[kaktus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')an't everyone just add more layers of clothing and blankets?

[ACrisisAwaits]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('HamRadioRocks', 'I') just received my natural gas bill for
So why isn't everyone else in the world with me on this?

[ACrisisAwaits]

In kWh/Therms/Gallons of Heating Oil.


Last month's from February 24 to March 26 was:
Electric 337 kWh 10.9 kWh/Day +1%
Gas 56 Therms 1.8 Therm/Day +17%

[pea-jay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ACrisisAwaits', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('HamRadioRocks', 'I') just received my natural gas bill for
So why isn't everyone else in the world with me on this?

[ACrisisAwaits]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pea-jay', 'G')ood lord, what kind of house do you live in. I used less therms and much less electricity and I live where it got down to 15 at night. Repeatedly.

[pea-jay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ACrisisAwaits', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pea-jay', 'G')ood lord, what kind of house do you live in. I used less therms and much less electricity and I live where it got down to 15 at night. Repeatedly.

[NEOPO]

I want to say something nice and on a personal level "good going" yet the words "Jevons paradox" keeps flashing neon sign like in my mind
Now I hear kunstlers words "the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of mankind" followed with the saying about good money following bad money.
It seems that most of mankind is going to have to make do retrofitting all of its mcmansions and pieces of unsustainable crap.
Apologies, besides that we saved 25% this past month by not using the dryer!
In our very near future I see us using less then 1kw per day yet that will be in a passive solar straw bale earth ship off grid supplied with PV's.

Any peaker worth their salt should be well aware of our unsustainable food chain and since we eat oil like 2 legged suv's (dale pfeiffer) it occurred to me just how much energy could be saved and pollution that would not landfill or emit further if we just grew gardens and supplemented our groceries.
Then I thought about the obstacles that prevent many from gardening and how these obstacles could be removed.
I keep getting ideas and it is going to have to cease or I am going to have to get off my ass and actually do something!
Goodnight.

[PeakOiler]

See this thread: PO Members Energy Data

[frankthetank]

I wish our house was set up differently. Its only one floor, but the stupid house faces north with a huge picture window. Who puts a huge picture window on a north facing house in WI? (morons!). Luckily the winters have been pretty mild (we still hit -20F). Id like one warm room and then leave the rest of the house @ 50F!
I try to conserve to save money/not save the planet. I don't have to gaze too far off to see others using what i'm not.

[snax]

Our house has similar issues. All of the windows face east and west. In other words, sparse heat gain in the winter when we need it, and far too much direct sun in the summer when we don't. I can't wait to move to a more sensibly oriented house!
Fortunately our climate is about as mild as it get during both seasons. Regardless, April and September are low heating/cooling months, so most folks better be seeing improvements right now.

[nocar]

The topic headline is 'energy conservation'. Why is no one talking about saving gasoline? Most restrict their discussion too electricity. A few have mentioned nat gas as well. What about gasoline?

nocar

[snax]

I think it's fair to say that conservation of fuel for transportation or other fossil fueled implements is an entire subject all it's own.
There's much that people can do to conserve without doing anything more than paying attention to their useage and changing their habits. I suppose that applies no matter what you are using your energies on though.

[pea-jay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('nocar', 'T')he topic headline is 'energy conservation'. Why is no one talking about saving gasoline? Most restrict their discussion too electricity. A few have mentioned nat gas as well. What about gasoline?

[snax]

While so far for the rolling year, our household energy use is about even vs. the previous year, we have at least reduced our gasoline consumption. We sold our second vehicle, an Escape Hybrid, in November and I have been riding the bus or bicycling to work ever since. Combining that with other more efficient trip planning is going to cut well over 5000 miles off of our use this year, with only a slight increase of about 2000 extra miles placed on our pickup.

The bottom line is that although we are putting more miles on our gas guzzling pickup, we are still saving about 25% on fuel consumption vs. our typical dual vehicle useage. That's still not good enough though, so we are likely going to end up purchasing another used vehicle revered for it's high fuel economy, and park the truck most of the year.

So far I would say that the greatest technique for saving energy is useage habits. Most people could save a great deal simply by taking a realistic look at what they really use energy for vs. what they really need. Hybrids and CFLs etc., are more the icing on the cake after that.

[HamRadioRocks]

On last year's June bill (mid-May to early-June), I used 177 kWh (31 days), an average of 5.71 kWh per day. On last year's July bill (mid-June to early-July), I used 309 kWh (32 days), an average of 9.66 kWh per day.

