luvit's challenge: keep below 800 kWh each month.

[luvit]

check the power draw on that mercury vapor light !

They do make cfl flood light bulbs (standard screw in base). They put out a lot less light, but you could probably install 10 of them and draw less power than one mercury vapor.

I know the draw, it's nearly 200W. That bulb is likey a 175W bulb, as most MV bulbs are, but there are some around 200W.
The age of the fixture makes me believe it's a ballasted fixture, but I want to make sure it was never switched to "unballasted". -- I have a mongul bulb base.
I knew before I bought the house I would make the change, this light is around $8-$9/mo during this time of year.
.
.

excellent project luvit. I will be beginning something similar at my place by march. ..But summer time the ac runs a lot. Still looking at ways to reduce that.

Thanks, & Good Luck, bacpacker!
.
.

what have you identified as the largest power hog in this home right now? I ask because this number still seems rather high for a daily usage??
is this really just the electric heat & lights??

Awe no, it's a combination of many things.
Hoggishness, in respectful order.

1. 3 women in the house who don't care.
2. Poor Home insulation and efficiency
3. Electric Clothes Dryer
4. Electric Range & Oven
5. Electric pumps (2) for the boiler run 24/7
6. Electric forced air fan
7. Outdoor Mercury Vapor bulb >12hrs /day.
8. TV, etc.
9. Recessed lighting (groups of 6 bulbs per switch @ 60W each bulb).. albeit, not used often.
10. All sorts of vampire draws.
11. 3 women in the house who don't care.

Thanks to the whole house meter, I'm well educated of the poor insulation and efficiency of the windows.. check-out the chart. -- the forced air fan runs for 4-6 minutes and turns off for 4-5minutes.. This house just isn't holding the heat.
It feels warm and consistent, but it's losing the heat almost as fast as it generates it.
Also, my low point is nearly 400W (sometimes 300W), due to the boiler pumps, MV Bulb, vampire draws, and sometimes, a teen daughter may leave something on when they leave the room/overnight.

Chart showing forced air fan usage during coldest periods of the night.

.
.

...local libraries in my area have the kill-a-watt meter available for 'check out'. You might want to look into that.

I own one and used it to track my pool pump usage for a few seasons.
I certainly have vampire draws, but I'm spending time on picking the easy cherries, but planning to tackle the real problem.. home insulation and windows.
See the chart, above, it shows my low point is nearly 400W (sometimes 300W), due to the boiler pumps, MV Bulb, vampire draws, and sometimes, a teen daughter may leave something on when they leave the room/overnight.. but the chart shows the forced air fan kicking on often due to heat loss in my home.
.
.
I pick my battles, as long as I see my daughters showing effort towards improvement, I don't pester them.
.

 

[Teken]

1 & 11 you can't do much about except be consistent about your message and how it impacts the household income of all.

Less money to spend on extras such vacations, birthdays, special occasions.

But, number 7 you could definitely get rid of. Why is this light fixture on for the 12 hours a do?? Do you really need to have this powerful light on so long etc?

Teken . . .

 

[luvit]

.
I should clarify this chart on why I'm right about the conservation and insulation being my bigest issue more than any single appliance.

The Chart is 1 Hour.
Each 5min peaks is over 720W of power. The valleys are about 400W for 4 minutes.
Out of 9 minutes I burn 320W for 5 minutes... that is, 320W 56% of the time.
If I sustained this interval of on/off for 24hrs, it would total 4.3kWh in a day.
With forced air heat, I can't eliminate forced air power, but it shouldn't cycle so often.. so I should improve the insulation and windows.

..Of course, Washing/Drying a load of clothes is right up there, too.. until you do two loads in a day.
.

.
.
.

..number 7 you could definitely get rid of. Why is this light fixture on for the 12 hours a do?? Do you really need to have this powerful light on so long etc?

I've been dropping a lot of details. lol. but I don't have all the answers, yet, like is my fixture ballasted or unballasted..
- I plan to eliminate the 12hr light, but I gotta keep the wife happy.
- My wife likes the security of that light., so I have two plans.

• ...Plan A. Motion Sensors, several minutes of use at a time, will likely still need a new bulb to play nicely with instant on or rapid strikes.
• ...Plan B. Change the bulb to florescent (need to determine if it's a ballast fixture, yet).

That MV bulb on for 12hrs is so... old school.
.

