Vampiric electrical loads... A lot of todays tech everywhere in everything draws power even when off. Put items like TVs, desktops, stereo, etc. on a surge protector (in reality they should be already) and power them down especially if its going to be down for an extended period. A lot of electronics stay in standby, you are not powering down the main power supply. Though be warned it is the initial heat up and surge that increases the maintenance factor on component failure.

I am looking for an IR image I have where the TV (OFF overnight) and a lamp (also off overnight) share an outlet but the TV power cord has a delta of a couple degrees over the lamp. You only think its off.

 

Vampiric electrical loads... A lot of todays tech everywhere in everything draws power even when off. Put items like TVs, desktops, stereo, etc. on a surge protector (in reality they should be already) and power them down especially if its going to be down for an extended period. A lot of electronics stay in standby, you are not powering down the main power supply. Though be warned it is the initial heat up and surge that increases the maintenance factor on component failure.

I am looking for an IR image I have where the TV (OFF overnight) and a lamp (also off overnight) share an outlet but the TV power cord has a delta of a couple degrees over the lamp. You only think its off.

A kill a watt meter is a nice way to ID these loads. Plenty of parasitic loads are trivial, others are energy hogs. No sense flipping the switch on and off to save 1 watt. Cable TV/ satellite TV boxes are huge power hogs- most people don’t think to turn them off- I’m astounded how much power they draw.

Hunting down and replacing non LED lights has a high payback.

 

OP, when I grew up in Vermont ... We did the same ... We called it "VT AC"!

In Missouri ... It's much more humid ... I run a dehumidifier, and set AC thermostat at 79° ... But still keep shades drawn down.

 

Sadly I am to the point I don't like to leave downstairs windows open at night. Even with night locks which don't allow much air.

 

A couple of good tips, thanks.

A note on windows open at night, for security, if you use SimpliSafe or some other similar door or window security trap; add a second magnet sensor to the window. So in addition to having a magnet trap at full close you'd have one for when the window is maybe 1/3 or 1/2 open. If an intruder were to open the window fully to get in the alarm will be triggered by the second magnet.

 

After trying several security systems I bought a SimpliSafe system that had sensors for water leaks, freezing pipes, motion detectors, and others, and the system has been completely reliable. The door and window sensors have been the best I've ever seen. I also augmented the system by installing motion sensing halogen lights on all four corners of the house, just to shock the meth monkeys when they enter the yard. I also installed timers on a few inside lights so the flick on and off at random times.
Something my girlfriend and II found that makes an actual effect on our power bill was the decision to turn the hot water heater on when we get out of bed in the morning and by the time we eat breakfast we have hot water. Then as soon as we get out of the shower, we turn the water heater off.

 

We have a huge industrial size fan blowing cool basement air, up the steps to kitchen area. Helps so much we only use a window unit AC in bedroom (which us upper level and unfortunately not shaded during day).

 

Good tip. We do this in Spring and Fall. Otherwise, in the Georgia summer, seldom does it get cool enough at night to warrant opening windows. Considering our electric bill peaks around $350 in the summer months, I really need to convince the wife to use a clothes line to dry clothes, but she thinks it looks to gaudy. My mom used to use them growing up, my brother and I would take turns getting the clothes of the line for my mom.

 

SNIP "..... I really need to convince the wife to use a clothes line to dry clothes, but she thinks it looks to gaudy. My mom used to use them growing up, my brother and I would take turns getting the clothes of the line for my mom.

The way to reduce the "gaudy" look of clothes and especially towels dried on clothesline, is dry then till still a tiny bit damp (instead of brittle dry) and then throw them in the clothes dryer on cool for just 5 mins. The tumbling action will get rid of the board stiff effect.

 

Here are some simple ways my wife and I have been saving electricity for many years here in Northwest Michigan.

In the Summer when the nights are cool and days are hot, we open all the windows and have fans blowing the cool air into the house. In the morning, we close everything up and pull thick curtains over the windows that catch the sun. As a result, the house stays nice and cool all day long. We rarely use A/C.

We never use a dryer. In the Summer, wet laundry gets hung outside on a line or in the barn. In the Winter, we hang it inside on a rack which also helps to humidify the house.

Good ideas..small things help…From April to October here ac is the norm…We cut it off ea morning for a couple of hours and run sm fans but otherwise it’s miserable..If SHTF Ill go outside and sit in the shade but as long as the Kw’s are at the box, Ima have ac

 

We (wife and I) have been living on a 1.3 kWh 24 v solar, 1.4 kAh of FLA batteries, and a 4 kW inverter system for almost 20 years now. Some of the things we do to conserve electricity, although some are really just trade offs where we use propane instead of electricity to accomplish the same thing.

