I took this picture at 6am when there were no lights or electronics on, just the (electric) heat. It was about 42 degrees outside, so it was working to make up 24 degrees to achieve the 66 setting on my thermostat. (MLGW's recommended setting for winter is 68 or lower.)
If you look back at my display from June, you can see that it is quite different! Even with our air-conditioner running, we were only using about .34 per hour. Our monthly bills were between $100-$200, which was fantastic. We have nice big trees that afford our house a lot of shade, so keeping it cool is pretty easy.
These same trees make it really hard to keep it warm in the winter. Throw in poor insulation and lots of windows, and well, we usually stay cold all winter long.
Now that we have the in-home display, it will be interesting to see if we can keep our bills down. I was definitely more aware of having extra lights on, running extra de-wrinkle cycles on the dryer, and having a TV playing to no one last night. These electronics use only a small fraction of the total electricity, but every little bit is going to help.
To alleviate the stress of our winter bills, I signed up for our Budget Billing program. This allowed me to pay a little extra over the spring & summer so that I won't feel the pain quite as much when the high bills hit this year.
Did you do anything to prepare for winter? It's not too late!
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