Energy Usage Down in 2012

Well, I'm back.

It looks like I failed jury duty, out of the 37 in the pool

they only needed 12 so the rest of us were dismissed.

This was my first experience with jury selection.

I will say it was quite interesting and the final

selection was something of a surprise to me 

considering the type of civil case and circumstances.

I'm still eligible to be called since it's a six month period.

One of the ladies is now serving on her second trial 

with the last one only two months ago!

On to business . . .  

Our Energy Usage was down in 2012

but only by 1% as compared to our

spectacular decrease from 2010 to 2011 of 21%.

I understand it will be considerably more difficult

to keep up a good rate but we can do better.

One observation is that we did not burn as much wood

for heat during the winter.   The winter wasn't as cold as

it was last seaon.  We didn't have the

consistent colder temperatures that allowed us to

keep the wood burner going last season.   

 We also didn't want to burn too much wood as

we didn't have as  much on hand.

Now what more can we do to get that percentage up?

**Unplug items we don't use.  

Why do I keep guest room clocks plugged in unless we have a guest.

 **Turn off more lights .

I'm bad about keeping lights on, especially when I'm home alone at night.

**Watch the summer A/C - this was our high point 

   The daily average was between $10 - 12.86.

 The low was Oct -Nov at $3.78 to $3.87  

July and August saw extended temperatures over 100 degrees F.

(Missouri)

 We have a geo thermal system so unless we installed solar, 

we can't get much better and solar is way out of our price range.

We don't use a dishwasher at all and hang clothes to dry

when the weather allows.  

  Any other ideas?

You can read our 2011 post at this link.

                 Lowering Energy Usage by 21%