I'm about fed up

Listening to the news this morning, Nova Scotia Power has put in a request for a 12% rate increase. This just after the gov't removed an 8% rebate they were giving people as a bit of a break on power costs. So if it goes through, we're basically getting a whopping 20% increase in power rates.

Now, I'm the first to admit that I'm not really 100% green. I recycle, I separate organics, but I was motivated by municipal bylaw. I use the least toxic stuff I can find in my house, because I want to keep the kids safe, I don't like the chemical smells, and I don't want to poison my back yard. I'm not at all convinced that there's manmade global warming, and I think a lot of corporations are jumping on the green bandwagon just because there's money to be made.

But this is crazy. Between the escalating costs of gas, oil and electricity, I think we're spending more now on heat, lights and transportation than we are on our mortgage!

So anyway... all venting aside... I want to find some ways to cut the electric bill.

I already use the fluorescent bulbs. Hate them, but I use them. I haven't seen any decrease in the power bill, and two have burned out in the last six months, so I don't know if I'm actually ahead or not.

I wash most of our clothes in cold water, I use warm for towels, sheets and kids' light colored clothes. I have a high efficiency washer and dryer that use less water and less power.

I stopped running the dehumidifier once I realized they burn through about $50/month.

As of today I'm going to do most of the dishwashing by hand instead of running the dishwasher.

I switched to a laptop which goes on standby overnight, removing the always-on desktop from our power consumption.

I'm going to look for some of those LED nightlights and thus eliminate the two lamps we leave on for C all night.

I'm going to go down and turn down the temperature on the hot water heater when I get a chance.

And other ideas as they come to me...