We finished up our electricity challenge today. Two days of normal usage, followed by two days of cutting back. Rhonda, at Down to Earth suggested the challenge, and we gladly signed on to see how we would do.
We used 28 kilowatts during the first two days. With a little dedication, and a lot of mindful moments, we cut our usage to 23 kilowatts during the next two days.
I thought we might do better than this, but we already had many saving principles established. A couple of years ago we changed all of our light bulbs over to compact fluorescents, and that saved us about $20 a month easily.
Even 2.5 kilowatts a day was rewarding though. That equals $2.45 a week, or $10.50 a month, or $126 a year.
Some of the efforts we made to reduce our usage:
Turned off lights not in use
Listened to the radio instead of the TV
Hung clothes on wooden racks to dry
Unplugged laptop and phone chargers
Turned off the computer printer
Cooked a meal in the crockpot
Ate dinner by candlelight