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Do you remember this post: Reducing Bills! Electricity Bills! Phone Bills! Water Bills!
Do you remember me telling you that YOU have control over consumption? Do you remember the tips? And do you remember me appointing myself electricity police?
Well, let me update you.
After one month of being the Electricity Police, I am delighted to announce that our electricity bill came this weekend with a 26.83% reduction in consumption on a kWh basis. Now, that is incredible. We used 26.83% less electricity this month than we did last month. That is not a typo - almost twenty seven percent!
Did we also get a dollar figure decrease? Well, as it turns out, we did!! We got a 20.49% decrease in the dollar amount of the bill. Not a typo - almost twenty one percent! I'm not kidding.
Want to know what that means. Dollar for dollar, we saved more in a month that we can get in ONE WHOLE YEAR in after tax interest on any savings account or reputable investment that I am aware of. And because we've saved that money, it's sitting in the bank earning interest, or available for investment to earn a return. How do you like them apples?
And, do you all know what electricity costs in Jamaica? Well, a 20.49% reduction in the light bill is a nice amount of money. And even if they dropped the rates, we had a 26.83% reduction in consumption - we did that, not the electricity utility company - so we were well on our way to some kind of savings.
If you want to see these savings for yourself, here's what you should do:
- Call a family meeting and let all members of the family know this is a family project, and each person has to do his or her part
- Find out all the big uses of electricity. Other than putting in energy savers wherever we could, we were vigilant with what was already there. We were vigilant in putting the heater on a daily schedule so it didn't stay on all day. We organized the use of the stove, washing machine, the microwave and the iron. There are ways to use all of those, accomplish what you need to without wasting electricity. We kept Air Conditioning use to a minimum, plugged out appliances (and cell phone chargers) when they were not in use, and turned off lights and fans when rooms were empty.
- Appoint an Electricity Police or volunteer yourself. This really works better if someone is willing to do what people forget to do, and/or embarrass and fine those who do not do what they should :)
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The entire family was excited to see the light bill. We were sure we would see some reduction but not nearly that much. We know that several days we forgot to turn off the heater or the air condition unit or the lights..so we know we will have even more savings with more vigilance. I want to congratulate Deika on a significant result from this well thought out project. I hope she continues to find ways to save money without inconveniencing the family. Well done!!
ReplyDeleteCFL's are good, LCD's are great. We replaced 5 cfl's with lcd's and saw an even further savings on our bill. Lcd's still have ways to go to be replacements for all lamps, and they aren't as cheap, but they will be. Keep up the good work. You should tackle cleaning products next, you can make your own cleaners and detergents from common supermarket items for a nice savings as well as keeping your breathing air free if toxic chemicals.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous: Thanks! (That's my mom) :)
ReplyDelete@ Andrew: Thanks! You know, my mom has been asking for that post about household cleaners. She should write that one though. True believer in vinegar and water :)
Cleaning material - baking soda is my favourite - use it for everything!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this post. it really is fun to save money. One very important thing to do is to put the money you save into a special investment account. most of us, when we "save" don't do that - we just absorb the savings into our everyday spending. So it's really not saving at all!
I find that using the OWL gives wonderful immediate feedback on our energy saving efforts and brings alive all those hidden waste energy behaviours and equipment!
ReplyDeletegot it from JETCON corp www.jetcon.com.jm or 920 2277
Great project Deika... you have now inspired me to try! Unpluging the equipment when not in use..... I never thought about that...Thanks~
ReplyDelete"Because saving water makes cents"
ReplyDeleteI am adding this tip to your blog. A great way to save water and not change your water use habit is to convert your toilet over to a dual flush. SelectAFlush has a dual flush toilet retrofit for less than $40.00. The installation will take you about 30 min and can save a typical family as much water as a swimming pool each year...now that saves water and a lot of money. I have installed 3 at my house and have save about $10.00 a month on my water bill. I hope this helps add to your tips.
If we follow those tips,it will help us lessen our payments and have healthy living. In case of emergency, we have savings to lend for.
ReplyDelete