Clothesline and power strips - yup. The only items left on 24/7 is a VHF radio which is part of the home security system along with Dakota Alerts, and a weather alert radio. On opening windows for nightime cooling, since our home's length faces south with the narrower width of it facing the prevailing winds from the west, we installed casement opening windows which help direct/scoop the breeze into the house better. Something to consider if upgrading/replacing your windows, it makes a noticeable difference.

-Stovetop/camping toaster, on the propane stove. If making more than 4 pieces of toast we use the broiler. All kitchen appliances are manual/non-electric, and no electric crock pots, fry pans, etc.
-Stovetop percolator for coffee, then use a thermos to keep it hot.
-Propane frig/freezer and chest freezer.
-Since we have a well, 1/2 HP Grundfos submersible pump, and pressure tank we conserve water as much as possible so the pump doesn't need run as much. We don't water the lawn, have rain barrels for hand watering the wife's small garden and filling the bird bath, low flow shower heads, etc. When we do run the backup generator we'll top off all the water containers and I fill five 5 gallon buckets for dog water and toilet flushing. If you've lived off grid you've probably said or heard something like "Don't flush the toilet until the sun comes up, the batteries are low and the generator will start if the pump runs" lol
-Compact fluorescent light bulbs, we got these as a housewarming gift 20 years ago before the LED ones were popular, I'll switch to LED as these die and need replacing but they never do.
-Lap top instead of desk top computer.
-Express/1-hr cycle for the dishwasher, no water temp boost or heated drying options. Larger items are hand washed.
-Use shorter clothes washer cycles, presoak really dirty clothes or wait until we have a full load for a hot water/heavy-duty cycle
-We rarely use the microwave, so little in fact that we jokingly refer to it as the 'salt&pepper shaker holder' because its primary use is just a place to set those on.
-Tile flooring, except for the bedrooms, less vacuuming.
-If the wife isn't going out she'll let her hair dry in the sun or dry it over the wood stove in the winter, God bless her.

I've probably missed a few, it's all second nature to us now and we don't even think about it much anymore. We do get some funny looks/comments when staying with on-grid friends sometimes, wetting our hands then shutting off the water while we wash them, then turning the water back on to rinse them for example. Or asking what drawer the can opener is in or how to use their coffee maker.

 

Sunrise I manually disconnect the garage freezers and beer fridge, and move it to the solar receptacles. Same down in the shop. Saves me close to 50 KW per month or better, so SHTF I know I'll be living on 50 KW, give or take. Plant trees as well, won't be a today benefit, but give it time. We've done a lot more than that, but down here in Texas it's all about fighting the heat. We're trying to not use electricity in our battle.

 

You can automate those devices with smart plugs so you don't have to worry about it. Message me if you want more details. Happy to assist.

 

We use an electric kettle for boiling water for tea. The kettle we use isn't very clear how much is in there. I repurposed an old clear drink container and marked the side. Two mugs, two travel mugs, etc, etc. I boil exactly what we need instead of guessing. It's quicker and not that much more work.

 

I'm in PA -- PECO land. They are working on updating the high power lines around me. I'm surprised they haven't used it as an example of why they need another rate increase.

They have been using helicopters to ferry 'men' and equipment to some of the towers that they can't easily reach from the ground. Someone I know said they wont complain about their commute for awhile... after seeing a helicopter go by with a guy hang from a cable.

It's been going on for weeks, including weekends. Moving slowly down the line. Lots of complaints on social media because of the noise. Every once in awhile someone says they should be using drones... someone will say they are flying people to the towers and are scoffed at. Then there are pictures & video posted and it gets pointed out that there are men hanging from cables or on the struts and what drone could handle that weight?

 

If you have an alarm you could get alarm screens that allow you to have the window all the way open. If someone removes the screen or cuts the fabric it sets the alarm off

 

Our attic temp hits 127 degrees F in the Florida sun. Our attic floor is insulated to keep that heat out of the house but the insulated duct work in the attic is in contact with the 127 degree air which raises the temp of the air in the ductwork.