 

[ixlr8]

where did you get this info?
a typical frige is like 72 wH/hr where as an xbox on standby is 2 wH/hr

There was an article about game consoles and the power they draw about 1.5 years ago. Of the 3 game consoles, X-box, playstation and the nintendo, 2 were energy hogs when 'off' and the other 1 had fairly low power when 'off'. I don't remember now which one was which to be honest. They found that the CPU's on the hogs were still running about full tilt when in standby/off. They were talking about making it a requirement that the CPU actually go into standby as well and to have an upper limit on standby power. I don't know if that was ever implemented. I suspect it has been with the latest generation of consoles.

 

[Highbeam]

Quoted:

"Awe no, it's a combination of many things.
Hoggishness, in respectful order.1.3 women in the house who don't care.
2.Poor Home insulation and efficiency
3.Electric Clothes Dryer
4.Electric Range & Oven
5.Electric pumps (2) for the boiler run 24/7
6.Electric forced air fan
7.Outdoor Mercury Vapor bulb >12hrs /day.
8.TV, etc.
9.Recessed lighting (groups of 6 bulbs per switch @ 60W each bulb).. albeit, not used often.
10.All sorts of vampire draws.
11.3 women in the house who don't care."

What about refrigeration? Certainly that should fall somewhere on the list. I am all electric and heat the home 100% with wood. So my full bill of 1400+ KwH per winter month is very high and it has bothered me. As near as I can tell there are three hogs in my home:

1) The water heater
2) clothes dryer
3) Refer and deep freeze freezer
4) The modern 8' square hot tub on the patio fed by a 60 amp line and always running at 102 degrees.

That last one, the hot tub, is a big one I'd think but there is no easy way to measure wince my kill-a-watt only tracks 110 volt plug in appliances. I have a front loader HE washer but the dryer vent hasn't been cleaned in awhile.

Lights are not on my list. They don't need to be. They are a small part of household consumption but as a matter of good practice, I have no incandescent bulbs left anywhere except in the fridge of my 1700 SF.

 

[Highbeam]

It is very very possible to live with only electric in all but the fiercest climates. I actually challenge you to compare cost of electric to propance on a btu basis. With electric you can also use a heat pump and really smash propane to bits.

Last I checked in my area pwoer is under 10 cents per KwH and propane well over 3$ per gallon.

 

[Teken]

Quoted: I am all electric and heat the home 100% with wood. So my full bill of 1400+ KwH per winter month is very high and it has bothered me. As near as I can tell there are three hogs in my home:

1) The water heater
2) clothes dryer
3) Refer and deep freeze freezer
4) The modern 8' square hot tub on the patio fed by a 60 amp line and always running at 102 degrees.

That last one, the hot tub, is a big one I'd think but there is no easy way to measure wince my kill-a-watt only tracks 110 volt plug in appliances. I have a front loader HE washer but the dryer vent hasn't been cleaned in awhile.

1400+ Kwh??? Turn that hot tub off my man!

Teken . . .

 

[mpire]

You could always move to Florida.

I am just under 800 KWH since I don't have to run the A/C in winter.

(Except at Night when we are Sleeping)

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I've been dropping a lot of details. lol. but I don't have all the answers, yet, like is my fixture ballasted or unballasted.

Never seen or heard of a Mercury Vapor lamp that didn't use a ballast. Take the whole thing down, and find something else, some sort of motion sensor controlled floodlights with LED or fluorescent bulbs.

Charles

 

[luvit]

What about refrigeration?

That list was not meant to be all inclusive.
My Fridge and Deep Freezer are new and are Energy Star.
We even down-sized the fridge compared to the last home.
.

..I actually challenge you to compare cost of electric to propance on a btu basis. With electric you can also use a heat pump and really smash propane to bits.

Yeah, there will be arguments either way.. but it's implementation based on lifestyle.
.
.
I'm changing my lifestyle since I moved.
This will be a natural habit by the time I complete all the energy home improvements.
I'm reducing my dependency and lowering my count of suppliers.
Going all electric is against the grain, but if I successfully grid-tie wind/solar at the appropriate scale, then I win...
That is, I will only have 1 energy bill, it's the electric bill, and it's a small bill due to conservation, lifestyle, and solar/wind generation.
.
.

Never seen or heard of a Mercury Vapor lamp that didn't use a ballast. Take the whole thing down, and find something else, some sort of motion sensor controlled floodlights with LED or fluorescent bulbs.

