Enjoy this little snippet from my January electric bill:
My total usage was 687kWh, or 20.82kWh per
day. Needless to say, I was shocked not only at our daily usage, but at the cost.
A little info on what I'm working with: I'm in a two-story (1,200ish square feet) A-frame in the mountains of Southern California, elevation 4,675 feet. The roof is tongue-in-groove, covered with plywood sheeting and composite shingles. The walls are sheetrock, with at least some insulation, and the basement/crawlspace is completely uninsulated, along with the floor between the first floor and basement.
The house is heated with a recent-model gas furnace, and cooled with a window A/C. The water heater and stove are gas, and the dryer is electric. Most of the lighting is fluorescent in one form or another.
This infrequently updated thread will document my attempts to pinpoint, track and reduce my usage of energy. The first 218kWh I cut are worth 24 cents apiece, so there's plenty of incentive. I'm not sure how to measure and track gas usage yet, so I'll start with electricity and go from there.