High Electric Bill?

Question

I Recently Just Moved Out Of A One Bedroom College Apartment Were The Electric Bill Was Roughly $64.00 A Month. Now I've Moved In With Two Other Roommates, And I Just Saw That The Bill Is $284.00! Anyway, I Live In Texas, So The A/C Has To Be On. Are There Any Suggestions On Lowering My Electric Bill?

Answer 1

Try getting a portable AC unit, say around 7000BTU; it takes up a LOT less power (less than a third) than a room AC.

Answer 2

Cut back on usage , you can even get those enviro friendly(CFL) light bulbs , but a word of caution with those things , I know someone who dropped one and broke it , she ( like an idiot) called the store where she purchased it to ask about cleaning up the mercury , she had to call DHEC out , and to clean up one bulb with the extremely high toxic level of mercury it cost her over $2000.00 . I live in SC , so I understand the heat ,and more humidity than you can imagine , I run lights television ,and air conditioner set at 60 degrees 24/7 . my power bill is never over 100.00 ...sounds like you are on an energy co-op, which is where the main energy company contracts the power to another company who is the sub contractor , they charge their rate plus the main energy supplier charges their rate as well , they wanted to try that here talking about how much better it would be , normally when they say better it means better for their profit ,

My mother cuts her water heater off by the breaker switch during the day when no one is there , and turns it back on when she gets home ,and back off when she goes to bed , it only takes thirty minutes or less for it to re heat the water , and it saves her a lot of money , the water heater will kick on about every fifteen minutes all day long re heating the same water over ,and over to maintain the set temperature when no one is using the hot water ..it cut her power bill down from 80.00 to about 45 dollars per month ..and she has had the same water heater for 12 years so apparently it does not hurt the water heater..

Answer 3

This is a toughie since you have roomates... But if everyone is on the same page you can lower your electric by half... If you have a dishwasher- *only run it when it's full and on the time delay cycle if you do not have a time delay cycle run it before you go to bed...

If you have a washer/dryer- Only run one or the other and not both together... I also only run my washer/dryer at night...

Unplug any unused appliances (chargers, hair irons etc...)

Change lightbulbs to CFL's each bulb changed will save approx. $60 a yr.

When no one's home run air conditioner at 75 + degrees and at night a little higher.. If you have ceiling fans use those to circulate cooler air..

If using A/C close blinds/window treatments to keep sun out which will heat your house....

If you cook use smaller applicances (crock pot/toaster oven) they use much less energy than full size applicances...

Turn off comp/laptop comp.. when not in use...

Answer 4

I just lowered mine for last month by a third. I unplugged, turned off and conserved as much as I could. I saw on tv where a family put everything on power strips and they'd just push the button everytime they got ready to leave for a while. and I only use the chargers for the phones, etc. on the weekends.