To help us determine ways to save energy costs and consumption, I have created spreadsheets of our utility bills and a spreadsheet for the fuel consumption of my truck.
From what I have entered thus far I have found some very surprising facts.
I believe there is something “fishy” going on at our water company, as the numbers just don’t add up.
Here’s an example:
In March, we were billed for using 1980 gallons of water, which we were charged $9.43. A month later, we used 1990 gallons and were charged the same amount, $9.43. Our sewer bill shows this same descrepancy as we were charged $46.00 each month.
What’s 100 gallons of water and sewage when you’re only being charged 1/2 cent per gallon for water and 2 cents per gallon of sewage?
Here’s the amazing thing. The installation of our new heat pump has significantly reduced our electric use. Here’s the numbers:
Billing Date Total KWH Used Avg. KWH/Day Total Charges
3/5/07 3023 107.96 $261.94
4/4/07 1379 44.48 $138.55
The first set of numbers are consumption prior to installation.
Our home is powered completely by electricty. We are using more and more energy conservation methods, and when something needs replaced we always look at how much it consumes before purchasing.
Hopefully we will get that new solar attic fan I wrote about before sometime soon. We are even discussing purchasing a tankless hot water heater, when the time comes. Electric models require much more infastructure than gas ones, but are still just as good.
How does your household rate? I read somewhere that the “average” US household uses 1000 KWH per month. If we could drop the average by 1%, we would be doing the world more than we know.