9.18.2008

Energy Saved So Far

My husband and I saved a lot of energy since we started trying, after moving into our first house. How much? Here is a chart comparing our electricity use over the last three years (as of December 2008) in kilowatt hours. electric use chart

We saw a nice reduction in 2007 after switching most light bulbs to CFLs and replacing our washer with the Staber washer, along with making an effort to shut lights and computers off when we weren't using them. Then we saw a much bigger reduction after having the attic sealed and adding insulation in January 2008, and comfortably keeping the thermostat lower in the winter and higher in the summer. Here is a chart comparing our natural gas use (in Therms) for heating over the same period.
gas use chart

We'll see how much more we can save as we do more of our energy audit To Do list, and continue to learn better habits. We're not approaching the $36.76 July power bill of the former Maryland senator and Chesapeake Bay activist Sam Weingrad, but in July 2008 we used half the electricity that we used two years before.