[lawnchair]

Never over 300 kWh per month for this three-person household. Usually 200-225. Biggest things when compared to friends just a block away:

Central air: We just don't have it, so no temptation. Porch-sitting, fans, shifted-schedule to be at work over the hottest part of the day, and a window unit occasionally used in a small sealed-off bedroom for really hot evenings.

Clothes drier: 5 kWh per load? Back of the envelope says that each kWh is burning one pound of coal. If you had to burn a 5 pound sack of coal every time, wouldn't you just use a clothesline? Again, a flexible schedule and not living a lifestyle that requires working (or commuting) 60-80 hours a week makes this possible.

[Daculling]

Ok, so I just got a letter from Pepco (Maryland provider): Your rates are going up 38% next month because fossil fuels are expensive... if you can't afford your bill use less energy.

HaHa, all those that laughed at me because I don't use A/C and dry my clothes on a line... suck it! I laugh last HaHaHa!

38% of very little is almost nothing. I'm still a pig BTW at 400-500kwh

[Free]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pea-jay', '
')Still, I recently purchased a Kill A Watt meter to track down what my appliances were really up to once plugged in. This way I could see if any further gains could be had. I discovered my entertainment center was drawing 40 watts when turned off. My computer system drew an addition 10 W when off as well. Unplugging both when not in use could really help over time to reduce electrical consumption. I am still on the hunt for stray watts here and there.

[FairMaiden]

I'd love to get my hands on a device that calculates the draw on power from machines turned off. My fiance thinks I have OCD bc I switch off power bars when not being used. Whenever I went on vacation, I'd unplug every electrical appliance...I then noticed that even a week would have a significant impact on my power bill so I began to do it whenever I knew something wouldn't be needed for a period.

[Bleep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wednesday', 'I') thought you were gonna tell me you got hit with a thousand dollar light bill!

[Bleep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Daculling', 'O')k, so I just got a letter from Pepco (Maryland provider): Your rates are going up 38% next month because fossil fuels are expensive... if you can't afford your bill use less energy.

HaHa, all those that laughed at me because I don't use A/C and dry my clothes on a line... suck it! I laugh last HaHaHa!

38% of very little is almost nothing. I'm still a pig BTW at 400-500kwh

[mrobert]

@Free : That is EXACTLY what I have under my desk Same color, same layout, same number of holes I guess they came from the same place.

I am considering to buy a newer model with built in surge protections, etc.

[strider3700]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Barbara', '1')400 Kw per month????

Today we had the bill, 225 KW and 35 € and we were angry.

[Free]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', 'I')'d love to get my hands on a device that calculates the draw on power from machines turned off. My fiance thinks I have OCD bc I switch off power bars when not being used. Whenever I went on vacation, I'd unplug every electrical appliance...I then noticed that even a week would have a significant impact on my power bill so I began to do it whenever I knew something wouldn't be needed for a period.

[pea-jay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Barbara', '1')400 Kw per month????

Today we had the bill, 225 KW and 35 € and we were angry.

[Barbara]

Free,
how much do you consume up there in Germany? I can't believe these americans use 1000 kw per month. My house is big and we are around 200/250, what about Germany?

[pea-jay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Barbara', 'F')ree,
how much do you consume up there in Germany? I can't believe these americans use 1000 kw per month. My house is big and we are around 200/250, what about Germany?

[strider3700]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pea-jay', '[')

Now for the TV itself: It uses more electricity than my fridge. At least the TV doesn't run 24/7 . The TV is a 27 Inch monitor from 1995. Standard CRT model. Anyone got comparisons or metered their own TV?

[Free]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Barbara', 'F')ree,
how much do you consume up there in Germany? I can't believe these americans use 1000 kw per month. My house is big and we are around 200/250, what about Germany?

[AtmaStorm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Free', '
')household with:

1 Person:1600 kWh/a
2 Persons:2.400 kWh/a
3 Persons: 3.500 kWh/a
4 Persons: 4.000 kWh/a

Edit: For the Americans: Per year that is, not per month...

