Electricity bills

[watervole]

I just got my electricity bill. It's a lot less than the comparable bill for the same quarter last year. £30 less.

There's inevitably going to be some random variation depending on when they actually read the meter and when they've estimated and got it wrong, but I'm still pretty confident that the saving is real.

The usage was 686 kWh as opposed to 1201 kWh

That's a reduction of over 40%!

I'll wait and see what the bill is next quarter before I cheer too loudly, but it looks as though the measures I've taken to cut the electricity usage (without reducing our standard of living) may be having a real effect. That's a lot of carbon dioxide saved, as well as hard cash.

The gas bill is also well down, but the weather has been very mild, so I don't yet know how much of that saving is due to the double glazing and other insulation work.

Comments

Re: plug in electricity meter

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I found that changing the light fitting so that you could use an energy saving bulb was cost effective. We got a flush fitting that took a circular energy saving bulb in the lounge. Gives more head room and will pay for itself in two years even given the cost of the new fitting. Looks very nice too.

Re: plug in electricity meter

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

I basically have two lightshades which are too small - one in the front room which I will change soon, and one in the bathroom which I will leave as it is.

Re: plug in electricity meter

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Half the problem is the word "shade". Think of it as blocking a significant proportion of that light you are paying for. Glass ones have a lot going for them, but if you can find a fitting that uses a circular flourescent tube (which may also come with daylight spectrum light if you get the right one) then you have no light blocked at all. B+Q do some nice ones.