Saving power

[Ausmumof3]

I’m having a minor freak out. Someone just posted their advice of their new power rates and peak has jumped from 41c/kw to 79c/kw.  There’s no way we can afford to double our power bill. DHs organisations pay negotiations are stalled at the moment so there won’t be anything extra coming in. One of my casual jobs is extremely vulnerable if customers are short on cash.  The other isn’t but is much less consistent.

I have been running the dryer a lot but I need to go back to line and fire drying I think. Any other tips for reducing power usage? 

[Melissa in Australia]

Do you have a cheaper night rate? if you do then run the washing machine and dishwasher at night. Some washing machines ( like mine) have a timer so you can load them up then set them to run during the night same with anything that gets recharged . do it on the night rate. 

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

Turning appliances off at the wall makes a much bigger difference than you think. I learned that living on off grid solar. 

[Melissa in Australia]

it is frightening isn't it.  I cannot believe how fast everything seems to be falling to pieces.

[Melissa in Australia]

Just now, Rosie_0801 said:

Turning appliances off at the wall makes a much bigger difference than you think. I learned that living on off grid solar. 

yes this. everything  that has standby, tv, chargers, computers it is all drawing power 

Everyone could  go to bed earlier.

only having the minimum of lights on. 

solar / wood heated hot water is a huge saving, but expensive to set up

I have run out of ideas

 

[Melissa in Australia]

Are you in a locked in price contract for your power? if you are then you will be shielded (I think) of the rapid power hike.( I hope  that is how it works )

[prairiewindmomma]

They have a device here called a Kill-A-Watt that lets you calculate your real time power usage. You plug the Kill-A-Watt into the wall and then whatever you are measuring into the Kill-A-Watt. The results for us were kind of surprising. Our upright freezer is actually very efficient in power use, even though the “guidelines” say they often aren’t.

For us, HVAC is our biggest energy consumption. We upgraded the insulation in our home and in our previous home switched out some windows. We have blackout insulated curtains and we also have done quite a bit with caulking, etc. 

Unplugging things to avoid ghosting helps. Turning the heated drying off of the dishwasher helps. Insulating the water heater if it is a standing tank type helps. Line drying is also good. Swapping to led lights bulbs over time helps. 

[Carrie12345]

Washing the majority of my laundry on cold seems to make a big difference.
Timed showers for people who tend to loose sense of time in there.
We’re currently all electric heat, so warm clothes and fuzzy socks come before adjusting the thermostat here.
Alternatives to the oven for cooking. Many pull quite a lot of watts to run, but run for much less time.

[LMD]

Anything that heats up is a big power draw - irons, hair dryers, kitchen appliances like toasters or sandwich presses, dishwashers/washing machines that use very hot water etc.

light bulbs low power LED. 

Turn down the fridge/freezer a little bit.

I'm sorry, a lot of people are going to really hurt with a doubled electricity bill 😔

[Ausmumof3]

59 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Are you in a locked in price contract for your power? if you are then you will be shielded (I think) of the rapid power hike.( I hope  that is how it works )

We just changed providers. I don’t think we’re locked in. It does sound like the jump is worse with some than others so hopefully ours isn’t that bad.  Good point on the standby power. We have gas hot water and firewood for heating. And yes we get lower overnight rates. I can definitely do washing overnight. We do have solar but still get a bill. The electric pump for water is a killer. Dh modified it to make it run less frequently. (We put a torrium pump on and our next power bill was enormous - over $1000 😬 glad we don’t have that any more).

We could look into setting a tank up to gravity feed I guess. 

[Ausmumof3]

26 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

Washing the majority of my laundry on cold seems to make a big difference.
Timed showers for people who tend to loose sense of time in there.
We’re currently all electric heat, so warm clothes and fuzzy socks come before adjusting the thermostat here.
Alternatives to the oven for cooking. Many pull quite a lot of watts to run, but run for much less time.

I think we have one of the old machines that uses hot water from the hot water system which runs on gas. But I imagine gas prices are going to jump as well so this is probably worth doing.

In terms of cooking which of these would be lowest power?  I’m thinking this is lowest to highest but I’m not sure.

crockpot

stovetop

halogen light cooker (convection oven thingy)

air fryer 

oven?

I guess chopping things smaller and quick cooking is cheaper/more energy efficient?

[Melissa in Australia]

25 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I think we have one of the old machines that uses hot water from the hot water system which runs on gas. But I imagine gas prices are going to jump as well so this is probably worth doing.

In terms of cooking which of these would be lowest power?  I’m thinking this is lowest to highest but I’m not sure.

crockpot

stovetop

halogen light cooker (convection oven thingy)

air fryer 

oven?