You trimmed the quote, I'll be choosing the motion sensor lighting, but keep the pole, the location is excellent.
As you know, MV may not cooperate with motion sensor.
But high wattage Incandescent Bulbs may not be an issue since the motion sensor will only light for a mere several minutes at a time.
...unless my wife demands 24/7, then it'll be florescent or LED.
.

 

[-Brent-]

Luvit, one of the things you can consider is drying your clothes with the "low/low" or "air dry" setting. Your clothes will last longer this way, too.

Either that or buying/fabbing a heat exchanger for the dryer that allows you to use the warm air created by the dryer.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

You trimmed the quote, I'll be choosing the motion sensor lighting, but keep the pole, the location is excellent.
As you know, MV may not cooperate with motion sensor.
But high wattage Incandescent Bulbs may not be an issue since the motion sensor will only light for a mere several minutes at a time.
...unless my wife demands 24/7, then it'll be florescent or LED.

I have the regular two bulb motion sensor floods. I recently had to replace the motion sensor, a storm killed it. I set this one for the on dim for 3 hrs after dark then out after that. When the motion sensor sees motion it goes full bright for the time set on the slide switch (10 min for me) and then back to dim. The dimmer switch has off/3hr/6hr/all nite settings. This might be a good compromise.

Charles

 

[Gooch]

You trimmed the quote, I'll be choosing the motion sensor lighting, but keep the pole, the location is excellent.
As you know, MV may not cooperate with motion sensor.
But high wattage Incandescent Bulbs may not be an issue since the motion sensor will only light for a mere several minutes at a time.
...unless my wife demands 24/7, then it'll be florescent or LED.

if you need the amount of light, don't bother with the CFL's or LED's, they don't offer anywhere near the lumens/watt that a Metal Halide or HPS would.

 

[Zick]

You trimmed the quote, I'll be choosing the motion sensor lighting, but keep the pole, the location is excellent.
As you know, MV may not cooperate with motion sensor.
But high wattage Incandescent Bulbs may not be an issue since the motion sensor will only light for a mere several minutes at a time.
...unless my wife demands 24/7, then it'll be florescent or LED.

if you need the amount of light, don't bother with the CFL's or LED's, they don't offer anywhere near the lumens/watt that a Metal Halide or HPS would.

Actually you can get dam close or at least IMO you can with CFL.
I used to have an old MV bulb and replaced the whole thing w/ a large CFL dusk to dawn light from Menards. I believe it was a 65watt bulb.
The light output from that thing was amazing for a CFL.
It worked great for me but I know others have reported issues with them malfunctioning.

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119586&highlight=dusk

 

[Gooch]

Actually you can get dam close or at least IMO you can with CFL.
I used to have an old MV bulb and replaced the whole thing w/ a large CFL dusk to dawn light from Menards. I believe it was a 65watt bulb.
The light output from that thing was amazing for a CFL.
It worked great for me but I know others have reported issues with them malfunctioning.

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119586&highlight=dusk

there's a big difference between Mercury Vapor and Metal Halide or HPS(High Pressure Sodium)

Also realize I'm not saying you can't get the same light out of LED or CFL, I'm saying to get the same Lumens(light output) the CFL or LED would consume more power. this is called Efficacy. Not to say that a Metal Halide doesn't have it's drawbacks, because they do, but for a non-switched, dusk to dawn light, they can't be beat.

 

[luvit]

.
Day 4 success:
.
The Goal < 25.81 kWh
.Jan 27th = 24.70 kWh
.Jan 28th = 22.40 kWh
.Jan 29th = 25.00 kWh
.Jan 28th = 22.40 kWh

You're gonna have to ignore the data from 1/25 and 1/26.. I was evaluating other graphing solutions and my women were halfheartedly trying. lol.
.

.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Finally talked everyone into wearing sweaters in the house?

Looks like you are doing something right. At home years ago, when I was a kid, dad would go around turning off lights and hollering "you must think I own Georgia Power..." We truthfully were not real good about turning the lights off, but then again, we had a extremely low power bill compared to the guys who worked for dad. They all had central air systems (1960's and '70's) and we had window units, which proved to be much more efficient at the time.

Charles

 

[Teken]

.
Day 4 success:
.
The Goal < 25.81 kWh
.Jan 27th = 24.70 kWh
.Jan 28th = 22.40 kWh
.Jan 29th = 25.00 kWh
.Jan 28th = 22.40 kWh

You're gonna have to ignore the data from 1/25 and 1/26.. I was evaluating other graphing solutions and my women were halfheartedly trying. lol.
.

