Penitence

Well, I've lived in my home now for a few months and have finally received my first full month's utility bills... and it's not pretty.  Of course it's very hot here in the summer, so both my water and electricity usage peak in August (the current billing period).  Still, I am shocked.  I can't even look the environment in the face any more, I'm so ashamed.  This is me, to the environment:

I almost didn't want to post the actual numbers because it's so embarrassing.

Here's why:

Water:


My daily water usage came to 1.26 CCF, or about 940 gallons... per day!!!!  This makes my head spin.  I'm estimating that 85-90% of this must be from watering my yard alone.  And I already reduced the sprinkler watering time from the previous owners' times by 25%.  Well, it's time to experiment with just how little water my yard really needs.  We've just passed the Autumnal Equinox, the days are getting shorter and cooler, and the sun is less high in the sky.  I just reduced the watering times by another 40%.  We'll see how that goes.  I've got a few other ideas for saving water as well.  In the long term, I'm looking at reducing the amount of turf grass in my yard.

Electricity:


I used 615 kilowatt-hours for the month.  This comes out to an average rate of 827 watts on all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  That is atrocious.  In fact, it's about 5.6 times more than I used in the same time period last year when I lived in a studio.  Once again, I'm guessing that more than 85% of that is air conditioning.  I finally figured out what the ton unit is on my air conditioning unit.  When my AC is running, it's using 5 kilowatts.  That is a huge number.  My AC only has to run for 238 minutes every day to account for all of my used energy.   I can probably bump up my thermostat another degree (F) during the day, but that's about it.  My cat really can't handle more than 82F.  I never have the AC set below 80 when I'm home, so I can't increase it that much more.  There is one thing I can do.  My AC unit is 15 years old.  Comparing SEER ratings, I could upgrade to a new, ultra-efficient unit and decrease the energy used by 35-40%.  The city of Riverside gives rebates for purchasing efficient air conditioners, but it will only cover 15% or so of the cost.  That helps, but it will still be very expensive.  Even with these rebates, I estimate that it will take me 20+ years to recoup the costs of the air conditioner with saving on energy bills.  Ugh.  If it were between buying an efficient versus inefficient air conditioner, the return on investment would actually be pretty quick (5ish years).  But when it's between a whole new air conditioner, and not buying one at all, the purchase just doesn't pay off.  I will probably be buying a new air conditioner in the next year, but it will be out of the goodness of my own heart, not because it will save me money.

Gas:

The first full month bill of natural gas has not come in yet, but I can tell from the first partial bill that it's going to be extremely low.  Most of my appliances (including my stove and oven) are electric.  Only my water heater, heater (which I'm obviously not using), and dryer use gas.  I'll update the post with actual number when it comes in.

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All of these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.  They will come down dramatically on their own, simply because of the changing season.  Nonetheless, there is a lot of work to do...