Yikes! After we got our last SCE&G bill, our biggest ever, we realized action was needed. If they were going to keep raising the rates, we needed to crank-up the conservation. In the past we’ve measured our usage with a Kill-a-Watt meter, looked into solar hot water, bought LED lights, installed CFLs, but now it was time to do more – especially “these days”.
With that huge bill still in my hand, I quickly scribbled a list of ways to cut back. Some are good habits we’ve been bad at keeping, and others are just common sense. There are plenty of energy conservation lists online (here, here, and here), but I wanted to share the things we are doing in our little world. Here’s the five did right away:
- Hand wash more dishes
- Turn off the entertainment center power strip
- Turn off iMac, even though it likes to be on
- Power down PC, turn off monitor and speakers
- Turn off lights! Turn off lights! Turn off lights!
Here’s the rest of that quick list…
- Line dry more this Spring
- Unplug baby monitor wall wart when not in use
- Keep thermostat colder/hotter to save
- Get LED lights
- Install solar hot water heater (we can dream, right?)
- Unplug the TV
- Unplug the kid’s jambox
- Turn off ceiling fans (might make A/C less efficient)
- Turn off the kids glowing egg (dont’ ask)
So, what are you doing? Let us know below…
Loading ...
Don’t forget the classic ones of changing the air filter and being more conservative with the thermostat.
The Kill-A-Watt is handy for some stuff, but won’t really give you much feedback on your HVAC, hot water heater, dishwasher, or most lighting, which are generally your biggest draws. A complete household energy monitor like The Energy Detective (http://www.theenergydetective.com) will actually give you all that information and help you save a lot more. On top of that, the manufacturer is also based right out of North Charleston.
Let’s not forget the second biggest consumption of energy, next to your HVAC, is the hot water heater. There’s new technology around the corner that you can not only install in a matter of hours, but it will cut the current energy needed to hear water by 75%.
We need SCANA, Berkley and Sante Cooper’s of world to listen up. If they really do care about reducing energy consumption, then they have to react to the best alternatives out there.
We have the ability and technology to cut costs, lower bills and create new manufacturing jobs if the electric suppliers and gov’t get behind it.