Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

[nimrod.sixty9]

Heres what I have; A shatty trailer with 2 window units (no insulation and Florida heat), 1 frig, mini electric stove/oven, mini POS water heater, 1 computer, 2 TV's and VCR-DVD.

To do so far:

Clean the hell outta the A\C's and filters

Seal off all holes and windows (which I think is one of my major cooling issues, but doesnt technically use elec- will still help either way)

Vacuum/clean coils on the frig - and keep well stocked

Use the stove less IDK?!

Turn down temp, clean out sediments and install blanket in/on the water heater

Install a smart powerstrip to kill phantom devices when not in use

Will turing off the water heater when not in use save electricity or will it cost more to heat back up?
Anything I can add?
More ideas please...

[ssms5411]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

We put up screens on the widows that only had 1 screen part, turned down the hotwater heater becuase it was too hot, replace the air filters once a month. Wife and her mother put up cloth draps over the shades inside. And we also watch the timer for the sprinklers. Our bill last month was $370, but our 5 ton A/C was on it's way out so it could have been the capiciter heating up too much and staying on, thats fixed along with a new fan for the A/C. Our bill has been $270 reg. and $140 in winter so the $100 jump was a surprise. We keep ours set at 78 degrees, have 5 ceiling fans , 2 t.v's , 4 floor fans , 2 friggs (1 in the garage) which gets hot out there. Its been really hot here and humid, its still 100 degrees + at midnight here. So it sucks.

[T-Mill]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

could look into a tankless water heater, but I believe they all require gas or propane, or rig up a timer so that the one you have shuts off at night and turns on in morning or is off while you're at work... it costs more to keep the water hot when not in use than it does to heat it up after it's been used/off in most cases... and be weary of some powerstrips that have some sort of surge protection, because even when the switch is off, they can still drain power

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

We put up screens on the widows that only had 1 screen part, turned down the hotwater heater becuase it was too hot, replace the air filters once a month. Wife and her mother put up cloth draps over the shades inside. And we also watch the timer for the sprinklers. Our bill last month was $370, but our 5 ton A/C was on it's way out so it could have been the capiciter heating up too much and staying on, thats fixed along with a new fan for the A/C. Our bill has been $270 reg. and $140 in winter so the $100 jump was a surprise. We keep ours set at 78 degrees, have 5 ceiling fans , 2 t.v's , 4 floor fans , 2 friggs (1 in the garage) which gets hot out there. Its been really hot here and humid, its still 100 degrees + at midnight here. So it sucks.

Sounds like you need more help than I do.

I do need to take care of the windows somehow. They need some type of covering. They are those that dont seal at all and face the sunrise. So yeah, my place goes from 72 to 85 before breakfast :(

could look into a tankless water heater, but I believe they all require gas or propane, or rig up a timer so that the one you have shuts off at night and turns on in morning or is off while you're at work... it costs more to keep the water hot when not in use than it does to heat it up after it's been used/off in most cases... and be weary of some powerstrips that have some sort of surge protection, because even when the switch is off, they can still drain power

I shouldve mentioned that I rent, so Im not investing that much into something I dont own. The landlord was going to get me one of the tankless heaters when my heater was failing, but decided he was going to save money at my expense and turned up the temp instead. Looks like I will add turning off water heater to that list. I believe there is a switch that controls it so that shouldnt need any timer...

The purpose of the smart powerstrip is to defeat that very issue. It itself will still consume elec but cut off all other outlets on it when devices use a low amount of electricty. In other words; when a DVD player is turned off, it still uses elec, the SP sees this and then cuts off power to that outlet. It also has always hot outlets for devices like modems and TV's (so they can retain settings).

[T-Mill]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

didn't see the "smart" part, sorry, I thought you were just talking about a regular power strip with the switch on it that you'd switch off when everything was off... bc on some of them that have surge protection, the kWh alone is higher than most appliances when turned off

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

didn't see the "smart" part, sorry, I thought you were just talking about a regular power strip with the switch on it that you'd switch off when everything was off... bc on some of them that have surge protection, the kWh alone is higher than most appliances when turned off

Holy crap, didnt know that one. Ive always known that the "surge protection" was BS though.


Thought of one for the windows; Tint or use aluminum foil... Still not sure how to seal them though. Maybe caulking or weather stripping, probably go for the caulking seeing as how the windows wont open anyway...