I guess it also very much depends if you are heating with electricity or have to use airconditioning...

[Free]

I googled them from a company which provides electricity.

Here is another one, which is even higher:

http://www.ea-nrw.de/_infopool/info_det ... nfoID=4106


kWh per household (persons)
1.: 2000
2.: 3100
3.: 3908
4.: 4500

But it's especially interesting what the accompanying text says:
Singles have a completely different electricity consumption profile - while for example statistically with them it's the fridge that uses most electricity in total, in households with more persons it's the laundry-dryer...

[Dukat_Reloaded]

I leave my computer running allways, but my computer turns off the monitor after 10 min of inactivity. Mine is CRT 21inch so it would use up afair bit of power, it is 8 years old and has served me well, but when it breaks and I'm unable to fix it, I will buy a LCD screen.

[tsakach]

I have been on solar and wind for some time now. Total "energy harvesting" averages about 150kwh per month. I prefer to call it "energy harvesting" rather than consumption. Like harvesting, you only have available what is provided by nature within a relatively short time span. Sometimes nature provides an abundance of sunshine and wind, other times much less is available. You learn to flow with and adjust to what nature provides.

[gg3]

Just got my latest electric bill. 265 KWH for a period of 29 days between meter readings. Total bill including gas, $60.24.

Re. the clothes dryer.

Look up "spin dryers" on shopping.yahoo.com. What these are: a high-speed centrifuge that handles about 5 lbs. of laundry at a time, at 3200 rpm, takes about five minutes per load, and reduces time in the heated tumble-dryer by about half.

In the US the brand is SpinX, cost is about $450. These are built like military spec and should pay for themselves within a few years in most cases. (And anyway, it's rewarding to see your electric bill drop noticeably after you install one.)

Or you can get the same results with a twin-tub washer (in the US, Danby DTT-420), which has a high-speed spinner unit and is also probably the most energy-efficient washer anywhere, at about 10 to 20 watt-hours (yes, watt-hours) per pound of laundry (e.g. 0.06 to 0.12 KWH for a 6-lb load, the higher figure for "sanitize" cycles using bleach & an extra rinse). This costs only $300 plus shipping, can be bought on the internet if you can't find it locally.

In other countries there are other manufacturers for spin dryers, and the prices are typically less than the SpinX. Either way they will pay for themselves quickly.

Re. the fridge:

In the US, 600 KWH/year is now considered pretty typical for a standard size fridge. The one in my place is ancient and uses about twice that much (which is about half of my total electric bill).

The best-practice conventional fridges are rated at about 331 KWH per year (e.g. Sanyo 10 - 14 cubic foot models). SunFrost claims to get this down to 110 KWH / year but costs $2,500 new and there has been some controversy lately about these units (e.g. power consumption levels, quality of workmanship, etc.).

This month I designed a refrigerator/freezer that should only use about 160 KWH per year, which is about half of the best-practice conventional fridge and only a little more than the SunFrost, at a projected price of about half that of SunFrost. My estimate of 160 KWH is not a wild guess or pure theory, it's based on empirical data from work done by others.

As soon as I have a chance, I'm going to build one of these and see how it actually performs. If it does the job as planned, some friends & I are probably going to start making & selling these commercially (which is why I'm being shy about the technical details, in fact it's actually quite simple). We may also include a Kill-a-Watt meter with every unit sold, so buyers can verify the lower power consumption for themselves (and then start looking at the rest of their appliances).

The next thing to tackle is the stove and the oven.

Conventional electric ranges use from 500 to 2,500 watts for each of the heating elements on the stove, and typically 4,500 watts for the oven. Even if these things are only used for a short period of time each day, they are still a large power drain if you're using off-grid power. We're not exactly certain of the approach we want to take to deal with this, though we were saying the same thing when we started on the fridge project. So, we'll see what happens...

[Barbara]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')arbara,
What do you use to heat your house and hotwater with? And is your domestic hot water a tank or tankless model?