I don’t pay our electric bill, so I don’t have to be horrified when I open the envelope. Electricity is deregulated in Texas and we pay some of the highest per kilowatt hour fees in the nation. Electric companies here are constantly advertising and vying for business by claiming they can save you the most money. I wonder how much money the companies could save their customers if they dropped the advertising. We do not have any choices for electricity where we live. Our only option is the co-op that services our area. I do believe we’re paying less for electricity than in our first Texas house and every so often we get a small rebate check.
With the house we’ve lived in for going on five years, we were fortunate to not have vaulted ceilings. We’re not paying to heat and cool a lot of space we’re not using. It’s the first house we’ve owned that hasn’t had a lot of useless airspace. We keep the downstairs air conditioning set at 78 during the day and warmer while everyone is sleeping. The fans help even during these Texas days that are close to and over 100 degrees.
I am a television addict. I have the TV on all day every day. I can tell you what time it is by what show is on. I turn the TV off when we’re not home and when we’re sleeping.
I was shocked to learn that the DVR and satellite/cable box are the biggest power hogs in the house. The technology of the box doesn’t allow the box to power down even when I’ve pushed the off button on the remote. That makes sense because the DVR has to constantly be updating to record when it’s programmed to.
I won’t be eliminating any of the receivers or DVRs any time soon, though.