[vanbibber]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

youre kind of screw with trailers when it comes to keeping them cooler, theyre more or less ovens any which way you look at it. so much metal used in them that its going to soak up heat and trap it inside the place. that and the lack of any real insulation leaves you pretty much fooked.

[ssms5411]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

If renting I wouldn't put alot into it. We lived in a trailer on the reservation for 4 years when my Dad worked for a dealership in Tuba City, AZ. It was a double wide 3 bedrooms , for the 5 of us. It wasn't too bad but they are not insulated well, I know back then they weren't , this was in 1983-87. So I wouldn't spend a whole lot into it.

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

youre kind of screw with trailers when it comes to keeping them cooler, theyre more or less ovens any which way you look at it. so much metal used in them that its going to soak up heat and trap it inside the place. that and the lack of any real insulation leaves you pretty much fooked.

If renting I wouldn't put alot into it. We lived in a trailer on the reservation for 4 years when my Dad worked for a dealership in Tuba City, AZ. It was a double wide 3 bedrooms , for the 5 of us. It wasn't too bad but they are not insulated well, I know back then they weren't , this was in 1983-87. So I wouldn't spend a whole lot into it.

I know they arnt insulated well, but I know I can make improvements on my energy consumption.

BTW; its a 70' model

Ideas?

Anyone using LED bulbs?

[vanbibber]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

lol im surprised its still in living condition then being that old. usually after about 20 years theyre torn to hell and on the verge of collapsing.

[bigbrian442]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

Paint the roof white. If the AC units are yours, know that the new(er) ones are more efficient than ones made just 5 years ago. Same goes with other appliances. If your electric water heater has more then one heating element, make sure they are both working, the heating elements are easy to replace. Use the new screw in florescent bulbs to replace incandescent bulbs.

[ssms5411]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

I got a saver for you , have flaming come over a fan you instead of running the A/C. He's a manhore. LOL Watchout though he likes manginas. HAhaHAHAHa.

[StrtRacer98]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

You could seal coat the roof with trans-x, that would restore the trailer to its original condition!

[DAS BOOT]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

I have done alot of power saving stuff with a commercial building and do alot in my house. (3 bed, 2 bath house, highest bill in FL was last @$200, lowest was $80, and I like my house cool)

Raise the temp on water heater, sounds bad but you will get used to it, if you shower it needs to be on FULL hot.

LED bulbs are better then CFLs, but cost alot, a few CFLs will be nice, but honestly in a trailer, how many lights you have running at a time? 2-3 I mean **** my house we don't have that many lights at any given time.


Your killers are water heater/AC... With Ac, get a timer going on them for when you are not around. I have a progammable thermostat on our AC, cost $50, for window units I think they have outlet style timers.

Mixed feelings on water heater, timers... for like $2 you can get insulator for the hot water piping. Maybe a hot water heater blanket. Your insulation is going to kill you... no getting around it.

Rent may be cheap.... but I hate to say it, there is a thing to be said about Programing the poor to stay poor. You think you save on rent, but you pay even more on utilities/upkeep.


My house is sealed well, well insulated, and fully tiled(makes a HUGE difference) at retaining the cold. Sucks in winter though, stays cold indoors, but its FL so not badt. Sure my rent is higher but my utilities are actually lower then apartments I live in.

$1100 a month rent, maybe $180 month water/power/garbage bills. ~$1300 a month

Orlando was looking at $900-1000 rent, but like $200-250ish a month utilities. ~$1200-1250 for apartment.

But I have bigger house, a yard for my dog, and a 2 car garage and some actual privacy.

[DAS BOOT]

Re: Ideas on saving on the electric bill?

Not sure what your fan situation is, but fans help, and I learned working in un AC'ed hangers and work areas in FL, Fan placement works... Even in sealed rooms with no outside. Aiming fans to do a "circulation" of the room. Like if you have 2-3 fans, instead of blowing on you its better to have them in corners rotating the air around the entire room in a circular fashion.

My house wasn't wired for ceiling fans(if I owned it frist thing I would do) So I have tower fans, like $40 a piece but with them on, I can keep the house ~3* higher on AC, but still comfortable, wife wears a blanket(sometimes I do) when watching TV. ~74 in house.