Reducing Your Electric Bill - A Systemic Non-Solar Approach

Having resided in some of the most expensive electricity regions of the country (New York, Honolulu, San Francisco) I have spent a lot of time researching ways to reduce electricity consumption as a way to reduce our electric bill without having to resort to installing an expensive roof solar panel generation system. A recent move to a 4800 square foot house also prompted me to step up my efforts to develop this electricity reduction plan as we realized that we would have to budget for a huge monthly electric bill.

We discovered that our neighbors in similarly sized homes on our street were averaging about $285.00 to $450.00 per month on PG and E monthly electric bills. I estimated that the baseline monthly electricity cost average to be about $350.00 per month factoring Air Conditioning use. I then set a goal of halving that baseline average of $350.00 per month to $175.00 per month and that any number below $150.00 would be the end goal of my electricity reduction objectives for our new house. After implementing all of the phases listed below, I was able to get my monthly PG&E electricity bill down to $104.00 for 610 kilowatt hours consumed for a 30 day period.

Phase I
Replace all installed interior incandescent 65 and 75 watt light bulbs to Philips, Feit Electric, and GE LED Light Bulbs each consuming 7 watts to a maximum of 11 watts per bulb. Total bulbs changed 55. Total wattage when on 3575 watts with incandescent bulbs. Total wattage when on with LED bulbs 550 watts. That is a huge reduction in watts and the LED bulbs are much cooler than incandescents. 120 degress vs 500 degrees on the incandescents.

Phase II
Installed 2 NEST learning programmable thermostats, one for each level/zone of the house

Phase III
Replace all 27 20 watt halogen landscape/security outdoor lights with 3 watt LED Spotlight bulbs.
Install Dusk to Dawn Timers

Phase IV
Replace old GE Dishwasher with Bosch energy star high efficiency dishwasher

Phase V
Put all battery chargers on power-strips connected to Belkin auto AC timers
Replace Comcast 400 watt old style digital cable box with new high energy efficiency cable box that only consumes 30 watts

Phase V1
Install programmable electric timer for Hot Water Recirculation Pump

Phase VII
Install LG High efficiency Clothes Washers and Dryer.