.

When you break the 18 kwh a day please do let us all know . . . That equates to 558 kwh a month which I am at normally. Great results thus far keep it up and let us know what happens to that huge lamp post you got out there.

I really feel just that one thing will drop the consumption straight away. The savings will allow you to purchase more insulation and better windows in the future.

Teken . . .

 

[mpire]

You have to unplug all those phone chargers too. They **** juice even when they aren't charging anything.

I got some of those power meter things from belkin. I also got those outlet blocks that only run for 3 hours and turn off. Every little bit helps.

 

[MattT]

They all had central air systems (1960's and '70's) and we had window units, which proved to be much more efficient at the time.

I'm pretty sure window units are still cheaper to run if you put a little effort into managing them. Our summer light bills are a good bit lower than anyone I know with central air.

 

[luvit]

Finally talked everyone into wearing sweaters in the house?

Each December, My women are cold whether it's 72*, 70*, or 68*F. So I make them live with 68*, with slippers, flannel PJs, proper layers, perhaps hoursecoat. But it stays at 68* during the day for the past few years, lol.
With all the blankets my wife needs, I'll sweat if she set to 70* overnight.
I didn't have A/C growing-up.. large family had all the lights and TV on.. and 100W bulbs were awesome because it was bigger than 75.. how'd my Dad do it?
.
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... let us know what happens to that huge lamp post you got out there. I really feel just that one thing will drop the consumption straight away.

Yeah, I had my eye on that light before we signed a contract on the property.. I need to let the "Security Light" change sink-in with the wife.. no rush. I don't want to fight with her over a $9/mo light. until she see's the awesomeness of these other improvements.
If I can achieve 800 kWh/mo with that bulb operating, then it will be even sweeter to remove it..
.
.

You have to unplug all those phone chargers too. They **** juice even when they aren't charging anything.

If I were paid, like Ed Begley, to give a bunch of tips, then I would take time to do that. But I don't want to risk failing to charge my phone and rush out the door.
...Vampire draws for the Entertainment Center? It would bug-out the wife if she needed to take more than one-step to turn-on the TV... maybe as all this sinks-in.
.
.
My wife works from home, so laundry varies 24hrs.. sometimes while we sleep.
I'm going to move this running data to the bottom of the OP.

When you break the 18 kwh a day please do let us all know . . . That equates to 558 kwh a month which I am at normally.

.Jan 27 = 24.7 kWh (18kWh by 1900 hrs)
.Jan 28 = 22.4 kWh (18kWh by 2000 hrs)
.Jan 29 = 25.0 kWh (18kWh by 1730 hrs)
.Jan 30 = 22.4 kWh (18kWh by 2230 hrs)
.Jan 31 = 27.7 kWh (18kWh by 1830 hrs)
.Feb 01 = 22.5 kWh (18kWh by 2300 hrs)
.Feb 02 = 15.9 kWh (18kWh Didn't happen!)
.Feb 03 = 15.7 kWh (18kWh Didn't happen!)
.Feb 05 = 18.1 kWh (18kWh by 2345 hrs)
.Feb 06 = 18.1 kWh (18kWh by 2245 hrs)
.

 

[luvit]

.

In a typical home, the electric cloths dryer is the largest draw of electricity. In your home using wood heat, etc you will find that the cloths dryer will be responsible for an even larger amount of electricity used.

Check your consumption when the cloths dryer is running. Your dryer is going to comsume 5kw/h or more when it's running. Average drying cycle is 1.5hrs... 2 loads and you've consumed over 1/2 of your energy budget for the day.

I would really look into alternatives if you can. You can even try experimenting with things like adjusting the heat level on the dryer (takes longer to dry, but uses less heat to do so).

Here is our electric clothes dryer from end-to-end.. this load was half the dry time you described.
Each plateau / peak on the graph averages 5.91 kW of increased power usage.
We're burning about 3.0 kWh per dryer load

3 full loads of clothes were washed and dried yesterday, including a lot of recessed light usage.. guess I'll be buying new recessed bulbs sooner than I planned.
I estimated yesterday would end a few kWh over our daily budget. I'm pleased with the results.

Yesterday ended with 2 kWh over my 25.81 kWh daily budget. My present average is 24.44 kWh / day.

