Shine a Light But Where?

Like a wavy wispy cloud I remember the highest electricity bill I had in San Francisco, I was so horrified back in 2010 when I opened my email to discover I had racked up a whopping $48 bill to PG&E in one month. See prior to this extreme lapse in judgment and increase in carbon footprint my bills usually came in around $28 to $35 per month depending on the time of year. I picked up the phone prepared to rip them a new one after all how dare those municipal numbnuts raise my bill so high? Then it hit me – I had been sick for the better part of the previous month with bronchitis then a sinus infection, had been working from home a lot and had been using the heat in my apt a lot. Phew hole ripping diverted plus PGE was busy defending themselves after blowing up San Bruno so my rage would not have gotten me far.

But the fact to remember is that most of the time I left my computer on, had TV on all the time as back ground noise etc all for around $35 a month

And then I moved to Australia and started getting electricity bills

I discovered a few facts:

1.       That the electricity bills are sent out every 2 months

2.       If you live in a complex sometimes they will not read the bill or try to read the bill they will “estimate” it. Now I have had bills estimated before in the US but it was based on living in an apartment/house for a while and they would average it over a few years for that month. However NO ONE had EVER lived in my apartment before

3.       I had to pay a really high fee to get connected even though there was electricity in the unit when I moved in – the fee was to put the bill in my name

So what’s in my apartment?

·         One TV

·         One fridge – medium size full fridge (by that I mean it is too small for the built in space and cannot hold a lot especially the freezer – but is great for me)

·         A washing machine

·         A dryer

·         Electric stove

·         Hot water heater

·         One bed site table lamp

·         A laptop

·         An electric kettle

·         A Vacuum

·         A cell phone

·         An e-reader

Behavior Patterns

·         Turn off stove and kettle after use (always afraid they will catch fire as stove was seriously hard to figure out)

·         TV – 30mins in the AM while having breakfast, 2-3hrs most nights of the week

·         Over head lights – living room, kitchen, dining is open plan to keep only one light on because they are seriously bright. The builders put in the worst lighting ever!

·         Bedroom – use only the bedside lamp from Target with the cheap energy efficient bulb.

·         Laundry – 2 loads per week, put outside to dry then 15mins per load in dryer once dry to remove pollen and dust picked up outside or my allergies riot.

·         Cell – plug in and charge at night

·         Nook – plug in and charge at night

So here is what that gets me in terms of bills one from Jan when it was 101 degrees F and I was using the airco and one from June when it's around 50 degrees and I am NOT using the heat because well… see below

So last month I paid it in 2 parts because I just did not have the money so that incurred 2 late fee charges. I then decided that next pay check I would pay something towards the bill in small increments so that I would not be stuck with a huge payment that I could not afford all at one time so I paid $90 in advance of getting the June bill which is reflected below - so now I only owe them $164 that I have to come up with before July 6th

With the carbon tax going into effect July 1, 2012 it is estimated that household electricity prices will rise 10%. I am tired of being broke and running around turning off every appliance, using candles instead of light, having to put my clothes outside and wait a day or two to dry instead of using the dryer, washing my clothes in only cold water, turning the laptop off then realizing I need to do something else and having to go turn the power switch on then the laptop on etc.

I am starting to think the Amish might be really on to something: if it wasn’t for the long dresses, hard manual labor, that I am way too old to get a good choice of husbands, worry about giving birth in a barn by myself and dying, having to give up my Nook, my food processor, my computer etc it might be the optimal cost saving way of life.