I'll tell ya...if I knew that changing out my hot water heater was going to make this big of a difference, I would have done it a long time ago. Below is my energy usage information for the November 2012 Duke Energy bill:
November 2011 Bill
Total Energy Usage: 734 kWh
Days: 29
Average Daily Usage: 25.31 kWh/day
Billed Amount: $73.20
November 2012 Bill (October 2 - November 1)
Total Energy Usage: 509 kWh
Days: 30
Average Daily Usage: 16.97 kWh/day (32.97% reduction from 2011)
Billed Amount: $58.14
Absolute Savings: $15.06
Adjusted Savings for Increase in Rates (@ $0.114/kWh): $24.94
Recall in my October post, I noted that my previous low was in June 2011 where we used 526 kWh which equates to an average daily usage of 17.53 kWh/day. So our November usage was again, lower than I previous low. And last month, we had the heat on for at least half the month.
As for new projects, I posted about installing the Ecobee last month. Following the data online, the system is certainly is maxing out the first stage, which is more efficient, as I want it to do.
We also just bought ourselves a new fridge. That will be installed next week and should reduce our energy usage by about 0.43 kWh/day. Yeah...not a lot, but my fridge will bigger (it'll finally fit a platter) while still reducing usage. And we got it $1500 cheaper (New @ Sears outlet + Energy Star Tax Weekend). I'm OK with that.
And I need to get back on the HTPC project. I can get the PC to shutoff...but turning back on is an issue I'm still working on. I did get myself a new router that'll allow me "wake-on-LAN"...which means it'll allow me to turn on the PC remotely when I want to say...set a new recording. Again...this will take a while to figure out and I'm sure I'll require help from my Dad and Brothers as they are much more astute than I at Ubuntu Linux.
