We've enjoyed unusually tolerable, even pleasant weather here until about a week ago. It has started getting hot, like we are used to and hate. (Let the whining begin).
Even when it is super hot outside, I never let the air conditioner get set lower than about 74 degrees, and if it is just me at home, it's likely to be closer to or at 80 degrees. I drink a lot of ice water or ice tea during the day, and am generally doing something non-strenuous (physically), like paying bills or such. Visitors don't much care for the tepid temperature indoors, but it doesn't bother me or the kids. Hubs is willing to deal with it - for the most part.
So, since I already conserve in every way except for my l o n g hot showers, when I read this morning's headline: "Utility bills to increase 30%", I was distressed. They are high enough, and I only have the once last extravagence to 'give up' to save money on utilities.
Then, the mail runs.
What luck, there's our MLGW bill. . .
It was exactly (well, within 38 cents) ONE HUNDRED dollars more than last month. It wasn't cheap last month, and it was ONE HUNDRED dollars higher. There was no more consumption. It wasn't even hot yet!!
This is the kind of distress that induces napping, but after I woke up I started thinking.
I tried to tap into some pioneer mentality (or, more accurately, if you climb back up my family tree, some Native American Indian mentality) and figure out how to cope now that it was too expensive to leave home (gas) AND too expensive to stay at home.
The only big source of electricity besides our air conditioner could only be the dryer. What to do, what to do? Hang the clothes up to dry? WHERE? How? Hmm.
Eureka! THE solution to our energy problem: we wear wet clothes. Are you kidding me with how perfect this is: wet clothes, we stay cooler, less air conditioning, no dryer. Brilliant.
You're welcome and you're welcome. Follow my lead, lucky readers; we can name this trend after ourselves.
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11 comments:
You may be onto something there!!! I'm willing to give it a try. :-D
It is frustrating to have energy costs go up and the price of gas is obscene. I tend to get anxious about it, so I have to constantly remind myself that this isn't my home. I lean even harder into Him as my source of comfort and peace. :o)
Well said, Amy!
And I actually agree with Phil Gramm - I think we are a nation of whiners; I know we've got it GOOD, regardless of gas and electricity prices.
But women are gonna vent. . .
We are a nation of whiners. I agree!!
Bravo! A solution to the price of utilities.
sourpatch
I feel your pain. Our utilities went up 50% last year. It has really been a huge adjustment.
I love this idea! I think you may be on to something. Do you think the rest of the family will be on board?
MSM,
I saw your comments and thought I would try to get some more info from you. If your consumption stayed the same and the bill went up, then something is definitely not right. One suggestion I have is to sign up for MLGW's My Account feature at mlgw.com. With it, you can do detailed bill analysis, comparing your current bill with previous months or the same month last year. It also tells you why your bill has gone up or down. And it's free, which is important these days. We realize that yesterday's news wouldn't be received well, but feel that we have to get our customers ready for what's ahead. It's also important to point out that the 30% figure doesn't come from us -- it's an estimate from the Department of Energy. Find out more at their site at http://www.eia.doe.gov/. My post is getting too long -- I unwillingly tested out your wet clothes theory last night when my 2-year-old decided to dump bathwater on my head. You may be on to something...
This whole situation just became less unpleasant since hearing from MLGW GLEN - I appreciate your explanation, suggestion, and unwitting experiment of my idea!
Who'd have thought that the utility company was paying attention to us? :)
And Jen - I'm still working on the fam getting on board; but maybe if I tell them it's either food or dry pants. . .
You are a nut, but I like the way you think! ;-Þ
I seriously do wet my head when I'm feeling overly hot. I then sit in front of the fan. Like you, I try and keep my thermostat at 74 degrees. I even turn it up higher when I know we'll be gone a few hours. The dog is overly cold natured, anyway, so she thanks me for that.
Since I spend the majority of my time in front of the computer (bad, I know), we bought a new super duper high blowing fan which I can adjust to tilt up toward me.
It's made by Stanley (tools) and is actually considered a shop model, but after getting hubby to take three separate fans out of their boxes at Wal-Mart so I could compare to see which blew the most air at me, this one won, hands down.
It was nearly double the cost of the other fans, but hubby knew he'd better keep this menopausal, hot flash having, Mama happy for the sake of his own happiness. ;-)
We are trying to communicate with customers any way we can, including the blogosphere! We also have a lot more conservation and green info on our blog at www.mlgw.blogspot.com. Please let me know if you have any future questions or comments.
Glen Thomas,
Supervisor, Communications & PR
MLGW
Glen,
Thanks for commenting here- I am in Memphis as well and just knowing that you guys are trying to hear what people have to say actually makes me feel better about paying my bill!
I now have the MLGW blog on my google reader to check out!
MSM, through our times of not having a dryer, we have bought retractable clotheslines and attached them to our back deck. There is a screw-in hook that we screwed into a tree nearby. When we need/want to hang out towels or other items, then we pull out our clothesline to do so. It does take more time, and the things you hang out do not stay soft and fluffy as they would in the dryer(I do not use a fabric softener- allergies)but it can save some money on the power bill. (not to mention..your house doesn't heat up as much if the dryer isn't running.)
We also use wooden racks and hang things over the bathtub too. It may look like hillbilly hideaway at times when everything is hanging around inside and out-but hey...its OK, I am in NC after all ;)
I teased my family I was going to run one of the clotheslines through the living room and they groaned LOL
I am one of those that cannot stand the heat either, and I melt if the temperatures inside my house go too high...but with higher costs for everything-I may have to sacrifice a bit of that comfort to stay within our means.
Here in NC we've been in a nice rain/cloud/not so terribly hot cycle for a few weeks now and I have no complaints about the high 80's/low 90's and lots of nice rain. (because I know it can and probably will get a LOT worse before it gets better in the fall temp wise)
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