I used 66 kwh of electricity. The average household in Missouri uses 1,112 kwh of energy in a month. Since I am a single person and have a studio apartment rather than an average size household and house it makes sense that I would have a lower electric bill. There are several ways I save on electricity by living in a studio apartment. My hot water comes from a central boiler which allows me to take 15 minute hot showers without running up my electric bill. Another advantage I have for using less electricity is that I don’t have a washer/dryer. The biggest savings came from the fact that I didn’t use my heat at all. My apartment just seems to naturally stay warm. I guess that is from having a third story apartment with south facing windows. This could be a big disadvantage when it starts getting warmer.
There are some things I do to save electricity. I think they are all pretty well known electricity saving tips. I keep the microwave unplugged when I’m not using it. I use a fluorescent lamp rather than the overhead light in my bedroom. In the bathroom I use just one light bulb and keep the others unscrewed since one bulb provides plenty of light. Sometimes I shower in the dark. I don’t have a TV, I use my laptop for watching movies and other entertainment. I use sunlight for illumination during the day.
Even with all of that I’m surprised my electric bill was so low. I would have thought the refrigerator would have used that much electricity by itself. If the electric bill was a mistake I’ll find out next month. If not, I think I have my electricity costs about as low as they can go.
Wow that’s extremely cheap!
It is. I hope I can keep it that way.
Way to go Andy. I installed a tankless water heater in my house and it dropped my gas bill down to your numbers. We don’t have the $25 minimum charge.
The $25 customer charge is a bad deal for low usage customers. I’m glad you were able to get your gas bill down so low.
Great job! If you can do this with utilities you should do it with your other expenses! How is that going?
The month isn’t quite over but I’m guessing my total expenses for the month will be under $800.
You unplug your microwave? I wasn’t aware microwaves had “standby”. Does it make a difference?
Most microwaves have a clock/digital display that is always on and uses power. I read somewhere that for average users a microwave consumes more energy over the course of the year for the clock then for cooking food.
You make my $56 power bill look extravagant. Be sure to let us know if the next bill is similarly low or if this was a mistake. I agree the refrigerator alone should be using more power than that.
You have three people and live in a house. Plus, have a washer/dryer and hot water heater to run so you can’t really compare the two bills. I would say you are doing a great job of keeping your electric bill low and there probably isn’t much room for improvement.
Wow, that’s awesome! I really wonder how much is taken up by leaving things plugged in, all summed up on a monthly basis.
I wrote a post about how much energy appliances use when you leave them plugged in.
http://tightfistedmiser.com/2010/06/16/beware-of-vampires/
Damn, my bill is over ten times your rate for two of us. I think the other half is going to need a talking too! I’ve almost replaced all the lights with low energy ones but our apartment does get quite cold so the heating is on more than I would like. It’s the hard decision between comfort and being frugal, where do you draw the line!?
I’m lucky that my apartment stays warm without my needing to run the heat. Once it starts getting warmer out that will lead to me needing to run the A/C though.
Good job!
Thanks.
I’m always trying to find different ways to save money on my utilities. Thanks for the tip of unplugging the microwave, I guess I never really thought that it would make a difference. Now to check the rest of my house and see if there is anything else I can unplug!
I assume you are in USA..but my son lives in a one bedroom apt and really don’t try to save energy. His usage consumption averages $10 month . He also doesn’t need to pay for hotwater or dryer. He does have a microwave, dishwasher and clotheswasher. TV and video games are on all the time, when he isn’t working. I don’t think you will find too much diference, if you decided to leave things plugged in.
However, I do want to congratulate you for such a low utility bill.