[JeanLynn81]

My energy bill has been OUTRAGEOUS! I cannot believe they think people have this kind of money! I honestly CANNOT afford it.

I do the obvious things to conserve, like turning things off when I'm not using them or not in the room. I keep the vents open and reduced the clutter around them. I bought those special light bulbs, but honestly don't see them making a difference.

The heating system sucks, but we rent so we can't say much about that. We also have electric washer/dryer, stove, oven and dishwasher. So needless to say we probably use alot.

How can I reduce my energy use even more (considering its a rented townhouse)? Should I consider moving?

Also wanted to add, I do cover the windows with plastic in the winter which worked wonders anywhere else I lived. but in this townhouse, there's two HUGE glass sliding doors-one leading the the deck from the kitchen, and one leading to the patio from my room in the basement. For the life of me I can't figure out how to cover these when we go in and out of them often.

And the closets aren't insulated AT ALL (cheap landlords) so when we open any closet that has a wall facing outside, we get an icy blast of air. Yay. (note sarcasm.)

HELP! I was considering posting this as whine/vent (which it kind of is) but I just know my frugal friends can help me out!

Thanks.

[angelic_ky]

with the energy saving globes they actually use more electricity if you are always turning them on and off than if you just leave them on... what i usually do is leave some key ones on (the main room ones, but they are also ones that will cast light into rooms that have the lights off, meaning that i can usually avoid turning a light on in that room)

[siageah]

I take it you have electric heat? 'Cause that is just the most impossibly expensive way to heat a place. I rented an electric heat apartment once, and I'm in Pennsylvania. I never saw bills so high as I did in that place. It was obscene.

I had sliding glass doors too, and I plastic coated them. I couldn't afford *not* to anymore. This was probably 15 years ago and my electric was $500 a month for a one bedroon without a washer and dryer and being a workaholic so I used the heat at work.

I shiver just thinking about it. Ugh.

Anyway, cover those sliding glass doors anyway. Take towels and shove them under the closet doors and any other doors that lead outside. See if your electric company has a budget or off hours plan. Many electric companies have rates that decrease by at least half during off peak hours. If they do, try to see if you can run all of your appliances during those hours.

I feel for you, really. The place I moved into after the electric heat fiasco (I moved after five months of that mess thankfully) was an old warehouse with these 20plus foot ceilings. The heating ducts were run about two feet off of the ceiling. Silly set up. But at least it had a wood burning stove to keep the place warm! Of course during one snow storm I ended up breaking up and burning up a chair, but that is another story that keeps people chuckling to this day...

Good luck!

[angelofmine98661]

also you might want to see if you qualify for any subsidized heating program that the goverment gives funds too for people with high heating bills. we have electric heat but we dont get snow so it isnt too bad and we use our fireplace

[TexasTiger]

HI -- what state are you located? If in Texas, we have deregulated electricity which helps to save you $$$. You can pick which company provides your electricity. No need to pay the highest price out there (known as the price to beat) - you pick you gets your business. Let me know if you're in Texas and I'll send you more info!

[luvtosave]

Not for sure where you are, But always keep any door close, seal around the facings of any outside doors, windows, basing on doors. If you dont have Gas Heat, Yes seal your windows plastic ( Please NEVER ever seal your windows if you have gas heat , unless you have your home checked for leaks from the natural gas heating ). Turn down your hot wayer heater to around or about 110* even lower if you dont like hot baths and can stand warmer baths .Refrg run and stay colder if its packed, Vs a few items,thus using less electric.If you have unused bedrooms you can always close off vents in that room and seal the doorway with plastic covering. also if you have a attic use a opening cover( Looks just like a box that goes over the attic opening) and also seal with plastic.Keep any room unused with lights off doors shut. Switch to low lightening if you can.( we use the floresten(spelling) Lights in ceiling fans, lamps and main lights.If you have ceiling fans turn them on Revrs this forces the hot air down into the room.Honesty it's 100% cheaper in Alabama to use electric than Gas. A summer gas bill here is still in the neighbhood of 350.00 and thats with weather/summers of 90*,I have seen on the news reports of people complaining that their gas bills are over 900.00 !! and More !!!One lady did a interview for her pled of the gas bill she got and it was 590.00 and that was in a 28 day Month (feb) our winter has been really mild this year, nothing but a few nights of 20* mainly its been in the 40's hitting well into the high 60's since Oct. our spring is just a few weeks away where we will be back to the high 60's again. If You can maybe call your local electric company and have them to do a walkthu of your home and point out and saving tips they can to help cut our electric bill. We dont have a program in my part to help with electric nor gas bills , so I cannt offer any help on that for you.
Good Luck and Sorry to hear about your high bill.