I guess chopping things smaller and quick cooking is cheaper/more energy efficient?

you might be able to google and find out the energy efficiency of each item. remember if you are using an oven it is heating up the whole thing.  fill it up as much as possible. what type of wood heater do you have? if it is a freestanding one you can cook things like a stew on top. you can roast potatoes in all wood heaters.

[Melissa in Australia]

A header tank saves a lot. we have a very large one, we only pump up every 4 to 6 weeks. Our neighbour has a pump that turns on every single time they get a glass of water. 

would it be possible to fill up a container of water then use from the container. that way the pump comes on less?

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by Melissa in Australia

[Faith-manor]

Several things we have done in the past or presently to conserve energy

Unplugging appliances at night or when not in use. The microwave, t.v./computer screens, laptops, etc.

Turned down the temp on the hot water heater, surrounded with an insulated blanket so it doesn't use so much power to keep water warm. Put a timer on showers, five minutes.We had teenage boys who would spend 20-30 minutes showering if allowed.

We can't line dry in the winters when our electric bill is the highest, temps are too cold, not enough sunlight in our northern climate. Some stuff did lay out on a couple of drying racks, but for 6 people if I had tried to dry everything this way, I would have never been able to get near being caught up on laundry. So we made sure that we religiously cleaned the lint trap on the dryer and regularly cleaned the dryer vent hose because lint builds up in there and that makes air flow diminish which makes for less efficiency.

In the summers when we need to run some air, we cook out on the grill or over the fire pit for nearly every evening meal if it is not raining to keep the heat outside. Sandwiches, salads, and fresh fruit for lunches, and cold foods for breakfast as well. I don't cook/bake breakfast in the summer.

Really though, unplug everything not in use at the moment saves so much more than people think. Coffee pots, screens, microwaves, they really draw a lot of energy.

 

[Rosie_0801]

What kind of hot water service? Heat on demand? 

[Carrie12345]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I think we have one of the old machines that uses hot water from the hot water system which runs on gas. But I imagine gas prices are going to jump as well so this is probably worth doing.

In terms of cooking which of these would be lowest power?  I’m thinking this is lowest to highest but I’m not sure.

crockpot

stovetop

halogen light cooker (convection oven thingy)

air fryer 

oven?

I guess chopping things smaller and quick cooking is cheaper/more energy efficient?

I’d look at the wattage on each. I can tell you that, in the US at least, microwaves come in various watts, so I assume most other things do, too.
Burners on stove tops can vary in watts, too. Learned that while attempting to calculate solar, lol.
Keep in mind how long a crock pot runs vs. an air fryer.  1500 watts for 10 minutes is going to be way different from 1000 watts for 6 hours.

We’re designing our outdoor fire pit with cooking in mind. We already have some stuff to work with that from camping. And we have plenty of access to random wood that we wouldn’t use for the indoor wood stove. (Which I anticipate always having water on for various uses.)
 

[kbutton]

When you use an appliance that heats and stays heated, try to use it for multiple things--my mom never let us just iron one thing, for instance. If you have to toss something in the dryer, put in something clean and dry with it that's a similar texture to help it dry faster. In the winter, after you turn the oven off, leave it open until it cools to heat the kitchen for a little while.

Open and close the fridge and freezer as infrequently as you can. IIRC, full fridges and freezers are more efficient. If that is correct, you can always freeze some jugs of water or water bricks when it's not as full. For those following along who get really cold winters, you can use the outdoors for an extra fridge or freezer (pick a spot out of the sun). We used to do that at Christmas when we had a lot of extra groceries around for company. 

I agree with cooking outdoors when it works out. Some people live where the angle of the sun allows for using a solar cooker consistently. I don't have one, but a friend had a fairly fancy one, and she used it daily and often multiple times per day in the summer (winter here doesn't provide the right angle, so it's much more difficult). Her husband would calculate wattage for all their appliances as well, and they used a countertop convection oven most of the time instead of the regular oven (except if something didn't fit). They chose a convection oven that could handle a moderate-sized pizza, IIRC. 

 

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I think we have one of the old machines that uses hot water from the hot water system which runs on gas. But I imagine gas prices are going to jump as well so this is probably worth doing.

In terms of cooking which of these would be lowest power?  I’m thinking this is lowest to highest but I’m not sure.

crockpot

stovetop

halogen light cooker (convection oven thingy)

air fryer 

oven?

I guess chopping things smaller and quick cooking is cheaper/more energy efficient?

My washing machine, dryer, water heater runs on gas. For my washing machine, we wash on cold. For dryer, my husband would set it to less dry than I do, and just air dry awhile when the clothes come out.  
For cooking, my gas oven is definitely much more costly than using my air fryer. Using the oven would cause an obvious increase in my gas bill. Using the air fryer does not cause any obvious increase in my electric bill. 
I find if I use my electric kettle to boil water to use in my pot, it is less costly than to boil water on the stove for soup, boiling eggs, cooking pasta. I did not compare the rates but I think electric is lower than gas for us, two different providers.

