Utility saving case study. How much can you save?

Have you ever taken a close look at your home's utility usage and what you can do to reduce?

I did a utility consumption study on my home recently just to see if a few cultural/behavioral changes made any measurable difference in my overall utility bills from one year to the next.   I'm adding actual data from my personal home in the form of graphs from the City of Austin to illustrate the study.  

We have a 1994 single story all brick 2,100 square foot home in Austin, TX that has a gas water heater and furnace.  However, the gas utility was not part of this study simply because there was no real change in that particular service based on the changes we implemented.  I might also add that the year 2009 in central Texas was one of the heaviest droughts in history and still our usage dropped simply by paying attention to what we do on a daily basis.

My wife and I are 42 years old with two children (ages 7 and 9).  

Electrical savings
During the year 2008, we lived normally.  The only cultural/behavioral changes made in 2009 were the following:

• Night lights used during the night were changed from the sensor type to manual switch type.  They were manually turned on just before bed and turned off each morning upon rising.
• The HVAC's programmable thermostat was adjusted one degree higher in the summer and one degree lower in the winter.
• All unused appliances were unplugged including toaster, coffee makers, battery chargers, phone chargers, etc.
• We turned off our 3-4 computers each evening when going to bed and turned them back on when needed.
• Tried to be diligent turning off lights when we were not in a particular room.
  
• It seems I was a bit more aggressive on paying attention to these proposed changes from June on based on the graph below.  I'm betting the results would have been substantially better if the plan were followed more closely all year.
  

The overall cost of electricity for our house in 2008 was $1,495.60 for a total of 15,571 Kilowatt hours.  Comparing that to the electrical cost of 2009 at $1,259.93 for 12,725 Kilowatt hours resulted in a savings of $235.67 over 2009.  We lowered our monthly average electrical cost from $124.63 to $104.99 per month. 

Water savings

• When we went to the bathroom and only liquids were deposited, the commode was only flushed once every two to three uses.
• The irrigation system was turned on in May and turned off in September but left on all year in 2008.
• When brushing teeth or shaving, the water was turned off.
  

The overall cost of water for our house in 2008 was $896.66 for a total of 209,900 gallons.  Comparing that to the water cost of 2009 at $388.35 for 92,600 gallons resulted in a savings of $508.31 over 2009. We lowered our monthly average water use from $74.72 to $32.36 per month. 

So, by slightly adjusting the way we think about using water and electricity, we saved  $743.98 in 2009.  We will continue making slight changes in 2010.  Some of those changes will be sealing our HVAC ducting and better weatherproofing our home starting in January 2010.  Check back next year to see the savings.


One of the features we plan on implementing on http://www.myhealthyhouse.com are ways to monitor a home's utility consumption as well as teach homeowners what they can do to save money.  Learn more and keep up with your house with a free My Healthy House.com profile.  Stay tuned and make your house the best it can be.  

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© Healthy House, Inc. 2009