We installed a 20" box fan in the garage attic entry port to force cooler air up into the attic and out through the vent systems. We set the fan speed to low. We run it only during the heat of the day when the air conditioner first kicks in. The added air exchange in the attic lowered the temperature of the attic air by 20 degrees and also the cooled air coming out of the central air vents by 10 degrees (down to 60 degrees). Our air conditioner runs less and doesn't work as hard because it takes less time to cool the house. We tried running the fan at higher speeds but doing that didn't lower the temp of the duct air any more.

 

Conventional AC typically loses about 15-25% of its 'cooling' through those attic ducts. Even today the ducts that are preinsulated , I believe, are only R-8 (although they are working on increasing that).When we built our new house a few years ago I had the insulated ducts spray foamed on the outside of them with closed cell foam. I do not want spray foam in our living space due to off gassing but the outside of the insulated ducts are in the vented attic. Closed cell forms a vapor barrier so I am not worried about mold developing between the outside of the ducts under the foam. Other construction techniques that folks have been doing is to slit another oversized r-8 duct to put over the normal smaller one effectively getting about an r-16 duct.

We did a number of other things to reduce the AC load but the above method is what I settled on the just the duct issue.

 

Our new home is on a small rise. The lady we bought it from doubled the windows. Always a nice breeze going through.

LEDs everywhere. No A/C, gas appliances, trees on the East side of the house.

So far we're doing well.

 

I save electricity by storing it in batteries.
My dwelling runs primarily on batteries and solar charging.
I'm off grid.
I cook using both gas and electric using an inverter.
My refrigerator is AC, DC, and gas. ( propane)
Though I have enough battery and solar panels to run the fridge on AC or DC, it doesn't use that much gas to be a problem although I can see that some day it may become necessary.
Though the camper came with incandescent lights, I replaced them all with LEDs.
I also built a solar water heating system so that I can have hot showers. the panel produces 120 degree water and the water is thermal syphoned to a 5 gallon bucket on the top of my camper. I have a second cold water bucket up there is well and a mixer on the side of the camper. it's perfect.
The camper has a gas water heater but this is far better.
Over cast days are a pain but my solar panels still provide enough for normal living.

 

Stuff we did so far...

Replaced electric stove for propane. Still paying, but not for electric and more survively if that's a word.
Eliminated hot tub...that was an instant $100 a month savings (not counting constant repair bills).
Replace incandescent light bulbs with LEDs as they burn out.
Replaced whole house water purification machines with a non-electric trio of 20" filters. No more 1 hour backflushes running my well every night.
Replaced worn out A/C unit with 16 seer model.
Built heat exchanger for fireplace. See below video...

 

We did that 20 years ago. The stove really needed replacing 2 out of 4 burners didn't work and one of the others only 1/2 worked. I prefer gas and watched for one at the scratch and dent place.

We are on bottled gas. After a couple of years I got tired of paying a lot to the only company that would rent a big tank and deliver gas. We aren't in the middle of nowhere, it's just that most people have piped gas. We switched to our own tanks and refill as needed. We keep adding a few when we get a deal. We have a mixture of 20s and 40s.

It took a few hundred bucks to set it up and buy some tanks. But now we pay less a year for propane, than we did for the yearly tank rental 10 years ago - $120. That doesn't even count the highly inflated delivery and gas charges.

This year we bought 2 really rough looking 20 pound tanks at a yard sale for $5. We did an 'exchange' on them to get nicer tanks. The Amish place we went said they were really full for $20 each. Not bad for $45, for 2 almost new tanks. My husband said they are heavy enough to be full.

Replaced electric stove for propane. Still paying, but not for electric and more survively if that's a word.

 

If you have an electric water heater put it on a timer to limit its on time. On in the AM for showers & B4 dinner for meals and dishes. Been doing it since the 70’s & proved to the electric company that it saved me $12.00 a month (70’s dollars). They tried to argue that it takes more energy to heat it up than maintain it. Discounting how much was actually consumed. Even at $12.00 x 12 mo. x 50 yrs. = $7200.00🙀

 

I don't have control of my hot water heater, but my brother does this as well. He only turns the water heater on to take a shower and then runs the washing machine and/or dishwasher if needed and turns it back off. He, too, says it reduces the bill. The other option, of course, is to install an on-demand water heater.

LED lights and power strips that actually shut off everything plugged into them help a lot. Get off the couch instead of using remotes that require what they control to always be on and find someone to talk to besides Alexa. Don't use an electric gizmo for something that's easy to do by hand (like operating a can opener or mixing pancake batter). I also use my electric kettle to heat only just the amount of water I need at the moment and mostly air-dry my clothes. (If it's very humid, running a small boat dehmudifier in the bathroom is still cheaper than an electric clothes dryer.)

