Recently on a very cold night, I was working in my walkout basement and went to plug in a laptop on an interior outside wall electrical outlet. I was amazed at the amount of cold air coming in through the receptacle. I have lived in the home for 8 years and never noticed this previously. This particular night, the outside temperature was about 20 degrees. On the other side of this exterior wall is an unheated outside storage room.
I decided to take action! First, I decided to analyze my utility bills over the past 4 years. A summary of my electric bill analysis follows (I am on Mid Carolina Co-op). Over 3 years (2008-2010):
- My annual usage has increased only 1.62% per year. From 2007-2009 annual usage remained fairly constant (actually slight decreases for 2 years). There was a spike up in 2010 (11.75% increase) due to a malfunctioning HVAC system for about 2 months.
- The bad news: cost per kilowatt hour has increased 6.52% per year over the past 3 years. This compares to an annual increase in the Consumer Price Index of only 1.65% over the same period.
- My electric bill cost has increased 7.88% per year
- In 2007, my cost per KWH was 8.48 cents; in 2010 the cost was 10.21 cents. The cost from 2009 to 2010 remained about constant, but watch out for coming increases (nuclear plant under construction).
- Good news about electric rates in South Carolina... we are below the national average! For 2009, the national electric rate (cents per kilowatthour) was 11.58 cents; for my bills the average was 10.21 cents - that's 11.83% lower than the national average!
What can you do? Watch out for my PART TWO coming in the next day or so - I'll have THREE SIMPLE STEPS FOR HOME ENERGY SAVINGS AND BETTER HOME COMFORT. You will be able to perform these 3 steps to cut your energy usage and save money.
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| How We Use Energy in Our Homes (2007) |
Mel Coker
Columbia, SC Realtor
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