Advice for saving on Electricity

[EricKei]

Another thing I heard of but could use some actual data on: Supposedly, fridges and freezers have to work harder if they are packed really full, and that they basically just waste juice if they're practically empty. The ideal "maximum fullness level" is something like 70-80%, I think? also, it stands to reason that having an over-full freezer would mean less cold air reaching the fridge (due to airflow being restricted), which would also cause excess power consumption.

Worth researching. If one of your boxen is packed tight, and the other is kinda barren, consider balancing them out.

[TheSHAD0W]

Supposedly, fridges and freezers have to work harder if they are packed really full, and that they basically just waste juice if they're practically empty.

I don't believe they work harder if they're overpacked, but some items may wind up defrosting, so it's not a good idea. If they have too little in them, they will turn on and off more often than they should; I don't know whether this wastes much more electricity, but it definitely puts more of a strain on the hardware and should be avoided.

[Chazzie]

Sorry if someone has mentioned this sooner (I skimmed but didn't see it), but perhaps request another meter reading? I'm honestly wondering if you're actually using that much power. To the point where I'd suspect electrical theft? I'm on NiMo and I know their rates are ridiculous and our bill jumped to 300 dollars too, but I know we were using the heater and not being careful with our electricity use. Since you're being so careful, I'm suspicious.

[Chromatix]

I just did some quick calculations, based on my own electricity tariff (about €0.075 per kWh). In order to spend the equivalent of $3000 in electricity, I would have to use about 30 megawatt-hours over the course of a month, or over 40 kilowatts *on average*. That in turn corresponds to almost 180 amps (at 230V) which is several times the rating of my main fuse (in a modest apartment).

So either you have a truly ridiculous tariff, or truly ridiculous consumption, or *both*.

[smileyeagle1021]

I know it's been said before, but first advice, use a clothes line instead of the dryer... I have a smart meter on my house, and I noticed that when I am forced to use the dryer, the hour or so that it is running will use up just much power as I used in the rest of the house the entire rest of the day (assuming I'm not running AC). Also, has been mentioned, but it bares repeating, energy efficient bulbs are a life saver. They are more money up front, but will easily save $20-$50 a month depending on how many lights you use.
Also, other's have mentioned that turning down the water heater wouldn't help with the power, but I'd say do it anyway... if nothing else, if you can't reduce your power bill, then at least you can try to reduce your utilities overall. Also, speaking of hot water, assuming your dish washer and your sink share a hot water outlet, always hand wash your hand wish dishes before running the dishwasher, it will get the water in the line heated up for the dish washer and the dish washer won't have to use as much power to heat water on its own (assuming you have a dishwasher that also heats the water itself rather than just depending on the water coming from the line).

[Sapphire Silk]

I just did some quick calculations, based on my own electricity tariff (about €0.075 per kWh). In order to spend the equivalent of $3000 in electricity,
So either you have a truly ridiculous tariff, or truly ridiculous consumption, or *both*.

I think you misread the OP. She said three hundred, not three thousand.

That's still more than twice what I pay in a month, and I'm sure there are things she can fix, but most of those have already been discussed.

[fma_fanatic]

You don't have any sort of budget billing? Something that lets you pay a set amount for a set period of time - usually 6 months or so - and then the amount is adjusted accordingly? We have that here and at times it feels like we're being ripped off, but on our bill, it shows how much we're ahead (meaning that we have money banked towards the bill) or behind (meaning we're gonna owe that money when the next adjustment comes).

Last year when we had the terrible heat wave, we were behind $500 and something dollars.

I had to set up a repayment plan and this year the budget amount is slightly higher to help us bank the money for later on. I'm hoping that we won't suffer like we did last year.

Anyway, my point is that it might be beneficial to get set up on a budget plan if the utility offers one and see how that helps. Otherwise there's something that's making your electric bill get so high. That or maybe there's something wrong with your meter.