[floridamama]

Oh gosh, I soooo feel your pain! Every summer, our bill is outragous! I, too, have done all that I possibly can to attempt to reduce it but to no avail. There was one particular bill this past summer, that when I opened it, I about fell down! lol. It was that BIG.
I know that here in Florida...if you contact your electric company...they'll send someone out to your home to go over your house with you. They will tell what you can do to save money on your electric, and if something needs repair (i.e. your insulation or something) they will give you the name of a company to use, and even a coupon to use to help save money on the repairs! That's pretty cool.
Maybe your state has a program like that?

[MissyChrissy]

Ugh I feel your pain. My husband calls me anti-NYSEG (NY's electric provider). I HATE them.

The previous comment about leaving a light on 'cause turning it on/off cost more was actually recently put to the test on MythBusters & proven FALSE. It is WAY cheaper to turn the light off each and every time you leave the room...that goes for all types of bulbs, not just the florescent ones. I thought that was interesting because I heard the same thing about leaving lights on.

Incidentally, my "lovely" (choke) electric company actually told me that florescent bulbs wouldn't change my bill, but I've dropped at least 500 kwh's a month since totally making the switch. I think they were actually trying to talk me out of it because they DON'T want me saving money. They're the last people I'd get advice from-but that's me. I hate NYSEG.

Insulate you closets. If your landlord won't, check & see if you can force him to. In NY there are "code enforcers" that make the landlords keep their apartments up to a certain standard. If you don't have that option, insulate it yourself. Really...what you'll save in heating bills will be worth it. Perhaps you could keep the receipts & take that amount off your rent.

Wrap your hot water heater in an insulator. They have them at Home Depot & Lowes just for that purpose.

Use thermal drapes for your sliding glass doors. Again, they're expensive but they'll save you $$ through the years.

If you can't change things, definitely look into moving, but see if you can get a yearly cost from the electric company. They should be able to tell what it cost the previous tenants & let you know that much.

If your company offers it, turn in your own readings every month. I swear to God-my bill suddenly dropped when I started reporting my own reading in every month. They have to be accountable then-and can't fake any #'s. I don't know if they did before, because that's just crazy to think...but it's funny how much my bill has lowered. Of course, I started reading my own meter right after making all appliance changes in my house, too.

Good luck. I own my own home, so I was able to switch to all energy efficient appliances, and switch all the lighting, and I've dropped over 1000 kwh's in the last year.

[MamaWrites]

Ugh, electric heat is horrible. I once rented a house with electric heat and we froze ourselves. It looks like the members here have given you some great tips. Some things I would add is to see if there are any rooms or areas you could completely close off and not use; use quilts and heavy blankets over windows and dorrs, if possible; open your blinds during the day to let as much sunlight in as possible; consider having a "black out night" where you use inexpensive candles; if you have a dryer in your place, get a dryer diverter; time your oven use to when you need the heat the most. Hope some of those things help.

[Mom0206]

In the last place we lived our power bills were $300-500 in the winter and not much lower in the summer. Now we live in a home with actual insulation and I still have plastic over the windows. I leave all lights off during the day, I open the blinds and then around 4 or so we close all of them. Seems weird, but the sunlight lights and heats the house during the day and saves money. I save all of our laundry for wendsday nights. I bought a super capacity washer (long ago) and I can fit a weeks worth of clothes in there and only do 1-load clothes, 1-towels and 1-whites. I wash the sheets and whatever else every other thursday. I have found that power costs more here from friday-monday and from 10am-3pm. My power bill this month was $185 which is high but it was around 10-15 degrees at night for about a week.
That's all I can think of for now. Hope something helps!