 

[buzz4041]

I am envious luvit. It looks like my place is eating 110 KWH average a day. My monthly average last year is around 3500. I have done all kinds of stuff to help. I will be getting the monitors and doing a door blower test to the house also and do some serious sealing to try and cut this in half at least. My place is a 100% electric so I figure if I can cut in half that would be a good step. Looks like a solar investment might be in the works.

 

[mpire]

I still think you should move to Florida.

My electric bill was 804 kwh in December, and 798 kwh for January.

I am still running the A/C in the bedroom every night too.

I have a conventional electric water heater that I have set at 115 degrees, and I changed out all of the lights for LEDs or CFLs.

Regular electric 4 ton 12 year old heat pump to cool 2700 square feet or so.

Granted it will be more in the summer, but does it balance out with all those heating costs up North when you have summers that aren't quite as hot?

 

[mpire]

If I were paid, like Ed Begley, to give a bunch of tips, then I would take time to do that. But I don't want to risk failing to charge my phone and rush out the door.
...Vampire draws for the Entertainment Center? It would bug-out the wife if she needed to take more than one-step to turn-on the TV... maybe as all this sinks-in.

Belkin and others make smart surge strips now. So the TV is plugged into the green outlet, and when you turn on the TV it senses the increased current draw and turns on the other outlets in the strip.

$25

I also got several of these little buggers.

I have the phone charger plugged into them. So when she plugs in her phone, she hits the green button. Then it charges for 1/2, 3, or 6 hours depending on where the dip switch is set. Works great for phone chargers and was an easy compromise because the wife wouldn't unplug her charger.

$10

Finally, I also got one of these that lets me see how much energy these things are saving. Doesn't work for 220, but otherwise it justifies buying these gadgets to save that last little bit.

$30

It may seem like overkill, but un-used electronics and incandescent light bulbs left on really do waste dramatic amounts of money.

 

[Zick]

I am envious luvit. It looks like my place is eating 110 KWH average a day. My monthly average last year is around 3500. I have done all kinds of stuff to help. I will be getting the monitors and doing a door blower test to the house also and do some serious sealing to try and cut this in half at least. My place is a 100% electric so I figure if I can cut in half that would be a good step. Looks like a solar investment might be in the works.

Holy ****, 110 KWh a day!
That's a lot of juice, what are you running?

We've got a bunch of computers running 24/7, couple refrigerators, a 300 gallon indoor turtle pond kept at 75*F, a Geo unit and we still manage to only use on average 50 KWh a day. Our worst month in the past 18 months was 85KWh and that was for a very cold Jan winter.

 

[Teken]

I am envious luvit. It looks like my place is eating 110 KWH average a day. My monthly average last year is around 3500. I have done all kinds of stuff to help. I will be getting the monitors and doing a door blower test to the house also and do some serious sealing to try and cut this in half at least. My place is a 100% electric so I figure if I can cut in half that would be a good step. Looks like a solar investment might be in the works.

 

[ishiboo]

Holy ****, 110 KWh a day!
That's a lot of juice, what are you running?

We've got a bunch of computers running 24/7, couple refrigerators, a 300 gallon indoor turtle pond kept at 75*F, a Geo unit and we still manage to only use on average 50 KWh a day. Our worst month in the past 18 months was 85KWh and that was for a very cold Jan winter.

More info on your geo unit and the size/efficiency of your house please? Also, how far north in WI are you? How much gas do you use?

We're running $140/mo in winter on our power bill, and $2400 in propane per heating season. I thought we were too far north to see significant savings via geo.

 

[Zick]

ishiboo, gonna send you a PM.
Don't want to derail luvit's thread unless he's interested the info too.

 

[luvit]

I will be getting the monitors and doing a door blower test to the house also and do some serious sealing to try and cut this in half at least. My place is a 100% electric so I figure if I can cut in half that would be a good step. Looks like a solar investment might be in the works.

I don't suppose you're using a furnace too often in southern Texas, but you might be hitting the A/C heavily in the summer time? Are you on AEP? Have you logged-into your AEP account and reviewed your last 3 years, month by month?
If you see your A/C taking a toll, it would be interesting to see a southern texas home take corrective action.
.
.

Granted it will be more in the summer, but does it balance out with all those heating costs up North when you have summers that aren't quite as hot?

We should see your summer bill.
Summers get hot here, and muggy. We may have fewer days of it compared to you.
.
.