On this year's June bill, I used just 99 kWh (34 days), an average of 2.91 kWh per day. That's 49% less than last year. On this year's July bill, I used 173 kWh (31 days), an average of only 5.58 kWH per day. That's a savings of 42%, quite remarkable given that the average temperature was 2 degrees higher in this year's billing period.

The things I'm doing this year to conserve energy that I wasn't doing last year:
1. Using a tarp to shade the window air conditioner
2. Using aluminum foil on the windows that get the most sun exposure to keep the sun out of the house
3. Cooling the house to 81 degrees instead of 79 degrees: Yes, 81 degrees is 22 degrees warmer than the thermostat setting I used back in February, and it's 14 degrees warmer than the 67 degree thermostat setting I use at the very beginning and end of the heating season.
4. The BIGGEST thing: Using a plug-in-timer (like a lamp timer but designed for a large electrical load and a 240V outlet) to keep the air conditioning OFF until at least 5PM has the same effect as using a programmable thermostat in a central air conditioning system. I set the timer to turn on the air conditioning at 5PM (or later if I know I'll be out for much of the evening). Even if I'm home during the day on the weekend, I leave the air conditioning off and put up with the heat and humidity. (Of course, we haven't had those blistering 95+ degree days yet, so the warmest it's been in the house is 85 degrees.) Excess heat and humidity makes it difficult to sleep well, but I can handle some during the day.

If everybody could do what I've done, we'd seriously smooth out those spikes in summer electricity demand. If I could save 40%-50% on electricity this summer, a real energy guzzler could save even more. The plug-in-timer helps me save energy in two ways: I don't waste electricity cooling the house when at work, but I can still come home to a cool house. Waiting until 5PM to turn on the air conditioning on weekends also helps me to adapt to higher levels of heat and humidity. 81 degrees might seem sultry to most people, but it's refreshing compared to 85 degrees.

Also, each extra degree of either improved heat tolerance or passive cooling during the air conditioning season makes a MUCH bigger impact than an extra degree of improved cold tolerance or passive warming during the heating season. I can only imagine how much more electricity I'd be using if I insisted on keeping the house cooler. Under my current consumption habits, I generally need the air conditioning for only an hour or two per day on a typical summer day. If I insisted on cooling the house to 76 degrees, I would have needed the air conditioning on many days in May (instead of just a few days and only briefly on those days) and would have even needed it on some warm, sunny April days as well. If I insisted on cooling the house to 72 degrees, I would have needed to use the air conditioning on some of the sunny days in March, which seems ridiculous for Iowa. I've heard that there are energy guzzlers out there who often use BOTH the heating and air conditioning in the house on THE SAME DAY. To me, that's a sign of a consumer who's gone over the edge. Even when the weather changes sharply, it should take some time to cool a house warm enough to need air conditioning or to warm a house cool enough to need heating.

[purdum]

So I can put your savings into context, how big is your house, how many people live there, and what part of the country are you in?

[skeptik]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('HamRadioRocks', '[')b]Excess heat and humidity makes it difficult to sleep well, but I can handle some during the day.

[trotsky]

hamjradiorocks:

Is your radio made out of ham?

Do you have a winter? Are you in the US? And it does not pay us to minimize consumption. The Energy companies charge a flat rate...

[ACrisisAwaits]

Well, most of the summer we stayed in the Bay Area, which is not that hot at all. After coming back[to San Diego] in August, our average daily use of electricity was 11.6 kWh/day and natural gas was 0.6 Therms/Day. These figures are not that bad, we did not use air conditioning at all. Even on the few 95+ degree days with 70+ degree lows. It got up to 89 degrees in the house upstairs. However, our electric figure was still 14% above baseline and our natural gas figure was 28% above baseline. We have the water heater set to 120 degrees and it has 2 insulating blankets. Perhaps the baseline quanities are unattainable goals for a family of 5...

[xerces]

I started powering down roughly 8 months ago.

Every month, I used significantly less electricity than before.

Finally, 3 months ago, the power company(CON Edison) began charging a constant monthly electricity bill ($35). Their reason being that they cannot obtain "accurate" measurements from my meter.

So I called them a month ago and notified them that I was being charged the same bill regardless of my power usage. Here's what happened.

1. They first said that my electric meter must be MALFUNCTIONING due to the low readings and that they'll send someone to look at my meter. The guy came to my building, took a physical measurement and left.

2. A week later, they told me that my utility account has been locked and put under "Investigation status".

3. A week after that, they called me saying that someone will look at the meter again, and also take a look at my apartment if I allowed it. I agreed, and the checkup took place.


2 days later, I got a modified electricity bill for the last two months. Here's what it looks like





24 KWH used in 2 months!!!!