Below are our utility bills for November, December and January.
We are billed for electricity, water, sewer, trash pick up and an ambulance fee on one bill by our city.
Your may have to click on the picture to enlarge it if you want to see the numbers clearer.
The November and December bill are pretty much the same.
The January bill is much lower.
Our water and electricity both decreased significantly.
Nothing much changed in the way we do things except for 2 things.
Nothing much changed in the way we do things except for 2 things.
1. I changed from using our dishwasher to washing all dishes by hand.
2. Husband bought a LED tv for the living room that says it uses very little energy- I think the energy star tag on it said $17 a year~!
I am sure you all have heard that hand washing is less energy efficient than machine washing.
But this is second time I have stopped using my dishwasher and documented the results-both times our bills went down.
But this is second time I have stopped using my dishwasher and documented the results-both times our bills went down.
My dishwasher is a 5 year old Kitchenaid.
Lately, our dishes were just not getting clean and the dishwasher seemed to run for so long.
So, I just quit using it.
We have low water pressure in our neighborhood and I think the low water pressure and the new phosphate free detergents are why it does not clean right anymore.
I want clean dishes!
I have no plans to replace it, but I will just keep handwashing.
Our old TV was a flat screen, also 5 or so years old. I think it was plasma but am not sure.
Whenever it was turned on, it let off lots of heat, almost like a space heater.
This new LED tv feels room temperature whether it is turned off or on.
I am not suggesting anyone buy a new TV just to save on your energy bill. But if you are shopping for a new tv, check out the energy use tags on them. They really might "pay for their selves" after a few years if your electric bills decrease.
Linking up the party at
hosted by Saving for Six
Interesting to know, our dishwasher just "quit" and I am not rushing to buy a new one, I am still not sure if I will replace it!
ReplyDeleteI am curious to see if your water and power bills decrease too.
DeleteIt's good to see your bills and be able to compare costs. I think our costs are quite high as I'm always cold and do all kinds of things to keep the utilities bill down. It is hard to do a strict comparison as my water bill, sewer and ambulance services are not included in my bi-monthly bills. My bill is about 30 dollars less than yours but I pay it every 2nd months so I guess I'm doing good. I only have energy efficient appliances, use the d/w every day on short cycle, w/d is used a lot and so are the hot water showers. I save by keeping heating off as much as possible, unplugging unneeded appliances and turning off lights in unused rooms. I wish I could do more.
ReplyDeleteHi Joyful, if you enlarge the picture and look at eac bill, the first line on each one is electric and the next one is water. They all have abbreviations for each charge and that might help you compare.
DeleteOur hot water heater and heating unit for the house run on natural gas and that is another bill from a different company.
OIC, thanks as I missed that!
Deletethat is very interesting!
ReplyDeleteWe have a large flat screen and it really does put out the heat..in the summer it's awful! Need to remember this for next time we shop for one!
not sure I want to hand wash all the dishes around here, but I am impressed that you do it! Once I switched to LemiShine along with my regular dishwasher detergent, my dishes and glasses have looked like new.
Betsy, I used LemiShine and it really helped for a while. But I think our low water pressure is our main problem.
DeleteI'm always looking for ways to save on our energy bill. I keep the heat register down to 69 deg. F and I wash all of my dishes by hand, no dishwasher, and I use as little water as possible. Whenever our youngest daughter visits and washes them, she lets the hot water run the entire time and I have to leave the room, or I'll say something that will make her mad... I try to always wash my own for that reason. I like to hear the ways that you save, it helps to know that I'm not the only one!
ReplyDeleteHow is your husband doing with his knees? I think of him every time I write on your blog, I hope the winter weather doesn't cause a lot of discomfort. Air conditioning actually causes Carolyn's knees to hurt.
Hugs, Cindy
I am POSITIVE that we use less water handwashing our dishes than a dishwasher would! I use one dishpan of water for a very large dishdrainer of clean dishes. It's nice to see it documented on the water bill, though!
ReplyDeleteI am very encouraged to hear about the water and electricity savings by not using the dishwasher! We have a portable unit that we've had for awhile. It seemed for awhile like it was more efficient but the truth is we had more piles of dirty dishes waiting around more often. We have had a lot of water pressure problems at our kitchen sink lately so decided to replace the valves and pipes under the sink this past weekend as well as the faucet. While at it, we decided to get a style of faucet we liked better. It doesn't allow for the dishwasher hook up so we ended up sacrificing the dishwasher to have the one we want. You know, I am finding the kitchen is cleaner now than ever now that I'm washing by hand every night and putting things away immediately. So hopefully we'll see savings as well!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you used the heat dry feature when you were using your dishwasher, or if you just let them air dry. I am currently using the dishwasher, but I air dry them instead of using the heated dry feature, and I haven't seen any increase in our electric bill. We just get an electric bill because we live in the country. We pump our own well water (which is reflected in electric usage) and we have a septic (so no sewer bill). Trash is a separate thing too. Just wondering - thanks!
ReplyDeleteLaura, when I used the dishwasher, it was set to cool dry. And even then, if I heard it switch to the dry cycle, I was push the cancel button, open it and really let the dishes air dry.
ReplyDeleteI think appliances use different rates of power and we just have to use trial and error to figure out what happens at our home and what levels we can live with.
I think stopping the DW helped the electricity part of our bill but I think getting rid of that hot tv helped even more.