Anyone else tracking their hydro smart meter readings?

[momof5boys]

I'm tracking our hydro usage now that the smart meter has been installed and am curious if our usage is about average for our family. We live in a typical BC box style type home, have two chest freezers, gas heat (only use electricity to run the furnace fan of course), gas hot water heat, no dishwasher... our daily average appears to be around 30-32 kwh for Jan and Feb....does this sound about right?

[greencanuck]

I live in a similar living setup as yours, except one upright freezer not two chest freezers.
I strive to save energy and use 3-9 KWH per day in Feb, with 5 KWH being typical.

Take a serious look at your energy usage, especially high energy consuming appliances.
Time of use is also important.

[momof5boys]

I live in a similar living setup as yours, except one upright freezer not two chest freezers.
I strive to save energy and use 3-9 KWH per day in Feb, with 5 KWH being typical.

Take a serious look at your energy usage, especially high energy consuming appliances.
Time of use is also important.

Wow, are you serious? We don't have time of use here in BC....just high rates all around. Even in the summer, with all lights turned off, no furnace fan running - just freezers, fridge and (used to be fish tank) we were using about 23 KWH. I failed to mention that I do ALL our own baking, so the electric stove works over time here as well

[vibrantflame]

greencanuck - can you give us some tips on how you get your daily usage so low?

We live in a townhouse and we heat with gas. We have two children, a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, a large fridge, a stove, two computers, and a television with video game system hooked up. I use the dishwasher only once or twice a week. I try to use the washer and dryer only at night when it is cheaper. The computers do run all the time, but we use them almost all the time. Our daily average is between 20-23 KWH per day.

[sweet sparrow]

I haven't been tracking, but now that you mention it, I probably should. Our usage has ranged from 5 - 10 kWH per day, which is surprising. How do we use twice as much in some months than others? As long as it's below 10 kWH, I don't question our bill though.

We have an electric stove, (I assume) an energy sucking big screen Mac (as DH's movie screen), electric garage door opener, washer/dryer, A/C, microwave, TV/game system, etc. I really have a lot more that I can probably be doing to cut back, but DH will need some convincing. Our home and water is also heated with natural gas. With the winter being too dry for me, we run a humidifier all night, every night, as a medical necessity.

[kasha100]

wow! those are great numbers!
trying to keep ours at 70% green! not easy

[greencanuck]

greencanuck - can you give us some tips on how you get your daily usage so low?

We live in a townhouse and we heat with gas. We have two children, a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, a large fridge, a stove, two computers, and a television with video game system hooked up. I use the dishwasher only once or twice a week. I try to use the washer and dryer only at night when it is cheaper. The computers do run all the time, but we use them almost all the time. Our daily average is between 20-23 KWH per day.

In my opinion, there are a few things that really help overall with energy consumption in a household.
I take being fairly ecological seriously and do many things to continuously lower my energy output.

One way to think about it is that a coin jar with quarters is spilling out *your money* every time you turn on (and leave on) highly consumptive appliances.


The number one thing I would suggest is to get a fairly close estimated number for the actual energy consumption for specific appliances and your household.
This will tell you where it is most important to spend your resources ( time, money, research, etc)

There are numerous ways to do that.
1) get a watt meter and systematically check your appliances
2) do estimates based on website charts
3) read your energy bill very carefully
4) register on your electrical supplier website

My hydro ( electricity) supplier has smart meters and has been giving accurate ( within an hour) time of use for electricity based on the hour, day and month. They have all kinds of comparative charts and information.
They also give you approximate costs for when we will get charged based on time of use. ( That has just started for me)



RANDOM SUGGESTIONS:
- continuously research way to save energy ( websites, articles, classes, etc)
- be determined to shut off the highest energy consuming appliances ( ie anything that uses electricity to heat)
- spend a small amount every month to lower your wattage ( ie energy saving light bulbs, timer, etc)
- evaluate if it is worth replacing high consumptive major appliances
- only have 1-2 lights on, if possible
- use power bars
- shut off everything when not in use
- compare your energy usage for same activity( ie 3 hrs on computer laptop vs big screen and desktop)
- use the smallest heat producing appliance for the job. ( ie toaster oven vs stove oven)
- shut off the stove slightly before the food is fully cooked
- evaluate if there is a way to change your usage of consumptive appliances. ( ie use something else, use less time, use at cheaper time)
- short showers, if electric water heater
- if something is necessary, evaluate if you can accomplish the same thing with less electricity ( ie LIGHTING, open curtains, sit near window for task, buy compact florescent or LED bulbs, use task lighting, shut off immediately, etc)
(ie WASH DISHES, by hand, at lowest cost time, reduce energy functions on automatic dishwasher, make sure full load, be aware of full cost of usage.)

