in between bills is not yet in my area - it says "in the area by end of 2018". I am also precluded from participating in $ saving credits by using less energy during peak periods due to being in a mobile home, only stick built homes are allowed. The only option available to me is a letter that I get monthly (with my bill) that basically says here's the "low average", here's the "average average" and here's where our consumption falls. We're usually "average average" or thereabouts. I may be able to watch my meter, but I really don't know what I'm looking at. I'll have to do some googling there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 My guess is that turning your water heater down will reduce your bill significantly. Ours is set on 125. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 2 years ago we took advantage of a $500 rebate from gas company to switch to gas dryer. Dh did the work and a plumber friend inspected and signed off on it.....and 3 months ago we did the same for our water heater. We went to gas and tankless and got a 850 rebate. Again Dh did the work himself...we only were out about $250 above the rebate. Anyway, my electric bill this month was the lowest it has ever been. And the gas bill is not increased much at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 We have to make some major changes in the summer due to high electric bills. It gets over 100 and stays there for way too long (IMHO) so I need to cut costs to keep the AC from driving our bill way up. Some thinge we do: don't use the oven if at all possible. I don't want to have a heat source (oven) on and the AC on at the same time. A couple years ago, dh gave me a toaster oven. It is perfect for a small pizza or a 8x10 cake pan. I use that over the oven in the warmer months. don't run the dryer. Use clothes lines, drying rack. Wash clothes on cold/cold put a list of what is in the fridge on the fridge door and try to keep things in the same place. This limits keeping the door open too long. Do the same with freezers turn off lights you don't need. Now that it is lighter longer, we don't need to use as many lights in the evening anyway. Try to gather in one area. We have found that everyone reading or doing an activity in one area limits where other lights are on in other areas of the house. see if you have any sources of "vampire energy" and deal with that accordingly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Another vote for programmable thermostat for a/c and programmable timer for hot water heater. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I may be able to watch my meter, but I really don't know what I'm looking at. I'll have to do some googling there... Do you know where your meter is? If you look at your last bill, it should have the reading of the meter on that date; for example it might state 98575. You can subtract that number from what it currently says on your meter to see how much you have used since the last bill. Remember it is the change in the total number that is important, not the level of the number. Depending on the age of your meter, the display on the meter may look a bit different. If you are using no electricity, the number should not be moving. You will notice as the AC kicks on, the numbers on the meter start increasing more quickly. If you check several times a day, you can determine when during the day you are using the most electricity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 . According to the sticker on the side, the water heater should cost $555 per year to run Who put that sticker there? The manufacturer? How much it costs to run depends on your water usage and on your local electricity cost - anything the manufacturer claims is completely useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 Who put that sticker there? The manufacturer? How much it costs to run depends on your water usage and on your local electricity cost - anything the manufacturer claims is completely useless. It's the Energy Star Sticker from the manufacturer; I know it's the average use/average cost, and we'll most likely be above that, but it's my goal now. I don't want to spend 70+ dollars a month just heating water... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I have not read the first 31 responses, so this is probably redundant. You can turn down the Water temperature on the Electric Hot water heater.. That will reduce how much it operates, along with (slightly) lowering the water temperature. You can replace your light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs. They are more expensive, but supposedly consume much less energy and last much longer. The bottom line is that Natural Gas is probably much less expensive than electricity where you live. That's probably true in most of the world? If you have an electric stove try to use it as little as possible. For example, use a Pressure Cooker, to reduce cooking time and energy costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) It's the Energy Star Sticker from the manufacturer; I know it's the average use/average cost, and we'll most likely be above that, but it's my goal now. I don't want to spend 70+ dollars a month just heating water... How much is the kWh where you are? Edited March 31, 2017 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 How much is the kWh where you are? It's showing .06311 to the supplier. It's .02879 to the delivery company (whose name is actually on the bill). Then about $35 of taxes and fees on top of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 OK, I got my new electric bill this morning. I thought I would come back and share my win! My electric bill dropped $50/500kwh from last month; the new amount is the amount that I kind of expected when we installed the water heater. This month: We dropped the heat on the water heater. I dropped my bathtime to once per week. I've become diligent about turning off computers/lights. I hang dry most of the laundry. It's been unseasonably warm here, so we've been eating cold things more often. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnwife Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 I know this is old, but I didn't see any mention of low flow shower heads. There are good and bad low flow shower heads. Next is a timer on the hot water so you get a cold shower after a set time. That's the most likely place the hot water is going, unless you do laundry in hot water, or have an old dishwasher, or a hot water leak-dripping faucet, or under the trailer. Turning the water heater temp down will save a little. Putting a timer on the water heater will save you even less if you don't have a lower off peak rate or incentive. Using less water will save as much as you want (or as stinky as you can stand?). Depending on your location and DIY abilities, a tempering tank is a great way to save on an electric water heater. Electric meters are easy enough to read, just take a look at it, then search "reading my electric meter", take a few more trips out to the meter to be sure which kind you have, and you'll understand it in no time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 I see you already hang dry the laundry, but I'll give my standard tip about it anyway: we put up extra spring loaded shower curtain rods in the bathtub/shower stall. I put the clothes on regular clothes hangers and line them up on the 4 curtain rods in the house. Most of the time they're dry within 24 hours, but sometimes it's longer. The only thing I dry in the dryer at all are the socks and underwear and only because I'm too lazy to pin all the socks and underwear to the hangers. If I wasn't lazy about it, I would use the dryer about once a year otherwise. For now, I do all the socks and underwear about 2-3 times a month, so I use the dryer about 2-3 times a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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