Save Money on Your Energy Bill

Get Serious About Saving on Your Energy Bills!

Cut Your Utility Bills!

I did after receiving my January electric bill of $244.  We have a home of approximately 3,000 square feet served by Mid Carolina Electric Cooperative.  We do have a "Good Cents" rate that provides a monthly discount.  We were able to get this when we built our home about 8 years ago with certain energy efficiency upgrades.  First, I retrieved my past electric bills since January 2007 to build a spreadsheet to track past costs and future bills.  If you don't have these, your electric provider may be able to provide this information. 

Average Utility Bill Breakdown

For 2010, my average electric bill was $205.17.  This has increased about 7.9% per year over the previous 3 years.  The KWH usage increased only 1.6% per year over 3 years.   As consumers, we can't control the rates for electric KWH and/or gas rates, BUT, we can control how much energy we use and this impacts our energy bills!

Since receiving the January bill, I made some changes:  changing out more (almost all now) incandescent bulbs to CFLs; insulating interior outside wall electrical outlet and switch plate covers, and limiting or not using our basement heat pump system by using a space heater.   I also turn off my computer monitor at night and in the morning when leaving for work.  I even bought a Kill-A-Watt monitor to do some energy usage testing.

Since these changes, my two last electric bills have shown significant improvements:

Average February bill 2007- 2010: $183.75

February bill 2011: $175.00 (savings of 4.8%)

Average March bill 2007 - 2010: $150.00

March bill 2011: $87.00 (savings of 42.0%)

You can get serious too about energy savings!  For more information:
101 Easy Ways to Save Energy & Money

Home Energy Savings Guide

Watch & Learn Videos (including Kill-A-Watt monitor)

Energy Saving Gear:

Duck Brand 1285359 Socket Sealers Variety Pack, 18 Outlet Sealers and 6 Switch Plates, White

P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor

Lasko 751320 Ceramic Tower Heater with Remote Control

GE 13-Watt Energy SmartTM - 8 Pack - 60 watt replacement


Mel Coker
Columbia, SC Realtor
RE/MAX Metro Associates
(803) 223-6214

High Electric Bills? Part 1 of 3

High Electric Bills This Winter?  Analyze Your Electric/Gas Bills!
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!

Want a wake-up call?  Analyze your electric/gas bills on a spreadsheet.  Get your monthly bill cost, divide by the monthly KWH and you will have your average cost per KWH (in cents).  You may be able to get these through your utility company website or making a call to customer service.  Knowing these costs precisely will  enable you to want to take action for future energy savings.

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. 



How We Use Energy in Our Homes (2007)



Really Cool! Part THREE:    Watch my NEW Kill AWatt Electricity Usage Monitor in use.


Mel Coker
Columbia, SC Realtor