Electricity Use

RR did a thread back in 08 on this topic and after looking at my own bills, I went looking for his thread to see what was considered "normal" around here for energy use.

I wonder if the prices have escalated or declined since April of 08.

How much electricity do you use per day?
Would you pay more for electricity if it was piped in from a "green" source?
Are you very conscious of how much electricity do you use?
How do you try to conserve energy?

I was shocked to get a bill of only $75 for our home. Judging from this one bill, we're running on 15kWh/day. I insisted on a super energy efficient fridge, and all bulbs are CFLs save for the light fixtures outdoors.

We leave our PCs on all day (still) and now I think I should just have it hibernate after a while of non-use.

I use the electric stove and over a lot, but the only way I can think of really spreading that around is to leave the oven door open after use to help heat the home in winter. (We have oil heat, and that shit is EXPENSIVE)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm admittedly hit and miss about my energy usage. I have improved from the complete indifference of my early adulthood, however. I turn lights off with increasing frequency, even going into a sibling's bedroom to turn off theirs if it's daylight or if they're no longer home. I hibernate my computer often, and own lamps that use small, halogen bulbs that last for years. I do not use air conditioning for anything, and own a small space heater that I turn on for 15 minutes instead of jacking up the thermostat for the entire house.

Where I am bad, however, is in my fan. I sleep with a fan and I strongly dislike stagnant air. I also find the white noise very relaxing, so I tend to leave it on around the clock. If I know I'll be gone an entire day, sometimes I remember to shut it off but just as often I'll leave it going so I can return freshly circulated air. I tend to go through fans faster than what I suspect normal folk do, since the motors usually seize up from constant use. My last fan seized in December and I'm now without one, as it's virtually impossible to just go out and pick up a floor fan in the winter.

I do know that my electricity consumption is exponentially down from what it was two years ago, though. Prior to getting the lung transplant, my room was equipped with so much motorized medical equipment, it was sick. I had an oxygen concentrator that hummed like a small airplane when turned on, and generated so much heat I had to leave my windows open in February. I had a medicinal nebulizer that was pretty loud and was used three times a day. I had a Bipap that sucked up more juice. And I had some obnoxiously loud contraption that was connected to an air-vest and was supposed to knock the excess crud out of my lungs. I know that thing was a power beast.

My dad told me that after I no longer needed those things, the monthly electricity bill dropped by around 40%. That's incredible. So getting better was pretty green of me, I guess.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Even though I live in base housing and don't really pay any utilities, I still tend to go around shutting off lights if no one's in those rooms. I think it's mostly just habit from when I was younger and kept getting bitched at for leaving lights on in empty rooms. Also, I sort of like little to no light in a room besides a tv/pc monitor. My PC is on ALL the time, though. Something I'll definitely have to change if we ever move off base.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Mine's around $85 but includes ridiculous shit like a "decorative lighting surcharge" for the two big lights on either side of my front door.

Under "usage" it reads 678, but I'm not sure what that means, really. I'm a compulsive light turner-offer but the men in my home? Not so much. I do a ton of laundry and I think that's where a lot of my power usage can be allocated to.

I would absolutely pay more for power from a green source.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

How much electricity do you use per day? - I don't know.
Would you pay more for electricity if it was piped in from a "green" source? - Maybe a little bit.
Are you very conscious of how much electricity do you use? - Quite. I feel spasms of guilt when I run the hot water for more than five minutes in the shower. It doesn't make me turn it off... but I'm quite conscious of it.
How do you try to conserve energy? - Turning off lights when not in use, wearing a sweater indoors rather than keep the heat up in winter, and trying not to do more laundry than necessary.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

I use the electric stove and over a lot, but the only way I can think of really spreading that around is to leave the oven door open after use to help heat the home in winter. (We have oil heat, and that shit is EXPENSIVE)

Eat less.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?