Electricity Versus Natural Gas Cost For 2009

With such cold temperatures sticking around Florida, I got to thinking, how much cheaper would it be to have natural gas to warm up the house versus electricity.  Energy used to heat the house probably takes up the largest percentage of the electric bill (that is during cold times). Other big energy guzzlers like the water heater, clothes dryer, the oven can be powered by the natural gas as well. For my number crunching, I got most of the data from Energy Information Administration website.

National average for electricity in 2009 was 10.4 cents per one kilowatt-hour and 1.29 cents per one Therm of gas. Since one kilowatt-hour is equal to 3.412 therms, the electricity cost is 3.05 cents per Therm. So looks like the electricity was almost 2 ½ times more expensive than the natural gas.

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I Saved $50 On My Energy Bill!

In September I actually followed through with the idea from one of my earlier blogposts about turning off my garage freezer in order to save some money on my energy bill. Around the same time I also started rinsing my dishes with cold water before putting them in the dishwasher and the same goes with washing my hands.  The rest of our energy consumption stayed relatively the same, since this September in Florida was just as hot, if not hotter as the rest of the summer months.

One of the motivators for making this adjustment was the increase in energy bill over the prior couple of months. Usually our electric bill is under tolerable amount of $200, but in July and August of this year, it hit as high as $230. That’s when I decided to go ahead and turn off the old freezer in our hot garage. I am assuming that the freezer was on constantly, since I heard its buzzing sound every time I would pass by it, whether it was day or night. The freezer is quite old, the insulation is worn out, the poor thing had to work nonstop in order to compensate for 100 degree + temperature in our garage. And we had to pay for it!

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Eco-Friendly Valentine’s Day Date

This morning my husband and I decided on our tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day date. We’re hoping to tire out the kiddo by eight, so we can have the rest of the night to ourselves.

For dinner we decided to stay in and enjoy a healthy home-cooked meal. It’s nice that we don’t have to leave the house for our date, we don’t have to hire a baby sitter, deal with traffic and spend gas.

I’m going to make sushi. Sushi is basically raw fish wrapped in rice and sea weed. Fish and sea weed don’t require any hot cooking, so no electricity or gas is spent. Rice does require cooking, but it cooks fairly quickly, in about 15-20 minutes.

I love candles, so I’m planning on setting the mood by lighting some candles and turning off all the electric lights. Lastly some Michael Buble on the background should do the trick!

We decided not to get any cards, since they can be pricey and they will end up in the garbage eventually. I feel it’s more personal to voice the appreciation for one another, than to write it on a card. And a card is such a cliche. It’s better write a poem or a song and then recite or sing it to your loved one.

I’m not sure if my husband is going to get me flowers this Valentine’s day. I’ll leave it up to him. All I know is that most commercially grown flowers require fertilizer. Fertilizer is made out of chemicals like sulfate, phosphate, urea, ammonia and it requires energy to produce. Another thing is, if you do get the flowers, try to get as minimum of wrapping as possible. Potted flowers might be a nice alternative, since they last a heck of a lot longer.

I already know what my favorite Valentine’s day gift is going to be. My husband is going to help me redesign my blog to better reflect its theme. I’m so excited!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Oh Why, Oh Why You’re So High?

Guess what I’m talking about, my energy bill!

Can you imagine living without electricity?  I can’t.  It powers my alarm clock to which I wake up in the morning, makes my shower water hot before I go to bed and everything in between.  Electricity, you are my savior!  But it doesn’t come cheap, every month energy company sends me a bill for the luxury of having electricity.  For some people the bill amount is surprising, for others it’s expected.  But wouldn’t it be nicer to understand how this figure gets to be, so you can have a better control over your energy bill?

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