Even in hot climates, it's cooler at night, so ventilate with night air and close up during the day. The only exception there is I use the cross ventilation between two kitchen windows with a crack in one above the soffit and a vent fan at the top of the other to suck out the heat from the refrigerator/stove and anything else I need to operate there before it can heat up the whole place.

I don't use AC. If night air and a couple of fans aren't enough, I do have a Peltier water-cooled bed pad for really hot nights, and there are ice packs in the freezer I can wear in a vest. You don't need to cool the whole house, just you. (And no one cares what you are/aren't wearing in the house. The less on you there, the cooler you are, and the less laundry there is to do. )

 

Don't pay the electric bill and the electic company will help you save on power by not supplying you with any....

 

You can practice that one on your own without any disconnect or reconnect. Just flip your main breaker off for a while.

It also gives you a chance to see how ready you are for grid down scenarios. Heck, use it as a time to exercise your generators and if needed, find all the cords to plug things in, the gas to run it, stuff like that. Call it a dry run if you wanna.

Or, if you wanna, you can also cut of individual circuits in your main box at the flip of a switch. We don't typically wanna use a breaker as an on/off switch but when we spend a few days away from home (not often), we will typically shut the water off and flip the breaker on the water heater. No reason to have them running when they're not being used. If warm weather, we turn the AC off. If cold weather, we'll turn the thermostat to about 50 or so.

We do have an electric clothes dryer but the solar clothes dryer / clothes line is currently in use. We kinda like line dried clothes anyway. The towels get kinda rough which means it's like getting a good scratch the first use after washing. LOL!

I'm sure we could do with less. A few things on our homestead are already running off of a solar panel or two. I'm kinda thinking towards expanding the number of things set up like that. I have no intention of disconnecting from the power company. Would rather maintain a "nothing to see here" appearance. Doesn't mean I have to use a bunch of electric.

 

Us folks down on the gulf coast suffer miserable summer heat and humidity. There are no ways to save on A/C Except keep the filter clean.

We save in the winter. Almost no heat needed. Set the T-stat at 60’, enjoy the free cool air, wear more cloths than normal. Maybe 2 - 3 weeks of cold weather needing heat most years.

 

I need to keep the peace with the wife.
She likes lights that are on timers, so we have maybe three at this moment
but she likes to change things around and this is a snazzy one.
I try to keep these adjusted so they only come on at nightfall and go off at midnight.
There are several night lights that I could get along without.
We have a clothesline, have had it for years, and it gets used but not as much as could be.
House does not have air conditioning but we have to run a dehumidifier in the summer.
.
Now that I think about it, there is a printer that's rarely used, but is plugged in.
Ha~! I'll disconnect that one! [ Done! ]
.
The clothes dryer has a secondary effect: When it is used on a cold day
it pushes heated air outdoors which means cold air is being pulled in somewhere.
Whenever it's reasonable to do so in winter I hang my laundry in the furnace room.
I wish there was some way to recover the heat thrown off by the dryer.
.
Exhaust fans for the stove and shower have similar effects.
.
I also wish I could set the refrigerator "through the wall" so it could benefit
from cold outside air in winter. Why don't manufacturers make those?.
.

 

I need to keep the peace with the wife.
She likes lights that are on timers, so we have maybe three at this moment
but she likes to change things around and this is a snazzy one.
I try to keep these adjusted so they only come on at nightfall and go off at midnight.
There are several night lights that I could get along without.
We have a clothesline, have had it for years, and it gets used but not as much as could be.
House does not have air conditioning but we have to run a dehumidifier in the summer.
.
Now that I think about it, there is a printer that's rarely used, but is plugged in.
Ha~! I'll disconnect that one! [ Done! ]
.
The clothes dryer has a secondary effect: When it is used on a cold day
it pushes heated air outdoors which means cold air is being pulled in somewhere.
Whenever it's reasonable to do so in winter I hang my laundry in the furnace room.
I wish there was some way to recover the heat thrown off by the dryer.
.
Exhaust fans for the stove and shower have similar effects.
.
I also wish I could set the refrigerator "through the wall" so it could benefit
from cold outside air in winter. Why don't manufacturers make those?.
.

Put in your garage… I have more than one out here

 

In the Summer when the nights are cool and days are hot, we open all the windows and have fans blowing the cool air into the house.