I run my crockpot for 8hrs on low usually when slow cooking stew. I do that one or two times per week so can’t tell if it affects the electric bill. 
We do layer on for winter with down jackets at home so we never had to use heaters. Our winters are mild though. 

[Lucy the Valiant]

Ours just doubled here, too. 😞

We already line dry, use LED, be careful, etc. And we are in one of the very highest electric rate areas of the US already. 

[Melissa Louise]

Mine will be about 1.5 x last year's bill. I'm not too worried - I do bill smoothing, meaning I overpay each fortnight in summer, and have lots of credit for the winter bill 

There's hardly anything we can do here other than turn off appliances at the wall. 

[Melissa in Australia]

Ours just went up to 35c/ kwh. Our feed in tariff just dropped a few cents as well. 

I bought the twins solar powered torches to use instead of bedroom lights. I am now only doing laundry  a d dishwasher in off peak middle of night. So glad my machine has a timer. We already use less than the average 2 person household per day 

[textilexst]

I prefer to save the electricity through solar power. I have solar panels on the roof of my house, and I really like it. Pretty economical option considering recent inflation news. I think you have to try it in order to fully engage in the pros of this way of generating free electricity. I think it's worth it because now I'm not overpaying for electricity like I was before. Just visit this website and you'll find more info about that

[chocolate-chip chooky]

We switched to Alinta a couple of years ago and that saves heaps. It's 25% off, I think, as long as you pay on time.

Our last electricity bill for the quarter was about $1200. With the Alinta discount, we paid about $880. 

I was a bit wary of switching, but we've had zero issues and saved a huge amount.

 

[Carol in Cal.]

On 6/24/2022 at 3:53 AM, Ausmumof3 said:

I think we have one of the old machines that uses hot water from the hot water system which runs on gas. But I imagine gas prices are going to jump as well so this is probably worth doing.

In terms of cooking which of these would be lowest power?  I’m thinking this is lowest to highest but I’m not sure.

crockpot

stovetop

halogen light cooker (convection oven thingy)

air fryer 

oven?

I guess chopping things smaller and quick cooking is cheaper/more energy efficient?

Lowest power is actually a Sun Oven, no power at all.  If you have a good spot for it, it replaces a crockpot completely.  It works best with covered pots, preventing condensation on the sun window from reducing solar transmission.  So I don’t think it’s truly a roaster.  Maximum temperature is around 325 on mine.

You might want to look at a carbon steel wok.  You can use those on any fuel cooktop, and they cook more efficiently than most pots and pans.  Stir fries are particularly fast.  In fact, it seems like Cantonese Chinese cooking is largely designed to minimize fuel use, so looking for good old fashioned Cantonese cookbooks would be smart.  I don’t know whether outdoor campfire type cooking is a reasonable option for you, but if so, get a cast iron Dutch oven with a lid with a ridge on it so you can put coals on top as well as around it.  

 

[Shoeless]

I am trying to remember what it is called, but there is a thing like a cooking bag that requires almost no electricity to use. I read an article about a group of women in Africa that made it and how it solved some problems they were having regarding inconsistent electricity availability. 

I will keep trying to remember where I saw it and what it is called.

[Arcadia]

5 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

I am trying to remember what it is called, but there is a thing like a cooking bag that requires almost no electricity to use. I read an article about a group of women in Africa that made it and how it solved some problems they were having regarding inconsistent electricity availability. 

I will keep trying to remember where I saw it and what it is called.

This? https://www.wonderbagworld.com

[Shoeless]

20 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

This? https://www.wonderbagworld.com

Yes!

[KungFuPanda]

On 7/14/2022 at 10:50 PM, chocolate-chip chooky said:

We switched to Alinta a couple of years ago and that saves heaps. It's 25% off, I think, as long as you pay on time.

Our last electricity bill for the quarter was about $1200. With the Alinta discount, we paid about $880. 

I was a bit wary of switching, but we've had zero issues and saved a huge amount.

 

Your discounted rate is similar to what we pay. Our gas/electric bill is $250-$300 a month. It’s a little higher in the summer because I live with people who feel strongly about keeping the house 68 degrees year-round. I disagree with those people, but such is my life. 

[Melissa in Australia]

2 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Your discounted rate is similar to what we pay. Our gas/electric bill is $250-$300 a month. It’s a little higher in the summer because I live with people who feel strongly about keeping the house 68 degrees year-round. I disagree with those people, but such is my life. 

Wow. That seems  an absolutly huge bill. 

