I'm making very good progress on my goal of reducing our
carbon footprint by saving energy. Here is the analysis of our PGE bill (gas and electric) for the last three months compared to last year:1/2008 $165.17
1/2009 $154.07
~7% less
2/2008 $186.94
2/2009 $151.70
~19% less
3/2008 $109.03
3/2009 $ 72.77
~33% less
I was pleasantly surprised at the savings in February, especially since I am home more now that I'm retired. But the reduction in March was even better, so my challenge is paying off. Here are a few things we've done or are doing that have helped:
~ Switched out all the incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent;
~ Lowered the thermostat on our FA heater;
~ Unplug appliances/computers that are not in use;
~ Grab a sweater when it's chilly instead of turning on the heater.
March 19th, 2009 at 07:39 pm 1237491588
Though March would seem impressive then, considering you are home more...
BTW, did you notice PG&E has a feature to track your energy usage by day??? I just noticed this recently. I thought we had an "old fashioned" meter but they seem to be taking daily readings and converting it onto graphs online. Pretty cool!
(BTW, we don't have PGE for electric).
March 19th, 2009 at 08:06 pm 1237493195
I really like PGE's website... I was not able to find the feature you describe, though. I can go in and see our average daily usage but not until after the monthly reading has been done. How do you access daily usage information before the monthly meter reading? Maybe since you have PGE for gas only, you get a different screen than I do.
March 19th, 2009 at 08:26 pm 1237494407
March 20th, 2009 at 01:15 am 1237511759
I am trying to save water as well. I replaced a 5 gallon toilet with a 1.6 gal a couple weeks ago, and I Am adding three more rain barrels in April, for watering the garden.
March 21st, 2009 at 10:51 pm 1237675885