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.

According to Energy Information Administration (EIA), a US household uses on average 70 thousand cubic feet (CCF) of natural gas per year. This accounts to roughly 72,400 Therms per year. Doing the math using the average cost of gas for 2009, it accounts to $934 per year. The same amount of energy would cost $2,207 in electric power. Thus giving the yearly savings of $1,273 using natural gas versus electricity.

EIA is breaking down the numbers for natural gas usage into four US regions, Northeast, Midwest, South and West.  The highest natural gas usage was reported by the Midwest, 92 thousand CCF per household. The cost difference between the natural gas and electricity in this case is $1,664 per year per household in Midwest. The least usage of natural gas was reported on the West, 53 thousand CCF per household. The cost difference between natural gas and electricity in this case is $967 per year.

Unfortunately my neighborhood doesn’t have a gas line, but I think it might be worth the investment if one were to stick around their home for a few years.

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!

Another thing I did, as I mentioned earlier, is I started rinsing my dishes and pots with cold water rather than warm, before putting them into the dishwasher. Same goes with washing my hands. Luckily, the “cold” water in Florida is still about 80F warm, so it was a very easy adjustment for me.

Because water has high heat capacity, meaning it takes a lot of energy to heat up, water heater is one of the largest energy consumers out of all of the household appliances. If you can reduce usage of your hot water, you can see the difference in your electric bill. If you live in colder areas, you might be able to see even greater difference in your electric bill. The downside of it is that, you’ll probably have to deal with rinsing your dishes in a 50 or 60-degree water, which may not be as easy to handle.

So when the new bill came, I was pleased. It was around $178! My husband didn’t believe me that turning off the garage freezer would make much difference, so it was nice to confirm by opinion, “See, I told you so!”

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!

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?

Understanding Your Electric Bill
First, how is energy produced?  Here in the US about 70% of electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels, mainly coal.  Gasoline is used as a fuel to burn the coal at a steam generating plant.  Steam is then converted to electricity by a turbine generator.  This Wikipedia link explains this in a lot more detail if you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel_power_plant.
Electricity usage is accounted in kilowatt-hours.  Each residence has a counter showing how much total electricity it used.  Electric company representative takes counter reading on a monthly basis.  The difference between the two consecutive readings is the total electricity used for the month.  The energy units appearing on the counter are kilowatt-hours (KWHRs), which is the same units that appear on your electric bill.  To help you understand, one kilowatt-hour of energy will raise 3413 pounds (or 410 gallons) of water by one degree Fahrenheit.
Some companies have programs where they will give you credit, if you reduce your power usage during pick times of the day.  Pick times of energy use are usually during the day, picking right around noon.  The energy company will send someone to evaluate your house and install timers on the high energy consuming appliances, like the water heater.  Talk to your energy company’s representative to see if they have such programs and if it would work for you.

What is Electricity Used For?
All appliances in your house require electricity to operate.  Which appliances take a lot of it and vice versa?  Any appliance that has to do with heating or cooling of space or water is a high-energy load appliance.  This includes the air conditioner, the water heater, the clothes dryer, the oven, the hair dryer, etc.  Lighting can be a significant part of the bill depending on what kind and how much of it is being used.  Thankfully there are ways to save electricity by knowing where it goes and how much, so you can have a better control of your energy bill!

Check out my next post Estimate Cost of Running Your Household Appliance