Ok so me my bf moved in together last may and have had about a 115-138 dollar power bill every following month. All of a sudden the past 2 months our bill came in at $200 bux! Iam so frustrated bc I always keep stuff turned OFF lights TV's ect. When they aren't being used..Constantly goen behind him turning crap OFF!BTW (Annoying) Decembers bill came in at 206+late fee!? I thought wow ok it is cold outside lately maybe its the heater? Then this months came in at $238 iam astonished dnt know how 2 pay it! So i put plastic from an old shower curtain up over windows even though i was told use plastic painters would use:) all i had was shower curtain! Will this even drasticly help reduce bill!? Could it also be that our hot water pipes aren't covered? Idk if they are or not but can find out really quick! Plz any real helpful answers will be much appreciated!
Putting plastic over the windows is more helpful to reduce air leaks, but does provide a space between the glass and the interior air. Shower curtains are fairly thick, and should work well. The amount of electricity used by light bulbs is miniscule. TVs, cable/satellite boxes, and many electronics continue to use power even when turned off.
Whatever plastic you put over windows will do no good at all unless it's completely sealed along all the edges and creates an air space between the window and the plastic. You didn't say if you did that or not. It will, in any case, not make a huge difference in your bill to put plastic on the windows even if it is totally sealed and done properly. Some difference, sure, but not a lot. Yes, it's the heat that is making those huge power bills. Lights and TV don't use that much. Heating and cooling are what really cost you. I don't know how cold it is where you are, but it's not all that cold where I am, a few degrees below zero at night is the coldest we get around here. I have electric heat and electric everything else. My normal summer electric bill is about $30 a month. The bill I am about to pay is going to be $150 a month. That's for just me living here, I don't usually keep the place more than about 63F, I'm very conservative with power use, and we pay relatively low power rates here. Your large bill doesn't look too bad from my point of view. You're paying a lot less per person for December/January than I am. I don't know what temp you heat your house to. If it's more than 65f, turn it down and wear some extra clothes.
if you cant afford the silver bubble wrap then get a bat of R12 insulation and some 6 mil poly. put the R12 against the window and then staple the poly over it. it should help. if you really want to save money on heating then move out of the mobile home. those things are notorious for not having any insulation (or at least not properly installed insulation) in the exterior walls.
Sounds like this is your first winter in the house. Since you have electric heat, and this has been a cold winter for the most part, it isn't surprising. You could though, turn off the heat while you aren't home or set the thermostat to 5-10 degrees lower. Then once you get home you could turn it back up to whatever you feel comfortable with. Be careful though, if the temperature gets too low and you turn off the heat, your pipes could freeze.
Hi there, As you know electric heat is very expensive. Covering the windows will certainly help. If you have an electric water heater you can turn down the temperature a few degrees. You also can just turn it off when not using and turn it back on thirty minutes before you need to shower, do the dishes, etc. On a cold night I would leave it on a low setting to prevent freezing. But a lot of heat can leave through the floor if you have no skirting all around between the ground and floor. Adding skirting around should help. Al
