Well today is a very nice sunny day out side, hopefully we will be able to get to see some of it sometime today.
To we are installing our power point timers into all our power points, they all will be set to come on in the low period of the smart meter. The fridge does not have one of course.
This will ensure us that they are not used in the shoulder or high periods of the smart meter.
How our electricity runs in our household -
Loungeroom -
We have a grand electric piano which is pluged into the power point and will have a timer set to come on between 6.30pm and 8.30pm (high period) but this is the time that the whole family is in this room and Gordon plays the piano during the week. During the week we can over ride this if we have to.
Cooling - we have a over head fan that is always on low which also has lights in it - the lights are not used.
Lighting - We have a huge window in the room and the curtains are open, and so much light streams in through here during the day we do not need the lights on. Accross the bar we have two sets of fairy lights that are run on rechargeable batteries which get switched on in the evening when it is getting dark.
We also have two rechargeable leb laterns that are used at the end of each room, which throw enough light to read, play games by and everything else.
Powerpoints - the stereo and the computer(TV) go into one power point which is on a timer only to come on between 5pm and 7.30pm (high period). Our children do not watch much tv at all hense why we don't have a proper tv. They each have their own computers and a dongle for watching tv on their computers.
Kitchen/Dining Room
The kitchen/dining room has a over head fan with lights in it. The fan is on low at all times the lights are not used. We have a large window over the kitchen sink and bench that lets enough sunlight in the be able to have a sauna on hot days lol, so plenty of light comes in. There is also a skylight tube over the kitchen and also one over the dining room table.
We also have rechargeable fairy lights above the kitchen window and around the ceiling over the dining room table.
We also use a huge candle holder on the dining room table when we eat which can hold 4 normal candles and quiet a few pillar candles in the middle depending on sizes of the candles. We also have a row of tea-light candles down the centre of the table.
This gives as a very pleasant way to eat our meals.
The powerpoints in the kitchen are for the blender, bread maker, coffee maker which are all only turned on when in use and then turned off immediately.
The fridge is the only one left on at all times.
Laundry
Our laundry is our charging station room for all our rechargeable batteries, lanterns, lights, phones, computers. Gordon has set up a couple of charging stations in here where we can hook everything up to be charged.
They are all hooked up to a few different power boards and powerpoints and each power point has a timer to it and they are set to come on at 10pm and turn off at 7am which is the lowest period during the smart meter. So before we all go to bed we all hook up our own things that need charging, if you don't you miss out.
The washing machine is on a seperate power point and is turned on and off when needed.
Kids and Our Room -
The kids and us have power points in our rooms but none of them are used so they are all in the off position. Each room has a overhead fan which is kept on low, they also have lights in them but most of the time they are not used only the sunlight that comes in through the rooms.
Each of us have our own rechargeable lantern that is used in our rooms at night.
Bathroom -
Has fairy lights rechargeable around the mirror, and around the room, so elimates using the lights at all. There are lights above if we really need to use them. The heat lights have been disconnected at the light switch so can't be used. The bathroom also has a exhaust fan which is very rearly used as we make sure that the bathroom window is always kept open.
The boys have electirc toothbrushes and a shaver which is hooked up to a power point with a timer to come on between 10pm and 7am each day. (low period).
Ok we don't have -
Normal tv - we use our charged up computers with a tv dongle to watch tv
No microwave
No electric kettle
No electric clocks or alarm clocks
No seperate freezer or extra ones or fridges
No air conditioning
No dryer
No electric stereos/cd players except the one in the lounge room
When I wake up at 4-4.30am I do all my cooking and baking for the day (meals, cakes, bread etc...), ironing, vacumming, washing and of course a coffee from the coffee machine. My aim is to have all this completed before 7am when the low period of the smart meter finishes.
By doing all of this we have been able to keep our electricity bill down to around $240.00 - $280.00 each quarter for a family of six so think we must be doing something right.
1 comment:
I have been doing some of what have suggested. we have the fairy lights in the bathroom and toilet. the lights in the house are not used as much, and most things are turned off at the wall each night. we havent been doing this long and the power bill is due in on the 17th of dec, so not sure how much of a difference it will make this bill. but as of next bill it shoud make a big difference. when the next bill comes in i want to make even further changes as well. were not on a smart metre yet, so we dont havve the added benifit of off peak times yet. when that comes in i will make even more changes.
the only thing im finding is the costs of the rechargable batteries. there costing me ruffly $20 a packet of 4 AAs. how many rechargeable batteries do you have to run all of your stuff.
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