[momof5boys]

In my opinion, there are a few things that really help overall with energy consumption in a household.
I take being fairly ecological seriously and do many things to continuously lower my energy output.

One way to think about it is that a coin jar with quarters is spilling out *your money* every time you turn on (and leave on) highly consumptive appliances.


The number one thing I would suggest is to get a fairly close estimated number for the actual energy consumption for specific appliances and your household.
This will tell you where it is most important to spend your resources ( time, money, research, etc)

There are numerous ways to do that.
1) get a watt meter and systematically check your appliances
2) do estimates based on website charts
3) read your energy bill very carefully
4) register on your electrical supplier website

My hydro ( electricity) supplier has smart meters and has been giving accurate ( within an hour) time of use for electricity based on the hour, day and month. They have all kinds of comparative charts and information.
They also give you approximate costs for when we will get charged based on time of use. ( That has just started for me)



RANDOM SUGGESTIONS:
- continuously research way to save energy ( websites, articles, classes, etc)
- be determined to shut off the highest energy consuming appliances ( ie anything that uses electricity to heat)
- spend a small amount every month to lower your wattage ( ie energy saving light bulbs, timer, etc)
- evaluate if it is worth replacing high consumptive major appliances
- only have 1-2 lights on, if possible
- use power bars
- shut off everything when not in use
- compare your energy usage for same activity( ie 3 hrs on computer laptop vs big screen and desktop)
- use the smallest heat producing appliance for the job. ( ie toaster oven vs stove oven)
- shut off the stove slightly before the food is fully cooked
- evaluate if there is a way to change your usage of consumptive appliances. ( ie use something else, use less time, use at cheaper time)
- short showers, if electric water heater
- if something is necessary, evaluate if you can accomplish the same thing with less electricity ( ie LIGHTING, open curtains, sit near window for task, buy compact florescent or LED bulbs, use task lighting, shut off immediately, etc)
(ie WASH DISHES, by hand, at lowest cost time, reduce energy functions on automatic dishwasher, make sure full load, be aware of full cost of usage.)

It also makes a huge difference how many people are living in a household. We do use more electricity because I use my oven A LOT to bake all our own bread/buns/cake/cookies and also cook nearly everything from scratch. So that translates into more electricity but baking also saves us at least $100 per month.

We just got rid of a large fish tank on the weekend and I am now just coming to realize that this tank used quite a bit of electricity.....

As to getting rid of older appliances - sure, our older freezer/stove/fridge/furnace probably take quite a bit of electricity to run but it is also more reliable than any of the newer appliances out there. I spoke with an appliance repair fellow the other day who told me to hang on to my appliances if they are not giving me any trouble. He said the newer stuff is basically junk - put together cheaply and they don't last. My parents have a five year old fridge - just had a repair done costing over $200!!!

[Jezebel]

why does it cost more to do things at a certain time of day ? I had no idea about this ...

[kasha100]

time of use in Ontario
basically trying to avoid having to make more power stations by spreading out the load
so in the winter (changes in the summer a little)
green (cheap power) is between 7pm and 7 am 6.2c kwh
yellow (med cos) in winter is 11am to 5pm 9.2c kwh
and red expensive power is 7am to 11 am and 5 till 7pm10.8c kwh
so if you do laundry in the green time you are saving 40% or whatever it is!!

trying to keep your power usage in the green will save you $

[princesskimmi]

time of use in Ontario
basically trying to avoid having to make more power stations by spreading out the load
so in the winter (changes in the summer a little)
green (cheap power) is between 7pm and 7 am 6.2c kwh
yellow (med cos) in winter is 11am to 5pm 9.2c kwh
and red expensive power is 7am to 11 am and 5 till 7pm10.8c kwh
so if you do laundry in the green time you are saving 40% or whatever it is!!

trying to keep your power usage in the green will save you $

Wow good to know - I always try to run my dishwasher before 7 anyways so I'm glad I'm saving money doing so.

