Mike keeps the machines running at a food-packaging plant, and his favorite saying at work is that "nothing wastes money like something nobody's looking at." One night last August I read him our electric bill, $186 that month, and asked who exactly was looking at our house. There was a long pause. Last summer our bill averaged $171 a month from June through August, and in one very hot week the old AC unit ran almost nonstop.
This spring, after a winter of me reading every home-energy guide the library had, we finally made a list and worked through it. Comparing our kilowatt-hours this March through May against the same months last year, we're using enough less that it works out to about $38 a month at our current rate. I compared usage, not dollar amounts, because our utility's rate went up a little this year and I didn't want that hiding the real change.
A little background: we have a 1970s three-bedroom ranch, a gas furnace, central air, an electric water heater, and an electric dryer. Your house may be completely different, so take this as what worked for us, not a promise.
The big three
1. We unplugged the garage fridge
This was the single biggest change and it was embarrassing. We had an old refrigerator in the garage holding, at the time I checked, two cases of pop, a bag of ice, and a jar of pickles. I borrowed a plug-in power meter from the library (ours lends them out, which I didn't know until this year), and it was using an amazing amount of power, especially in a hot garage. We unplugged it in March. I now buy pop less often, which is probably a bonus too.
2. We actually programmed the thermostat
We've had a programmable thermostat for years. It was set to "hold" at the same temperature 24 hours a day. Now it lets the house warm up a few degrees in summer during the hours we're mostly outside or asleep with fans on, and cools back down before the late afternoon. Nobody in the house has noticed except when I told them.
3. We finally paid attention to the AC
Every guide I read said the same two things: change the filter and keep the outdoor unit clean. We had ignored both. The filter was gray and sagging, and the outdoor coil was matted with cottonwood fluff. We had a local tech do a spring tune-up ($89), watched how he cleaned the coil, and now Mike gently hoses it off himself after cottonwood season. The furnace filter gets changed every month in summer instead of "whenever someone remembers." It's on the calendar now, between library day and trash night.
The smaller stuff that added up
- Water heater down to 120°F. Ours was set at 140. Nobody needs water that hot, and with a four-year-old in the house it's safer anyway. Turn the power off at the breaker before you open the panel on an electric heater.
- The last of the old bulbs. We had about 22 incandescent and old spiral bulbs left in lamps, the basement, and outside. I replaced them over two months with LEDs at a dollar or two apiece.
- Line-drying some laundry. Sheets and towels go on the backyard line when it's nice. The kids' clothes still go in the dryer because I'm not a saint.
- Cold-water washes. I switched almost everything to cold. Clothes come out just as clean.
Roughly where the $38 came from
These are our best guesses from the power meter and the bill, not exact measurements:
| Change | Est. monthly savings |
|---|---|
| Unplugged garage fridge | $13 |
| Thermostat schedule | $8 |
| AC coil cleaning + monthly filter | $6 |
| Water heater to 120°F | $5 |
| LED bulbs | $3 |
| Line-drying + cold washes | $3 |
| Total | about $38 |
What didn't do much
I bought a four-pack of smart plugs to kill "phantom" power from the TV, game console, and microwave. I set up schedules, felt very clever, and saw no change I could point to on the bill. It's probably a dollar a month, if that. The plugs now control the Christmas lights, which is where they belong.
I also went on a crusade about turning off lights when you leave a room. With LED bulbs, it barely matters, and all it did was make me the lamp police. I've retired.
What's next
Summer is just starting, so the real test is July. Next on the list is weatherstripping the back door, which whistles in January, and adding insulation to the attic, which looked a lot thinner than what the guides recommend when Mike poked his head up there with a flashlight. That one costs real money, so it's going in a sinking fund first. For now, $38 a month is about $456 a year, which covers our car registrations and then some. Not bad for mostly pulling one plug.
