house electric question

PineRidge · Jan 27, 2005

Get some passive infrared (motion detector) light switches and install them. When she stops moving the lights will go out. 

Junk my guess is those light switch's would cost a heck of a lot more than leaving the lights on.

Around here we leave lights on all the time. I also leave radios blaring in the attached garage as well as the pole barn to deter theft. If they hear music they just might think someone is working. Gosh I hope they don't break in and steal my radios. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

SPIKER · Jan 27, 2005

I'm one that says TURN THEM OFF!

not as much for the few $ is saves but for the energy WE THE PEOPLE are using and wasting. not to mention the costs for replacement typical light bulbs last 600 ~ 1000 hrs. so leaving them on all day 24/7 means that they usually last (1000hrs/24hrs = 41 days, now yes turning on/ off does shorten life span but then lest figure a 100 watt bulb for cost) 100wattsx24hrsx1000hrs = 2,400,000 watts/1000 for Kw useage x cost10.5847perKW= $25.40cents in energy over bulbs life. so every time you replace a 100 watt bulb just remember that bulb costs you 26 bucks (25 in electricity and 1 buck for the bulb /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

here is easy formula it is easy as "PIE"

P Power (watts) = I (Current in amps) X Energy(voltage)

1000 watts = 120 volts x 8.33 amps if it was 220 and the motor (well pump) draws 10 amps then it's wattage would be 220volts X 10 amps = 2200watts.

a watt is a unit of measure over 1 standard earth hour now if you were else where in the univers it may change /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

anyhow start adding them up and you will see it takes quite a bit of power.

I have 2200 SF home 2 story (with basement) that I typically pay 35.00 per month for electrical, I have a farm house with well which I pay about the same for both have gas heat one forced air (city home) farm is simply dirrect fired non vented heat propane. so with furnace working or AC working it is usually 40/mo in the city if I run them alot. with farm in winter not running the well as much (not ther often) I pay 25.00 month. my womans city home she has teenager who HAS to have tv and stereo on at same time with at least 20 lights on is paying 75~100 per month. when she didn't have the girls there then costs was 40/month! that is cost differance of having someone who is turning EVERYTHING ON and leaving it ON does to the bill, doubbles it pretty easy... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

MarkM

Junkman · Jan 27, 2005

( My wife does the same thing, I will come in from the shop after dark and every light in the house will be on with her asleep on the couch.

I just go around and turn them off, know about that brain crosswired stuff Junkman speaks of so I don't even go there. )

I just spoke to the wife and I won't mention any names, but someone that reads TBN has already mentioned to her about my posting of her backing into the 3 driveway markers. I figure that by the time this last post about her gets back to her, the lights will be on, but she will be turning my lights off with a rolling pin. Guys, lets remember that what you read here stays here. The TBN is like a secret society and we shouldn't be letting outsiders know what we post. If I am mysteriously missing in the next couple of days, then that means that I am recuperating at the hospital, or worse, the wife is in jail for murdering me. My bet is that her defense will be either PMS or justifiable homoside..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

scott_in_ny · Jan 27, 2005

a quick calculation i did.

at my rate of 10.5847/kwh

lets say:

1- 75 w bulb costs .79385 cents per hour - multiplied by 14 hours per day = 11.1139 cents - doesnt sound like much i know...............but multiply that by at least 10 other lights that are on and that = $1.11 per day.....

yea i know not much but:

$33.00 per month and then $400.00 per year.

and this estimate is on the low side of the things she keeps running.
sometimes a TV in each room etc......

i bet i could cut almost $50.00 per month off if we just tightened things up a bit.

i am just trying to figure out where all our money is going.

i know i probably sound like the cheapest guy this side of the Pecos but i am trying to do some budgeting and the money is just going...... going...... gone.

thanks
scott

DUMBDOG · Jan 27, 2005

All of those pennies do add up, it takes time but they do grow into tractors. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PineRidge · Jan 27, 2005

If I am mysteriously missing in the next couple of days, then that means that I am recuperating at the hospital, or worse, the wife is in jail for murdering me. My bet is that her defense will be either PMS or justifiable homoside.....


