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“Reader Melissa writes in to tell us that using tips from Consumerist and other sites, she cut her (admittedly outrageous) electric bill down to size.”
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“The line between entertainment and advertising is fading…” Everything is an ad.
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Poor grammar in the title aside, this is a fairly comprehensive overview of credit scores and why they matter.
March 23rd, 2007 at 4:00 am
Wow, outrageous is right! During the 20 years I lived in New England, which has some of the highest electricity rates in the country, I never paid more than $35/month for electricity, including five years when I lived in a drafty old 1830s farmhouse in Vermont. I can only assume she uses electric heat and also runs an air conditioner; those are the only things that could jack an electric bill that high.
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:13 am
I’ve seen the recommendation to turn the water heater down to 120 F pretty much on every frugal living or environmental site where I’ve seen discussions about energy use. That’s a really bad idea, and a way to, as the Swedish saying goes, let cheapness cheat wisdom.
Legionella bacteria can and do multiply in temperatures lower than 130 F/55 C, and to be certain they’re killed, you need 140 F/60 C. Sure, domestic water is not the main source of Legionella infection, but that’s no reason to gamble with your health.
(I feel like a one-trick pony. This is at least the fourth time I’ve posted a variation of this comment.)
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:48 am
Therese is correct, although the risk is pretty small (see this fact sheet for more information.
If you have a hot water tank that’s starting to get old, it may be worth replacing it with a tankless (instantaneous) water heating system like the ones that have been used in Europe for decades. Having a hot water tank is like keeping your car running 24 hours a day just so you can use it for 20 minutes. It’s an enormous waste of energy and money.
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:23 am
oh wow, $35/month?? I’m jealous. I was excited when our last electric bill was down to $260 from $400. (We had nasty ductwork though, and have only replaced half of it so far…)
For reference, this is in Texas, at 14.7 c/kWh. Whenever people post electric prices that are dramatically different from mine, I always wonder what rate they’re paying. So there ya go.
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:08 am
Well, since moving to Canada my electric bills are higher, but that’s because we have electric heat. Still, we pay only about $80/month for electricity, and were paying only $45/month before my girlfriend’s teenage daughter moved in with us…she’s a real energy hog, leaving the heat in her room set at 85 degrees (she never remembers to turn it down when she leaves), leaving the TV on for hours even when she’s not watchng, forgetting to turn off lights, and frequently leaving the hot water running in the bathroom sink all night. It’ll be interesting to see how much our power bill goes down when she moves out on her own!
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:11 am
I’ll bet y’all are wishing I would hurry up and get today’s post done so that you didn’t have to spend your time commenting on the daily links, huh?
In final editing now…
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:15 am
leave my poor grammar title alone, please.
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:13 pm
I was really hoping the Caveman link meant that the Geico Caveman had a personal finance blog.
March 26th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
margaret: awesome idea.
March 27th, 2007 at 1:23 am
I have heard different things about the Geico Cavemen sitcom. If my memory is correct, I believe that ABC approched Geico about buying the rights to the cavemen for the show. It is not being created by Geico, and although there might be some product placement in the show (but there is in almost every show) it won’t be about Geico.
I don’t know if this changes anything for some people, but the article linked makes it sound like Geico is producing the show to be a half an hour advertisement.