Belkin and others make smart surge strips now.

I'll look into that strip, but that phone charger is still a risk for me.
I have a Kill-A-Watt that may do all the same as your 3rd. Item.. It is real handy.
.
.

ishiboo, gonna send you a PM.
Don't want to derail luvit's thread unless he's interested the info too.

awe no, i don't mind blurbs, man. i'm not in the market for anything, but i find it interesting.
.

 

[Zick]

awe no, i don't mind blurbs, man. i'm not in the market for anything, but i find it interesting.
.

Here is the info I gave ishiboo,

We built our house about 2 -1/2 years ago so everything is brand new.
The house is roughly 2850 sqft with 2x6 walls using a combination of spray foam and fiberglass for ~R23 and ceiling is blown in fiberglass at R40 I believe. It was also Energy Star certified as well.

The Geo unit is a Waterfurnace 5 ton Synergy 3d w/ a 5 ton loop.
The loop consists of 5 wells about 150' deep and were we live is in a flood plain. During the year of construction there was a flooding the previous year and the water table was only 1' down
I would think that would help the efficiency of the system a lot.
But now we're built up about 6ft higher as to now worry about the house getting flooded.

The entire house is radiant heat in a concrete slab (flood zone, no basement). We keep the house at about 68-70 *F constantly in the winter time. All the HVAC equipment is housed in a room inside the garage and because it gets warm in there I usually leave the door open and bleed some of the excess heat into the garage which has always kept the garage (40x50) above 35*F all winter.

Pretty much everything in our house is electric except for a Gas water heater, gas cook top and recently a gas outdoor grill.
I run ran some number recently on what it costs us to just run the Geo for heating/cooling for the last 18 months. We only had about 8 months were it actually ran.
Now this is just the cost for the Geo, our electric cost for the rest of the equipment usually runs right around $115 and gas is about $20-$30


Our average heating/cooling bill has been about $112and the highest was around $190.

Here is roughly our heating/cooling cost for 8 months.


12/10 KHw 1369 Cost $157.435 Avg temp 33F
1/11 KHw 1305 Cost $150.075 Avg temp 22F
2/11 KHw 1660 Cost $190.9 Avg temp 18F
3/11 KHw 950 Cost $109.25 Avg temp 35F
4/11 KHw 747 Cost $85.905 Avg temp 45F
5/11 KHw 369 Cost $42.435 Avg temp 52F
11/11 KHw 315 Cost $36.225 Avg temp 48F
12/11 KHw 1074 Cost $123.51 Avg temp 37F

Average Khw 973.625 Average Cost $111.966875

 

[mpire]

We should see your summer bill.

KWH

April 1115
May 1347
June 1380
July 1586
August 1717
September 1212
October 1437
November 962
December 804
January 798

I'll look into that strip, but that phone charger is still a risk for me.

If your phone doesn't charge in 6 hours, then you need a new battery.

 

[luvit]

mpire,
i'm aiming for 800 kWh /mo all-year-around.
this summer, i'll have new challenges with operating my a/c, also.. i won't have free hotwater from my central boiler.. that's a double whammy.
i'll be scrutinizing my tiny 40gal electric water heater in a couple months.

..i'm just not going to be able to articulate the problem of the chance that a cell-phone is connected to a charger, but it's not keeping the battery topped-off.
.
.

. . . . .

mm k, I making a note of improvement on my forced air fan consumption.
I increased my wood burning boiler water temp from 185*F to 195*F.
While the fan is not running, heat does radiate from the furnace's heat exchanger through our ducts. -- I can actually feel the warm air from the vents.

..but this winter's mild temperatures are playing the bigger role.
Since I complained about how often the forced air fan kicks-on, the average daily temperature has raised from 28*F to 45*F. -- The yellow line on the chart.
Nights are cold, forced air runs often, but the days have been quite warm, nearly eliminating my forced air usage due to lower heat loss from the home.

I've been blessed with a mild winter, so far, but i need to prepare the house for next winter and this coming summer's A/C use.
.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

..i'm just not going to be able to articulate the problem of the chance that a cell-phone is connected to a charger, but it's not keeping the battery topped-off.