Maybe she should clobber you with a man-hole cover, they can call it sewer-cide. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

KiotiJohn · Jan 27, 2005

I found a good rule of thumb on my electric company's site. A 100 watt incandescent light bulb, left on 24/7 costs about $5/month to operate. I have changed most of my interior lights over to florescent bulbs where a 25 watt bulb puts out the same light as 100 watt incandescent. Worth a shot? John

Cliff_Johns · Jan 27, 2005

( my electric bill is usually in the $200.00 to $300.00 a month. )

If you look closely, you may have some improperly installed wiring that's letting the electricity leak out onto the ground.

Also, sometimes, if the wire takes too tight a turn, the electrons don't make it around the corner and fly off into the conduit and go banging around a finally they pop out through the boxes (which sounds remarkably like mosquitoes) -- more leakage.

Finally, watch out for that "full circuit" gag that the electricity companies play on unsuspecting consumers. You should have a meter on the electricity going into the house, but you should also ask for a meter on the electricity going out so you only pay the difference, that is, for the electricity you actually use.

Cliff

bebster · Jan 28, 2005

In addition to the cost of electricity, leaving a light bulb (or other elec device without powersave) will use up its useful life. Bulbs only have so many hours in them, so you might also have to be replacing them more often. So that's an additional motivation to turning them off when not in use.

I also think your joint conservation effort might be more effective if a part of the savings were put into the dinner-out budget.

theboman · Jan 28, 2005

Scott, I'm sorry if I'd mistaken your post. I thought you were having to justify you could afford to plug in your block heater.

Boy, I know about pinching pennies to save nickles. I'm 43 and come July I'm getting a brand new baby to make me a first time daddy! Trying to payoff all those bills (tractor included) and one stupid credit card before the baby comes along.

So, if I got you into a tizzy..or the rest of this group.

markct · Jan 28, 2005

( If you look closely, you may have some improperly installed wiring that's letting the electricity leak out onto the ground.

Also, sometimes, if the wire takes too tight a turn, the electrons don't make it around the corner and fly off into the conduit and go banging around a finally they pop out through the boxes (which sounds remarkably like mosquitoes) -- more leakage.

Finally, watch out for that "full circuit" gag that the electricity companies play on unsuspecting consumers. You should have a meter on the electricity going into the house, but you should also ask for a meter on the electricity going out so you only pay the difference, that is, for the electricity you actually use.

Cliff
)

well the first part of your statement is definatly true, we had a pole barn that the whole outside metal became slightly electrified, i didnt know it till i was putting up fence and leaned on the building while holding onto the metal fence post i had just driven it, got a bit of a zap! turned out a pinched wire was the problem. however the second part of your post is just rediculous, electricity will not "fly off" the wire from making too tight of a turn, wires make turns all over and nothing flys off, if it did we would have codes saying how tight of a radius the wire could make etc. the third part of your post doesnt make sense to me, but since i dont fully understand it i wont say its wrong, i just dont understand where this electricity "going out" would be coming from or how it would go out so to speak, for example, i know of a guy who has a small hydroelectric setup on an old mill pond. when he makes more than he uses it is sold back to the power company, it simply goes the other way thru the meter, the meter runs backwards then so i dont see what you mean by electricity going out, when it goes out it would turn the meter the oposite way, ya wouldnt be charged for it

KubotaSteve · Jan 28, 2005

When I was checking out generators, I was looking at Lowes website and they had a little section by the generators that told what different household appliances use as far as watts go. It included the startup watts as well as the constant. That might give you a better idea as to how many watts each item costs.
My wife does the same thing. I came home from work last evening and she had almost all of the lights on in the house.

OkeeDon · Jan 28, 2005

Eh, I have the opposite problem. I consider myself thrifty, but my wife is a downright miser. If I come home after dark, I'm lucky to find the house in the dark. She'll have one tiny light on, only in the room she's occupying. If I'm working in a room and leave for 30 seconds to get a tool or whatever, she will have somehow sensed it , materialized in the room long enough to have turned the light off, and disappeared without my ever seeing her. I get really frustrated when it's a flourescent light -- I've always heard they take more electricity to start up than they use burning for a minute or so, and I've tried to explain that to her, but no light can remain on for more than 15 seconds if no one is there.

