sf wrote:
>
> On Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:32:34 -0700 (PDT), KevinS >
> wrote:
>
> > On Oct 29, 1:20 pm, sf > wrote:
> >
> > > Got the PG&E bill today. Electric was $104 and Gas was under $3.
> > > Huh, not even $3?
> >
> > What's been your average bill in the last - say - two years? Have you
> > gotten the "smart meter?"
>
> It's hard to compare because we were on vacation last year for part of
> the billing period, this year for at least part of the billing period.
> There is definitely more electric usage for this year over last. How
> do you keep the light factor high and the electric bill low?

You start by not assuming that the lights are the cause of the higher
bill. What you need to do is to audit in as much detail as you can your
actual power usage to see where the power is really going. Carefully
review and not anything that is new or different from last year.

Simple things like a dirty evaporator coil on a refrigerator or a sticky
defrost timer can make a big difference in power consumption since the
refrigerator operates all the time.

You also need to compare KWH used last year to KWH used this year, *not*
the total bill, since rates have undoubtedly changed and 100 KWH this
year almost certainly costs more than 100 KWH last year.