This method of cooling in summer is used by the Moscow metro. After the metro closes (at about one o'clock in the morning), they turn on the ventilation on the reverse and gain cool air in the subway.

 

SWFL,2 people,2bd/2bath..1,000sqft?...we get a lot of company in the winter(snowbirds).
When its just us..we can keep the bill around 120$,but down to 90$ or less at times without being too fanatical.
A.C. at 80f,I work outside,so it feels like heaven when I get home.I'm just guessing..but just the meter charge,with no usuage,is at least 25$??
Basically its 3 dollars a day for the electric,and I'm fine with that,cheaper than 1 gallon gas.
Water/sewer is another story,I can get it down to 1,000 gallon usage...about 85$(they measure by 1k),but its easy for it to be higher than the elec. bill if we use 2-3K.

 

At pressent my daily power usage is between 400 to 900 watts averaging around 500w a day, I have replaced all my Appliances with Low Wattage Items where if I am using a few of them my power usage might go ip to almost 1.7kwh on the worst day,

For the last 330 Days I have averaged under 900w per day and for the last 2 months it has been under 600w a day.

Big TV's and Large fridge freezers are the main Items that ramp up your power bills and if you live in a Hot Place then Aircons would be a killer, Electric Heaters are a big No No because there is just no way to use them unless you have a big Solar Aray with a huge battery bank because to run a 1000w heater just for one hour you would need a 156Ah Battery and once that voltage dropped down to 50% you are starting to do damage to the battery, which Is why electric heaters are next to useless,

I am all for saving power and I might Hug a Tree if my Chainsaw dosen't want to Cuddle it First but when it comes to heating Fossil fuels beit Wood, Coal or even better Propane is the better way to Go, In Winter if you live in the Northern Hemisphere then we have very few options when it comes to Heating,

 

Hope everyone here understands the longer term picture. Being energy conscious is an exercise in financial futility. While you pay attention to ghost or inefficient kilowatts, your provider will increase rates to replace the lost revenue. Disguised as peak penalty is one novel approach. Two years ago after smart meters were installed our use between 4pm-9pm was raised to $1.25 per Kwh. for the one day each billing period that was the highest usage. More adjustments is to follow as the board members cancel/ buy out natural gas supplier contracts.

 

No it's not, The more they pushed the harder I pushed back, First off they Stole my Duel Fuel Allowance then they put their prices up, So then I stopped using their Gas and tried to mess me around and then because I lowered my usage they then tried to investigate me and photograph my Meters incase I had bypassed them and a week later they sent out another Idiot and week later they sent out another guy so I told him to F'off a week after that they sent out another guy So I sent him packing with a Message to his Boss and I have never heard from them since,

After all that I got serious and turned off all high powered Items and then I started buying Low wattage Items and reduced my power even more down to as little as 300 watts per 24 hour period, I still have 2 more options left and each one will cost them money,

At pressent the Only time I use over 1 kilowatt is when I am playing with or testing a New Toy, Even my TV's use under 20w and 9w and my fridge uses between 100 and 165w per 24 hours and having a Store near by I don't need to run a freezer until I take one Camping and that is powered by the Sun.

 

S. TX - the biggest & best energy saving thing I've done was putting silver bubble wrap on the S & W windows. I used leftover mylar bubble wrap cold food packets from deliveries, but it comes in a roll from Home Depot too. House drops a good 20 degrees when I put that on at the start of the summer. I take it off in fall so I get radiant heating in winter to warm the house. The bubble wrap version works infinitely better than the old school foil method, fyi.

Other than that...I only cool bedrooms with window units. In hot summer, we adopt a fairly nocturnal lifestyle - sleep through the heat, eat large hot cooked meal in the morning, only cold / reheated meals in the evening. Lots of "cold nibble meals".

 

In hot summer, we adopt a fairly nocturnal lifestyle - sleep through the heat, eat large hot cooked meal in the morning, only cold / reheated meals in the evening. Lots of "cold nibble meals".

Yep, I rotate my no-cook, little-cook, ready-to-eat meals in cans and retorts in July and August. If it takes more heat generation than boiling a couple of cups of water in the insulated electric tea kettle to prepare it, it isn't getting made during the dog days. (But if you haven't locked yourself inside an air-conditioned cocoon, lots of fresh fruits and veggies and light eating is what you feel like having in the summer anyway.)

I grew up in siesta territory, and it's definitely the way to deal with heat. Mad dogs and Englishmen...