Then I took a minute to think about it. Here in California, we need to run the pool pump all year to keep the creeping crud from taking over the pool. I'm cutting its time down to the bare minimum starting right now.
And I married Mr. Media, who has an Xbox 360 and a Playstation. (I do enjoy streaming stuff from Netflix, though. Anybody want to watch an episode of Cosmos?)
These guys are going on a power strip so they don't suck power while they're off.
Thankfully, SMUD has this cool home energy calculator. I'm going to run lots and lots of numbers to figure out how to be more efficient. We should be one of the efficient houses, for cryin' out loud!
Stay tuned and I'll let you know how we did. We'll get a new report in a month or two.
Our smud bill dropped by $30 a month when we installed a new multi cycle pool pump. They may still qualify for rebates from smud, not sure though.
ReplyDeleteI'd also check with your neighbors to see if that report is really true. Who knows? Maybe they all got the same message that you did? Which should tell you that something isn't right in Dodge.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I read this and then checked Facebook and found that GreenAmerica had posted a link to a recent article about reducing energy consumption in the home. I don't know if it'll help but: http://www.greenamerica.org/pubs/greenamerican/articles/NovDec2010/10Ways.cfm
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've had an item on my wish list for over a year now called a Kill-a-Watt. It is a meter that you plug appliances into to find out how much power they use.
Fred: Great idea! I think our pool pump is much too large for our pool. Time for more research.
ReplyDeleteBill: This is exactly what Gene said. He thinks the report is a bunch of hooey (as he fires up the XBox on the 40-something inch TV).
Maya: Thanks, I need all the help I can get! I was thinking about a Kill-a-Watt too, but am too cheap to spend the $25. If I get one for my bday (it's on my list too) we can share it.