We refused the smart meter as we want BC Hydro to work the "kinks out" first.

[Abby5]

Our bills are between $300 to $400 every 2 months including water. I would love to get this down but how?? I only do laundry on the weekends (cheaper) ,I put the dishes washer on every night after 7pm, we all have showers every day(4), I have tried to limit them to 10 minutes!!!, we have gas on demand hot water heater, gas stove and oven, I only use the dryer in the winter months and only on the weekends,I tried to put in energy bulbs but my dimmers don't work. And they kill my head even more!!! Oh we have a new gas furnace and insulated our home 2 yrs ago. I do about 18 to 25 loads of laundry on the weekends! We have 4 tvs,3 pvr boxes, a med. freezer(14yrs old) a fridge(3yrs),dryer(9yrs),microwave,4 iPads,4 lap tops, 2 alarm clocks, 2 gaming systems, electric kettle, toaster, kitchen aid mixer(only on the weekend). I went to a town class on saving hydro and water and apart from solar panels and batteries and having a kill switch for all hydro (except fridge and freezer) they were useless

[croman7]

I dont know much, but based on your post, i threw in some suggestions (since you asked). good luck, your bill doesnt sound outrageous compared to mine, so i dont know how much you can cut.

Our bills are between $300 to $400 every 2 months including water. I would love to get this down but how?? I only do laundry on the weekends (cheaper) ,I put the dishes washer on every night after 7pm, we all have showers every day(4),you could try to skip a day, or just do your body and skip your hair every other day, or something like that if anyone in your house isnt getting THAT dirty... I have tried to limit them to 10 minutes!!!, we have gas on demand hot water heater, gas stove and oven, I only use the dryer in the winter months and only on the weekends,I tried to put in energy bulbs but my dimmers don't work. And they kill my head even more!!! Oh we have a new gas furnace and insulated our home 2 yrs ago. I do about 18 to 25 loadsw25 loads a week?? Um, you could try to reduce that... I thought I was bad, i do about 12 a week. Make sure each load is full full full before you run it, use cold water, and try re-wearing some barely dirty things (a hoody doesnt get that dirty if you're just hanging around home for a day. it can easily handle 2 wears before washing....) ask the kids to think twice before tossing something in the wash. of laundry on the weekends! We have 4 tvs,3 pvr boxesi heard PVR is a huge energy sucker. I haven't done it yet, but maybe put the "secondary" ones on a power bar. The main one will have to stay on if you have shows scheduled to record, but you could shut the other ones off when ur not using them... , a med. freezer(14yrs old)guessing this isnt the most efficient...can u upgrade? a fridge(3yrs),dryer(9yrs),microwave,4 iPads,4 lap topsonly plug these in when you need to, dont leave them plugged in 24/7. and unplug the charger from the wall when ur not using them. , 2 alarm clocks, 2 gaming systems, electric kettle, toaster, kitchen aid mixer(only on the weekend). I went to a town class on saving hydro and water and apart from solar panels and batteries and having a kill switch for all hydro (except fridge and freezer) they were useless

good luck!

[KrazE]

.

[Abby5]

I dont know much, but based on your post, i threw in some suggestions (since you asked). good luck, your bill doesnt sound outrageous compared to mine, so i dont know how much you can cut.




good luck!

Thanks so much....I have a huge washer(duet it does 15 pairs of adult jeans at once)(I use to do less laundry when they were younger--I think there clothes were a lot smaller!!! 4 adult size clothes now!!!! all of us are into sports so we have sweaty gym clothes as well competitive swimming and diving,spin classes, skateboarding, running, squash, etc...and that explains the showers too the kids have a pvr and so do I and my husband. ....i was thinking of giving on up one(the one that is rented)No chargers stay plugged in unless charging and we try to do this after 7pm. I am happy u said it does not seem that different from yours...made me feel better