34.4

That is the average number of kWH of electricity usage for the month of August. I was floored by the energy bill this month. That is way below the usage at any season over the past 3 years. I’m giddy with excitement.

So, I thought I’d list the specific things we have done to cut back on our energy usage. We must have been so wasteful before.

• Temperature. First and foremost, was using the heat and AC less. We lived with a temperature of 78 F instead of 76 F this summer. It was totally bearable.


• Thermostat. Bought a programmable thermostat and scheduled it to adjust the temperature of the house when no one is there and in the middle of the night.


• Fans. Opened the windows on cool nights and used a fan. If the temp was below 78 F at night, we opened the windows and turned on some fans to circulate the cool air. This week has been a great example. It got in the mid 80s during the day, but went to the low 70s at night. The kids actually wanted blankets at the breakfast table in the middle of August!


• Timers. We put many devices that are constantly draining energy (such as cable boxes, digital picture frames, wireless router) on timers. These things don’t need to be on in the middle of the night or the middle of the day when we’re not home. So, we used our Christmas Light timers to manage them. It’s been working really well and we never have to think about them.


• Clothesline. We installed a clothesline to run the dryer less (dryer is a huge energy hog). I especially like it for sheets and stuff that take a long time to dry.


• Lights. Turn them off. It is so basic, but I have always been the worst at this. I am 33 yo and still scared of the dark (especially a dark basement). But I have been MUCH more diligent about this.


• Bulbs. Switch to compact fluorescent (CFL). We just have to make sure that we dispose of them properly as they do contain mercury.


• Weather Stripping. We’ve been making sure the weather stripping around the doors is in place. Next step will be to revisit the insulation.

I think winter is still going to be a challenge. The HVAC cools much more efficiently than it heats. We have a whole slew of other ideas to try out for the winter, but hopefully our efforts will continue to pay off.