Lithium Ion batteries in cell phones are "intelligent" and they have circuitry built into them that regulates the charge and shuts it off when fully charged. Then it sits and most DO NOT kick back on again until the charger has been unplugged and replugged, then the cycle starts over again. I leave my cell on when I plug it on the charger (every evening) and I don't have any service here, so it it constantly seeking service. The battery charges up but if I don't go anywhere for a couple of days and the phone sits plugged up, the battery will go dead. I have to unplug it and plug it back in again to initiate the charge cycle.

Charles

 

[luvit]

I leave my cell on when I plug it on the charger (every evening) and I don't have any service here, so it it constantly seeking service. The battery charges up but if I don't go anywhere for a couple of days

i have no signs of this behavior with my cell phone history.
it's fully charged as long as it's plugged-in, i can talk for hours and it's stays fully charged.

Checkout the bottom of my OP and bottom of post #62:

The Goal < 25.8 kWh, Running Total, Ave Temp (F)
.Jan 27 ..... 24.7 kWh ..... 24.7 kWh ..... 55° F
.Jan 28 ..... 22.4 kWh ..... 47.1 kWh ..... 33°
.Jan 29 ..... 25.0 kWh ..... 72.1 kWh ..... 30°
.Jan 30 ..... 22.4 kWh ..... 94.5 kWh ..... 26°
.Jan 31 ..... 27.7 kWh ....122.2 kWh ..... 46°
.Feb 01 ..... 22.5 kWh ....144.7 kWh ..... 47°
.Feb 02 .....15.9 kWh ....160.6 kWh ..... 41°
.Feb 03 .....15.7 kWh ....176.3 kWh ..... 26° ..... Daily Ave kWh = 22.04

 

[superduty59]

Luvit you have inspired me to look at my electric bill closer. I looked into the Blueline monitor but my power company just switched us to a smart meter that can't be read by the Blueline. My usage last month was 2500kw at $0.12.

 

[buzz4041]

Quote: Originally Posted by luvit : I don't suppose you're using a furnace too often in southern Texas, but you might be hitting the A/C heavily in the summer time? Are you on AEP? Have you logged-into your AEP account and reviewed your last 3 years, month by month?
If you see your A/C taking a toll, it would be interesting to see a southern texas home take corrective action.
I will get home March 1 and first thing will be a new top of line AC system along with insulation and a ton of other remedies. I am ordering the diagnostic tools to evaluate all the waste. Looks like about 10K to 15K investment coming. That is why I am following this so closely for all the suggestions. keep up the good work

 

[venturesomerite]

Wow, makes my 3 bay garage (just garage) electrical bill of $230 look terrible

 

[Teken]

Checkout the bottom of my OP and bottom of post #62:

The Goal < 25.8 kWh, Running Total, Ave Temp (F)
.Jan 27 ..... 24.7 kWh ..... 24.7 kWh ..... 55° F
.Jan 28 ..... 22.4 kWh ..... 47.1 kWh ..... 33°
.Jan 29 ..... 25.0 kWh ..... 72.1 kWh ..... 30°
.Jan 30 ..... 22.4 kWh ..... 94.5 kWh ..... 26°
.Jan 31 ..... 27.7 kWh ....122.2 kWh ..... 46°
.Feb 01 ..... 22.5 kWh ....144.7 kWh ..... 47°
.Feb 02 .....15.9 kWh ....160.6 kWh ..... 41°
.Feb 03 .....15.7 kWh ....176.3 kWh ..... 26° ..... Daily Ave kWh = 22.04

What is going on at Feb 01 / 02 ?? Did you cut the kids loose??

Teken . . .

 

[luvit]

Luvit you have inspired me to look at my electric bill closer. I looked into the Blueline monitor but my power company just switched us to a smart meter that can't be read by the Blueline. My usage last month was 2500kw at $0.12.

With that smart meter, you need a TED-5000 unit which clamps onto your power cables, just like a regular ammeter. It costs more, but offers quicker response to changes on your power.

.
.

Wow, makes my 3 bay garage (just garage) electrical bill of $230 look terrible

I found all the old T12 florescent lighting was a killer in my shop. 1.4 kW when 2/3 of my lighting is working.
I'm actively looking for lighting solutions and hope to have the decision by the end of this weekend.
I know people will advertise T8 or even T5 for efficiency, but reality is they just provide more lumens... but each bulb still utilizes high wattage.
I'll have my lighting designed for zones or tasks.
.
.

What is going on at Feb 01 / 02 ?? Did you cut the kids loose??

I know they are only doing 1 load of laundery per day.. and last night we had pizza delivered instead of cooking..
.