Savings Story: Cut electricity bill by $600

Tweet

A little detective work has reduced our power bill from $750 to $150 per quarter. We had struggled with high electricity bills for years - it didn't seem to matter what we did. One winter we got a bill of $750 for just three months! Enough was enough! I went on a mission to lower our bill. First I it came the heavy' with everyone about their never-ending showers and leaving lights on, but this hardly made a difference. I cut back on using the air conditioner and scattered throw overs around the lounge room to keep warm, but this also had next to no effect. Next, I got rid of the old air conditioner and got an inverter air conditioner which reduced the bill by $100 per quarter. A small success, but not enough! In frustration I arranged for an inspection by Sydney Electricity to see how we could make the house more energy efficient. It only cost $30. The inspector went over the house, changed the fittings on the taps and shower and gave us some energy efficient light globes. He pointed out that there was a leaking valve on the hot water tank and that the old beer fridge in the garage would soak up electricity. We fixed the leaking valve on the hot water tank. This saved us $200 per quarter and got the electricity bill down to about $450 but this was still too high. To my husband's horror I began eyeing his old beer fridge. It had to go. It was a real antique and had a lot of sentimental value. To make it up to my husband, we purchased a four year old fridge and a second hand pine kitchen for $800. We stripped the garage of 27 years of junk and fitted the kitchen and fridge in the garage. It was a lot of money to spend but I was keeping my fingers crossed it would save us money in the long run. I was right - the difference was huge. Our last power bill was only $157. I couldn't stop laughing for two days! His old beer fridge was costing us $1200 a year in electricity. In total, my detective work has cut our power bill $600 per quarter. That is about $2400 per year!