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Energy saving devices my big white hairy butt!

funboy6942

funboy6942

Lifer
I used 100+ KWH more this month then I did same time last year, and its been warmer then last year to boot. WTF. I used some extra money I come into to get rid of the crt monitors throughout the house and get LCD. Got rid of my HUGE 30" CRT HD set in the room and went with a 42" LCD at little under half the watts of the CRT. Re-did my pc to use less watts since Im on it all day while everyone is at work and school, and topped it all off with florescent bulbs throughout the home as well, so how the hell did we use more energy vs last year at a time it was colder and didnt put in place the energy saving crap?

I was hoping to recover some of my spending by getting it back per month, which was the main basis for doing what I did, for there really was nothing wrong with the stuff we were using other then it was pretty old things, and I waited to get the 2nd months bills to make sure what was on it would, and should, reflect my changes, and the thanks I get is I used more power???

Hell I went as far as to even change my fridge to a newer model with the star on it too, and Im scratching my head right now as to why it shows we used more. I been on the asses of my boys in making sure they still dont leave anything on still even though we went to less powered things, and my oldest isnt on his computer no where near as much as he used to, or even my youngest for that matter as well, so what did I do wrong other then Im seeing I should of saved the money then spend it for its not looking like Im gonna get anything back per month now 😛

I feel like a dolt 🙁
 
Same results at our house......Went on an energy kick last year and swapped out all the light bulbs with florescent bulbs, turned back the hot water heater, started shutting down the 3 PC's we have at night, clamped down on the kids leaving TV's on and not watching them etc etc etc and I dont think it made $5 difference in our light bill.....

I wander if we turned everything on and left it on would the light bill go up????

 
Did you get an estimated reading on that bill?

I have an old thread here talking about the enormous increase in my electric bill after buying a Plasma TV. The long and the short of it ended up being that for the first time in 21 years at this residence they mis-read the meter.
 
Originally posted by: WraithETC
I like my bright instant on lightbulbs.
Click to expand...

I should have gotten more of those 🙁

I have been replacing my regular bulbs with fluorescents as they die, mainly to save time replacing them in the future, but they're so dim. Bah.
 
Originally posted by: moparacer
Same results at our house......Went on an energy kick last year and swapped out all the light bulbs with florescent bulbs, turned back the hot water heater, started shutting down the 3 PC's we have at night, clamped down on the kids leaving TV's on and not watching them etc etc etc and I dont think it made $5 difference in our light bill.....

I wander if we turned everything on and left it on would the light bill go up????
Click to expand...

You get a bill just for your lights? Cool!
 
Im thinking now, that they are basing my bill on usage in the past and NOT reading my meter, and that would explain why I am not seeing any change. I will be calling up my electric company tomorrow and finding out if this is what I think is going on and if so I will see if they can either come here and start reading my meter and giving me an exact bill, or if there is a way I can call in the numbers off the meter each month some how. I know they did this a lot up North in Hammond IN. One month I have a usual bill, then another one a huge mother of a bill over $200 more on it then usual because they decided to come over and read the meter finally after a year gone by.

But if they have been reading it, then yes, a huge crock of shit because I have made sure that when I am here by myself, only the one light by me is on, and my pc and monitor, thats it, every light is off, and I wont turn one on to take a pee, I will walk through the bathroom in the dark and open the window for light, and then pull the shade right back down when I was done, thats how anal I have become in trying to get money back per month out of what I have done. Yes dont get me wrong, its nice having some of this new stuff, but I was really hoping to see some savings per month I can put away to make up what I spent for spending that money.
 
Originally posted by: funboy6942
I used 100+ KWH more this month then I did same time last year, and its been warmer then last year to boot. WTF. I used some extra money I come into to get rid of the crt monitors throughout the house and get LCD. Got rid of my HUGE 30" CRT HD set in the room and went with a 42" LCD at little under half the watts of the CRT. Re-did my pc to use less watts since Im on it all day while everyone is at work and school, and topped it all off with florescent bulbs throughout the home as well, so how the hell did we use more energy vs last year at a time it was colder and didnt put in place the energy saving crap?

I was hoping to recover some of my spending by getting it back per month, which was the main basis for doing what I did, for there really was nothing wrong with the stuff we were using other then it was pretty old things, and I waited to get the 2nd months bills to make sure what was on it would, and should, reflect my changes, and the thanks I get is I used more power???

Hell I went as far as to even change my fridge to a newer model with the star on it too, and Im scratching my head right now as to why it shows we used more. I been on the asses of my boys in making sure they still dont leave anything on still even though we went to less powered things, and my oldest isnt on his computer no where near as much as he used to, or even my youngest for that matter as well, so what did I do wrong other then Im seeing I should of saved the money then spend it for its not looking like Im gonna get anything back per month now 😛

I feel like a dolt 🙁
Click to expand...

Well, new tv means more watching tv.
 
Does your electric company do fuel adjustments? My bill went up an extra $18 per month on even billing due to this, by they time the calculate in the higher fuel from the summer months winter is upon us and we're paying more even though fuel prices are down. So are you actually using more or just paying more for less?

Oh and LCD's and Plasma will use a lot of electricity, in some case more than a CRT, at factory settings. The brightness is turned way up and in LCD's case the back lighting too. It helps them stand out when on display in the store but lousy for saving on the electric bill and actually picture isn't that good being over saturated. Calibrate your TV for your room lighting and color balance, it'll save a lot over the factory settings.
 
Go out and read the meter yourself.

As others have stated, many times the utility will read the meter every 2-3 months and adjust the bill accordingly to catch up to the actaul vs estimate usage. The missing months could be an average of the previous months and/or related to last years usage at this time.

So you have the possibility that:

a) you have a energy hog that you added
b) the current bill was when readings were caught up
c) the current bill is an estimate based on some previous usage formula.

Always check such data over a 2-3 month period to smooth out spikes.
 
Originally posted by: us3rnotfound
Maybe it's all a crock of shit, and we're all just getting fucked.
Click to expand...
Winner! Al Gore has perpetrated the greatest scam on the American public since Bernie Madoff.
 
I dont get excited over new things, Im strange, I watch it the same, maybe less then I did my other one since Im on some newer drugs that put me to sleep faster now.
My friend near me thinks Im crazy, I traded my old receiver and sub for his, he went home right away tat night and hooked it up, I just hooked his up last night about 3 weeks later. I bought a new projector that takes cheaper bulbs vs my H31 and I have yet to put it up. Mostly not because I dont want to try out my new things, its just that setting these things up can cause, and do cause great pain for me if I dont get help doing it. With my wife working, and then coming home and working I dont really want to ask her for any more help then she is already doing around here and want any free time she gets to be some time for her to use, not helping me. My oldest is at that age where he and I dont see quite eye to eye so we butt heads a little more as he gives me a little more attitude then usual due to growing up and finding his own, so cant blame him or be upset about that really. So as I do kinda get excited about my new things, its also a huge kicker because it will mean I have to install or put the stuff up with no help, so I have to wait for a sorta pain free day to get the job started and be ready in about a half hour of starting the work to be really fucked up and in pain to finish it off, and not just for that time, it takes sometimes days or weeks for me to recover if I "over do it".

So I really like to put up my new things, I just dont like the fact I got to pay the price for it, and having no friends, but one sorta and hes unreliable, nore family here at all, makes it hard for me to get my things I need up or done, done.
 
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