We’ve been focusing on reducing our energy bill lately. For example, my husband has been looking into switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs.
In addition, our energy company is very proactive in sending us monthly mailers with tips and tricks to reducing energy consumption. See previous articles Ten Easy Energy Savings Tips and Energy Savings Tips for ideas.
In researching, I found some excellent online data tools provided by our energy company. The first is a comparison based on how efficiently we use natural gas to heat our home (calculated as Heating BTUs per Square Foot per Heating Degree Day).
Based on a 3800 square foot house in our local area, our home heating rating is: 2.4 - Excellent. When adding additional criteria of homes built between 2000 to the present the distribution shifts to the left.
It appears that we are doing pretty well compared to all the other houses of similar size and houses that were built during the same time frame as ours.
The online site also lets us analyze our gas and electricity use comparing each year.
Gas Energy Use
Electric Energy Use
Action Plan
Log onto your electric company’s website and see what kind of account analysis tools they provide. It was enlightening to find out that we really have done a great job, not only with building a green-built house, but also in conserving energy.
This article is featured in: Festival of Frugality #119.
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I love cfb. They save me about 25 dollars on my bill.
RomanMarch 27th, 2008 at 10:20 am
My energy company’s site is fairly lame. For a while I was tracking kilowatt usage on a monthly basis, but with all the other things I have to track it became a pain. Looks like you guys have made some good moves to conserve.
Frugal DadMarch 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
We’ve replaced all our lamps with CFL’s but we have over 40 recessed cans throughout the house and I’ve only replaced 2 (at $6 each that’s a lot of money). I haven’t noticed a big difference, maybe $5 or $10, but we’ve had an energy price increase and it’s hard to compare.
Oh and if you want to see a really lame site, check out http://www.jonesborocwl.org
Ron@TheWisdomJournalMarch 28th, 2008 at 5:53 am
I recently bought a programmable thermostat and its great to program it to lower the heat during my work hours, it has saved me a few bucks already! It all adds up
TomMarch 31st, 2008 at 4:17 pm