49 Bucks! 49 BUCKS!!!!

That's the total of this month's energy bill: $49.30! I didn't think it was possible, but our energy bill dropped even LOWER than last month's $55.00 charge. We actually used 70 kWh less energy over the past four weeks. And that's a more than 60% reduction in energy use from the same time period last year. Not bad for a family of four living in a 4/2 in south Florida!

This Place is Just Bulb-a-riffic...

Given the pattern of usage we discussed earlier, the incandescent bulbs in our kids' rooms consumed around 0.64kWh per day. Our new CFL bulbs use only 0.112 kWh per day. Considering we have 306 days left in the year, our projected energy savings for 2011 would be: 196 kWh - 34 kWh = 162 kWh. Today, we add that number to our tally.

New Numbers for the Tally

Yesterday, we figured out that over the last year, my unwise management of our personal computer resulted in approximately 803 kWh of energy being used-- and that's a conservative estimate. Now coupled with my new found knowledge and another trusty power strip, we can be a bit wiser going forward. Assuming I now power up the computer for an average of three hours daily:

0.11 kWh x 3 hrs =  0.33 kWh/day
0.33 kWh/day x 315 days remaining in the year = 104 kWh
803 kWh last year - 104 kWh this year = 699 kWh saved

On Night Lights and the Butterfly Effect

So I've updated the tally this week to reflect the estimated energy savings that resulted from swapping out night lights with traditional incandescent bulbs to LEDs. Here's how the numbers were computed:

0.16 kWh/day (incandescents) - 0.012 kWh/day (LEDs)= 0.148 kWh/day difference
365 days/yr - 45 days lapsed thus far this year = 320 days remaining
320 days x 0.148 kWh/day = 47.36 kWh saved this year

Just in Time for Superbowl Sunday...

Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday, I bring you news of savings to be had by cutting standby power to your TV. This week we saved 182 kWh of energy by using a power strip on our home entertainment system. Given FPL's current rates, that will buy you a bag of chips, some salsa, and a sixer of Tecate from the local grocer. That should hold us over while watching what will likely be a forgettable game, a disappointingly unintelligible halftime show, and an endless rotation of grossly overpaid, unimaginative advertisements featuring talking CGI babies drinking Coke. I predict a little heartburn, but at least we saved some power!

New Numbers for the Tally

So with my recent office change, and given that we are now nearly a month into the new year, I am adding 206kWh/yr to my projected energy savings for 2011. This recent change will not, of course, reflect on my home electrical bill. But as I've mentioned before, the importance of promoting greater efficiency transcends our own personal monthly cost savings. Any improvement, no matter how slight, represents a much bigger savings for all!

Rack 'Em Up!

Following the results of last week's sparring match, I have updated my projected energy savings for the year to reflect an additional 54 kWh.

One of my followers recently emailed me saying, "At this rate, you're going to run out of things to do by July." Doubtful. I'm becoming ever-more cognizant of the pervasive use of energy all around us, and so far, I haven't even left my own bedroom. But if I DO run out of things by July, I'll still call it a success... I usually give up on my New Years resolutions by February!

Tally Update!

Racked up a bit o' savings this past week, so my projected energy savings for 2011 has now

officially been updated!