Day Two...and Other Updates...

Well, Day Two was, just like Day One, "not so bad", though I think, again, stove usage got us. The oven was on for about 1.25 hours or so while I baked some potatoes as a midnight feast for the hubby and myself. I did, however, do a steak and peppers on the grill, so that wasn't so bad.

I am, however, getting a little worried about the oven. It seems like it takes forever to reach temperature. I haven't timed it, so I don't know for sure. It could just be me agonizing over every minute that something is in production. Further updates as events warrant (as Calvin and Hobbes like to say...)

We also had to have the air conditioning on for a portion of the day, about 5-6 hours, since the daytime just got too hot and humid to deal with otherwise. After dark it got cool enough that we could turn it off, so we did, and it has been off ever since (and is still off into Day Three! Hooray!)

Now, about those updates.

The project was reset two days ago, and suprisingly enough that's about when the usual monthly regards came from DTE Energy, our local energy provider, not surprisingly demanding what feels like a king's ransom to an already-stretched budget. In fact, my husband and I joke that our budget isn't a budget, it's a dishcloth. We stopped stretching years ago when it became more efficient just to wring it out over two weeks and then add more.

This energy bill, however, was actually eagerly anticipated, as it would show us actual meter readings and let us know how much energy we had saved by unplugging our appliances, if any.

Energy Bill, August 2011, Page 1

Energy Bill, August 2011, Page 2



Well...as you can see, the family has managed to decrease its energy usage over the last 30 days by unplugging appliances. Our average usage per day of kWh decreased by 9%, from 34.9 to 31.6. This bill was also helpful in that we used the actual meter reading - 54655 - as the starting point for this 30 days, when we will do further experiments on usage and cutting down to see where we can save even more money and energy.

Okay, so I know that what we saved as far as energy doesn't seem like a lot, but hey, every little bit counts - especially when it counts towards the bill.

So, for now, we're enjoying a nice day without air conditioning, and hopefully we'll be able to say that we saved even more money at the end of the month! :)

Week Three = Done!

Week 3 ended yesterday, with our meter reading 54522 at 12:45PM. Of course, I've been wrong on meter readings before, so I'm quite possibly wrong on this one as well.

During the course of this family project (which will end on August 19th, for those of you who are interested), we've gone from one person in the house to two, and finally back to three when a 6-foot teenager came home to stay roughly two weeks ago. With more people in the house, more energy will be expended, though we are heartily trying our best to keep it down.

We're not altogether sure yet if unplugging things has had the effect that we wanted it to. Judging by our meter, it may not, though we've been very careful in adhering to the rules we set down. The desktop computer is never on when the television is, and all members of the family have been carping at each other to please, please, please turn the lights off and unplug things when they are not in use. Even lamps have been unplugging, necessitating hilarity when trying to shuffle through rooms in the dark and avoid objects...particularly the cat, who being a convenient black-and-white color is almost unnoticable as he lays where he wants - and he does not like being punted like a football across the room. I know people say that humans can see in the dark, but I'm also quite sure that gene and ability bypassed some, including me.

We also had our first no-stove night last night, not by miles of pre-planning but completely by accident. I was already planning on cooking the meat on the grill, but when my son suggested a change in potatoes it left me free not to turn on the stove and instead use the deep-fryer, and what person would ever pass that up, I wonder? Certainly not me. So dinner last night was cooked entirely without our natural-gas stove, something I insisted on upon moving into the house but have come to regret due to the rising costs of energy.

Anyway, the project is moving along merrily and so are we. Hopefully on August 19th we'll have a better understanding of just how much energy we may have used and saved at the end of the 30 days.

Have a good day everyone!

Meter Reading Error

(Originally published at lifetimeprojects.wordpress.com on July 29, 2011)

I just found out that when I read the meter at the start of this family project, I read it wrong. Big surprise, considering as I have never in my 35 years had occasion to read the meter, despite multiple efforts at wondering where our energy was going.
Apparently DTE’s reading on the same day that I did mine, July 19th, was 53707, not 54606.
I think I know the cause, although to be truthful I’ll never be completely sure…the DTE Website tells you that when you read the meter, if the dial is between two numbers, to take the lesser of the two. Well, as I remember it, the needle was almost on top of the four, so I took the four, even though I should have taken the three. Not sure what happened with the seven vs. the six, but hey, I’ll take theirs since it happens to be lower than mine!!
We’ve been doing well this week, despite climbing temperatures. Wednesday night made for a wonderful thunderstorm night, but instead of closing the windows and turning on the A/C we kept the windows open…much to the dismay of the cat, who all but climbed under the covers shaking in his fur. Between trying to keep him calm and the flashes of lightening that came through the open windows, a restful night of sleep was anything but. However, it all evened out in the end when we made it more than 16 hours without having to turn on the A/C!
Side note: I was forced to turn on the A/C the next day, yesterday, by none other than my cat. When I went downstairs around noontime was wearing a desperate expression, and seemed to want to step out of his fur, he was so hot. If a cat could be sweating, he was. As the temperature in the house was nearing 85 degrees, I compromised and told him that I would turn on the air.
All major appliances except for stove, washer & dryer, the chest freezer in the garage and the refrigerator/freezer and dishwasher in the kitchen remain unplugged, except when in use for various hours throughout the day. The dishwasher has not been used since the start of this project, meaning that I have been washing all the dishes, including pots and pans, in the sink with hot, soapy water (with a dash of bleach added).
Thank you to everyone who has been commenting on the blog – it’s great to know that someone out there is reading!
On another happy note, I have added a poll to the blog. Please vote on the poll, as it will decide whether another section will be added to this blog. Future polls may be added to decide what family project we will take on next!