You
and Your Meter
by Nikki Willhite
www.allthingsfrugal.com
Watching your Utilities to Save
Money!
Do you know where your electric meter is? Do you know how to
read it? Does your spouse know where it is? How about your children?
You wouldn't pay your bills without reading them first. Perhaps
your electric charges would be easier to reduce if you were more aware of how
and when you were incurring them.
How much electricity cost depends on where you live. Do you know
how much you are being charged per kilowatt hour in your area?
Here are some figures that might interest you:
The average charge in the United States is 8.42 cents per
kilowatt-hour. Areas vary a great deal. Here are the charges for some other
states:
Oregon......6.10
Montana.....6.6
Idaho.......5.3
California..10.70
Check your bill to see what you are being charged. In our area
we have one of the lowest rates - 3.99.
Try checking your electric meter a few times a day. Do it when
your heavy appliances are running. Do it when the house is "still". When you see
the dials moving quickly around, it may inspire you to slow it down.
There are compromises you can make to cut your bill without
giving up all your modern conveniences. We've talked a lot about clothes dryers
and how to do without them.
How about this compromise. Take the heavy things out of the
washer, like jeans and towels, and just lay them out to dry. They are the things
that take a long time to dry and run up your bill. You can lay these things out
to dry until they are just barely damp, and then throw them in the dryer to
finish up. They will still come out soft and fluffy that way.
"Necessity is the mother of invention". Make yourself aware of
your charges, and the incurring of them, and you will find ways that you can cut
them down.