How much is it per kwh? 

[KungFuPanda]

17 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Wow. That seems  an absolutly huge bill. 

How much is it per kwh? 

I had to look it up. These are our current rates:

The BGE rate is currently $0.07 per kWh during off-peak hours and $0.36 per kWh during peak hours. BGE's standard flat rate is currently $0.11 per kWh.
 

It’s worth noting that DH works from home in the tech field and has a LOT of computers and blinking black boxes running at full tilt ALL the time. 

[Shelydon]

20 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Your discounted rate is similar to what we pay. Our gas/electric bill is $250-$300 a month. It’s a little higher in the summer because I live with people who feel strongly about keeping the house 68 degrees year-round. I disagree with those people, but such is my life. 

In the Southwest, summer electricity bills are easily $300-$600 per month. Winter is going to be significantly less. Budgeting $ 3500 ish a year is normal. 

[Arcadia]

21 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I had to look it up. These are our current rates:

The BGE rate is currently $0.07 per kWh during off-peak hours and $0.36 per kWh during peak hours. BGE's standard flat rate is currently $0.11 per kWh.
 

It’s worth noting that DH works from home in the tech field and has a LOT of computers and blinking black boxes running at full tilt ALL the time. 

Mine is less than $30 per month but my home is a small one bedroom condo. Our flat rate is $.11461/kWh, similar to yours.

Does your husband run the air conditioner all the time to keep the computers cool? That would hike up the electric bill more than the power supply to the computers. 

[prairiewindmomma]

18 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Wow. That seems  an absolutly huge bill. 

How much is it per kwh? 

Here with our bill in the US, it’s not the kWh price that kills you. It’s all of the standard bundled fees.

Our monthly hydro bill will never be less than $80 because that’s all of the fees before they charge for water at all. Same with electric and gas. We usually spend $300-350/month as well even with careful usage as we have separate companies for gas and electric and thus separate fee bundles for each.

Our electricity is currently .14/kWh which sounds inexpensive but isn’t based on the fee structure. If we could generate enough solar to drop the grid tie, we would.

[Faith-manor]

19 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Here with our bill in the US, it’s not the kWh price that kills you. It’s all of the standard bundled fees.

Our monthly hydro bill will never be less than $80 because that’s all of the fees before they charge for water at all. Same with electric and gas. We usually spend $300-350/month as well even with careful usage as we have separate companies for gas and electric and thus separate fee bundles for each.

Our electricity is currently .14/kWh which sounds inexpensive but isn’t based on the fee structure. If we could generate enough solar to drop the grid tie, we would.

This. Is it insane how many fees they can tack on. Same with the phone bill. It reminds of university tuition here. It was not uncommon for the advertised semester tuition rate to be $1000 higher when the actual bill comes in because of all the fees they invent.

[KungFuPanda]

18 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Here with our bill in the US, it’s not the kWh price that kills you. It’s all of the standard bundled fees.

Our monthly hydro bill will never be less than $80 because that’s all of the fees before they charge for water at all. Same with electric and gas. We usually spend $300-350/month as well even with careful usage as we have separate companies for gas and electric and thus separate fee bundles for each.

Our electricity is currently .14/kWh which sounds inexpensive but isn’t based on the fee structure. If we could generate enough solar to drop the grid tie, we would.

My water/sewage bill is around $65 a month so it’s never as shocking as my gas/electric. 

[saraha]

To save electricity we cook with lids on pots as much as possible, double up cooking if I need to turn oven on, when I cook rice, I get it to boiling and then turn it off but leave on the burner. I always start the rice first and it absorbs away as I cook the rest of the meal. I turn the oven and burners off a couple minutes before the timer goes off. Cook double batches when I can. I have a table set up on the back porch where I can plug my crockpot, pancake griddle or bread maker so that they aren’t heating up the house when it’s hot. Conversely I cook as much as I can in my crockpot in winter as it’s like a little warmer in the kitchen and have seen the kids come inside and put their hands on the lid to warm them up.

I follow people  around all day flipping the ceiling fans off in rooms no one is in. We don’t have air conditioning at all, we use box fans in the windows at night to draw air in and close house up during the day. We keep those gel freezer things in the freezer for when I just get too hot and can sit with it to help bring core temperatures down. Another thing I do to fight being overheated like if I’ve been outside is to jump in the shower and then sit with my wet hair under a ceiling fan. I have waist length hair so it stays wet a long time.

As soon as it’s warm enough we start line drying laundry. Everyone has their own towel hook and use their towels multiple days. I taught the kids to wear pants more than once unless they get something on them. Same with sweatshirts and sweaters worn over something.

we have an older tv that puts out a ton of heat while it plays so we only watch tv in the evenings during the summer.