Once, when I had something bulky to carry into the house, I carefully went along the route and turned on lights so I could see where I was going. By the time I got the item out of my truck and started towards the house with my hands full, every light had been turned out.

I finally figured out a good use for this quirk. After I use my gas grill, I let it burn for a while to clean it. But, I've been known to forget that it's on. Now, when I sit down to eat, I simply turn on the patio light. Even in broad daylight, my wife will sense that it's on and repeatedly ask me every 2 or 3 minutes why that light is on. All I have to do is associate the light with the burning grill in my weak synapses, and there is no way I'll ever forget to turn it off.

In our home office, we have two desks. I had two high-hat flood lights installed in the ceiling to shine down on the desks. Unfortunately, I had them both put on the same switch. When I'm working in there alone, it drives her nuts that both bulbs are lit. I won't make that mistake in our new house...

To be fair to her, I have to mention that I have a quirk about drawers and doors that are slightly ajar - I like them shut tightly. So, we prove our love for each other in a simple way. I know how much she enjoys turning out lights so I leave them on for her, and she knows how compulsive I am about pushing drawers and doors shut, so she kindly leaves them ajar for me. Both of us are happy.

Bird · Jan 28, 2005

That's great, Don. I have the same quirk about cabinet doors and drawers myself. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif But we're different on the lights. I raised two daughters and neither they nor my wife ever figured out that those light switches work both ways. They could turn them on, but never figured out how to turn them off. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

billbill1 · Jan 28, 2005

The NEC does state how tight of a radius you can bend wire. I found this out in a class I took.

Cliff_Johns · Jan 28, 2005

Sorry, markct, my whole post was intended to be in jest. I apologise if it sounded too legit. None of it was intended to be accurate or useful beyond a chuckle. I should really use more smilies, I guess.

Cliff

rambler · Jan 28, 2005

(
my electric bill is usually in the $200.00 to $300.00 a month.
i have propane stove,hot water heater.
oil heat.
i am just trying to make sure i still have some drinkin' money at the end of the month. ha ha ha

i hope i dont sound like a miser.

thanks all
scott )

I am a miser. My wife puts up with me.

I run a small crop farm with 30-45 head of cattle, deep well, oil heat, and an electric water heater, electric stove. Welder, shop tools, a few grain handling augers & plugging in tractors in the cold MN winters....

My eyebrow raises the couple times a year my bill goes over $50 a month for electric.... Wow over $200 for a house???

I pay more for phone & internet service than I do for electric....

--->Paul

JimR · Jan 28, 2005

You sure are not living in the NE if your paying $50.00 a month for electricity. Especially with an electric water heater. Our bill is around $160.00 without an electric water heater or electric heat. I do however use my welder and dust collectors alot. Plus we have 3 computers, 2 printers and a fax running fulltime. I don't plug my tractor in either. I did the night of the blizzard just to make sure it started up.

markct · Jan 28, 2005

( Sorry, markct, my whole post was intended to be in jest. I apologise if it sounded too legit. None of it was intended to be accurate or useful beyond a chuckle. I should really use more smilies, I guess )

sorry i took it seriously, the way it was written gave no indication that you were not serious, the stuff ya said while it is terribly silly i have heard people say things stranger things on disscusion boards, and in person too!

as for the bend radius i was never aware of any spec on this, and my boss who is a licenced electrician said the only spec he knew of was for conduit, where your pulling wire thru, and that spec has nothing to do with electrons its just for ease of pulling the wire without damaging it, could ya elaborate a bit on what the spec refers to, im curious now, even tho now knowing the original post was just a joke so it realy doesnt matter in that aspect

slydog · Jan 29, 2005

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I almost bit on that one myself! I know I've never seen two meters on the back of a house. Then I't dawned on me you wuz yankin our chains.