Saturday, December 12, 2009

Keeping Warm



 It's that time of year again when I try to keep my power bill as low as possible.  Our central heat and air is electric, so I do what I can to keep our bill low.  Also, my husband works outside, so his paycheck is usually lower this time of year, so I try to conserve power.

Back in the summer our highest power bill was $260.  I know, you are shocked, right!  My friends say that is extremely high.  I can cover up to get warm, but I have a hard time getting cooler.  Believe it or not, but I kept my A/C around 74 degrees most days.  Our home is fairly large, so I guess it does take more to keep it cool.

Since that crazy power bill, it has went down, month by month.  From $191, to $160.  I am most proud of our upcoming power bill which will only be $139.  Wow, what a difference!  I have been keeping our heat set to 65 degrees.  We have been dressing warmly and using fleece blankets around the house.

Y'all know I have been wanting a Snuggie, well, I finally broke down and bought a knock-off version, called a Cuddler, from here.  They were on sale for $9.99 when I bought mine, but are now even cheaper at $5.99.  My hubby likes mine so good, he wants me to buy him one too. The sleeves are really long, which is cool, because I can use my mouse and still have my hands covered up!



So, what about you, what do you keep your thermostat set on?  Do you have any helpful hints for me to get my power bill even lower?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Nancy, That's a tremendous drop in your electric bill! Like you, we dress warmly and keep warm throws handy. We are also good about only using the lights we need when we move from room to room. I love your cuddler blanket! Your chair seems to be identical to the one I use!!!

Twisted Fencepost said...

I keep my thermostat around 72, year round.
Unplug things not in use. And turn off lights not in use. Those two things will help.

Tracy Golightly-Garcia said...

Nancy

I am happy that your bill has come down. We keep our heat on 70--but we also have a gas bill (first winter for both). Duke Power is going up I think 10%, so I look forward to our bill going up soon.

Best
Tracy

Anonymous said...

Hello Nancy, During Winter my thermostat is set at 68. Like you the summer before last I had a 260 dollar power bill (Ouch!). This past summer the highest was 224. I kept the thermostat set at 78 when we were home and up a little higher if we were out. We made a cover for the AC unit that provided shade for the unit. I also hung clothes on the clothes line. I did not use my hair dryer for one month and my bill lowered 10 dollars. I now only blow dry my hair if I am going out and I wait till it is almost dry. Oh, and we also put a timer on the hot water heater. It is on for 2 hours in the a.m. and two in the evening. I make sure no lights are left on and also shut off fans when not in the room. My last bill was only 144 dollars.

My Blessings From Above said...

We are trying to keep our power bill down as well. Our house is always cold. Thanks for the link to the cuddler. Now if I could only find a kids version.

KathyB. said...

You look snug as a bug in a rug! I cannot endure high temperatures without getting sick or wanting to sleep, so if I lived in your area I would probably have high bills in the summer too. We keep our thermostat at around 65 degrees, often lower. Our furnace uses oil and we usually burn firewood harvested from our own woods all winter and early spring, thereby allowing us to use as little oil as possible. The only time we up our home temp is when family from other parts of the U.S. visit, those southerners you know, they need warm temps!

We just bought my husband's mother a pink Snuggy and she was a pretty happy camper with it!

Unknown said...

Aaawwww Nancy, This is where you sit and talk to me thru blogland!! Thanks for sharing! I might just have to get me one of those too!!
I have never been one to cuddle up very often under a blanket on the sofa. I have them there but just don't use them.

We have a battle with the power bill here too. With the one income I am now very observant of my habits good and bad ;-)
Our highest was in the summer at $268. It has come down to about $140. I just saw on our online newspaper a headline that read about our power company was to start increasing their rates, AGAIN, this weekend!!!!!!!!! I didn't even read the article because it makes me sick to my stomach.

We have an outdoor wood furnace that is great and it heats our water while providing a lovely warm house. It is sorta a trade off, the free heated water for the cost of running the blower to get the heat to us.

For some reason with this woodstove we have to keep our thermostat set at 73, any lower and we all freeze. If we run the heat pump any it is set at 68 in the winter or lower. I don't know why they are so different.

I hang my clothes out as much as possible, I even have a clothesline in our hottub room so they can dry year round. But we also pay to heat the hottub, another trade off maybe?? It's a viscious cycle my friend!!

QuiltedSimple said...

Wow - that's a great drop in your electric bill! I haven't messed with trying to lower ours yet but we have cut our propane consumption from 1 tank every 6 weeks to 1 1/2 tanks every winter. Just making very good use of our woodburner!
Kris

Mommie Daze said...

We keep out thermostat on 68 in the winter. We cut our energy bills just by installing a programmable thermostat. Also our hot water heater used propane. So we put a timer on it,and actually turn it off at night while we sleep. It's insulated so the water stays hot over night, but it doesn't run.

Paula said...

Wow- I would love to have one of those Cuddlers! I have an old blanket thrown over the couch and I grab it when I get cold, but it looks awful. I need something pretty like that.
We've been using our wood stove to heat... our electric heat has barely been on. It's really helped our electric bill.