"sf" > wrote in message
...
>
> Got the PG&E bill today. Electric was $104 and Gas was under $3.
> Huh, not even $3? The water heater and gas stove are used daily. We
> did have a little heat wave, but the furnace was used. I need to call
> them to see if they made a billing mistake, because I will *not*
> appreciate it if they tack what they should have charged onto my next
> bill.
>
> I figure at least a third of that electricity was used by the kitchen
> lights. What I really want to know is this: how do you keep the light
> factor high and your electric bill low for kitchen use? I'm thinking
> I won't use the "pot" lights as much and just use under counter
> lighting to see if I can lower that charge next month.
>
> Unfortunately, I think the biggest electric hog is the TV and that's
> not getting turned off any more than it is already.

Wow that's cheap! How many months is that for?

I only have a gas water heater. Bills used to be around $35 a month until
we got the new water heater. Bills gradually went down and now are around
$17 a month.

We have electric heat. I am using it now but didn't use it during the time
period of my last bill, which was almost $110 for two months. It can reach
over $500 for 2 months.

What I do in the kitchen is try not to turn the lights on at all. I had
these idiotic can lights and the bulbs used to burn out like crazy. I could
not change most of them. I could not reach them. I bought a device on a
pole that worked occasionally, but mostly just pushed the fixture up into
the ceiling. I eventually had to call an electrician when I was down to
just two bulbs (flood lights) and was having to use a battery operated lamp
for light near the stove!

He replaced the cans with newer ones that allowed more air circulation
around the bulbs and also put in longer lasting bulbs. He said I should get
about 3 years use out of them. I think I am going on now 4 years. *knock
wood*

I try to do my cooking when it is still light out. We have plenty of
skylights in here so I don't really need lights then. And there is a garden
window in the kitchen.

I also have the lights in the kitchen put on a dimmer. To have them on full
boar is just overkill. Some idiot designed the lighting in this house,
that's for sure! The same sort of can lights are in the family room and the
living room. To have them on heats up the room quite quickly and they are
so bright I often get a migraine from them. Ugh! So the kitchen lights are
on pretty dim. Just enough for me to see. If I have to, I can turn them
up.

The dining room is open and at the end of the kitchen. The dining room is
also on a dimmer. Although the lights are dim now because my husband is
home (he hates light of any kind), I usually have the chandelier on. I use
soft pink, 60W bulbs. That is plenty enough light to see at the one end of
the kitchen. The only problem is when I am using the stove. If I want to
see what I am cooking, I really do need to have the lights on in there.

I am on everyone in this house like a fiend to keep those lights off! If
they have to use them, fine. But then they need to be turned off.

I am far less concerned about the other rooms in this house. In fact in the
family room I have a couple of lamps on all the time. One is a faux Tiffany
with a lead glass shade and the other is a 3-Way bulb on low. I keep those
on pretty much all the time plus the dining room light. Of course we do not
need them on during the day, but I am just lazy and leave them on.

I also have a tendency to leave the house and not return until after dark.
This is one reason why I leave them on. We have an elderly cat who is here
when we are not. I want her to be able to see. We do have night lights in
the other rooms for her.