Meter maid

Monitoring our meter is one sure way of being super conscious of our electricity usage.  We used to use up to 18 units a day, but just this week we have managed to halve that, and I am so pleased.  Making a regular date in the diary to read the meter and submit the reading online has made me very aware of our usage, and made me put in that little bit more effort to reduce our usage.  Our direct debit has been reduced to £50 a month, but we are actually not using that much electricity so I shall be able to claim a rebate from the power company at intervals, because that is as low as they are able to set their direct debits.

Walking around the house and turning off appliances on standby, not leaving the phone chargers on any longer than necessary, never leaving the tv on standby, making the laptop hibernate or turning it off properly when I am going to be leaving it for some time, using low-energy light bulbs, not using the oven much at all and making sure it is full when we do use it, and just washing full loads of laundry.  When we have a casserole or a joint of meat, it  has become simple to pop it in the slow cooker, and enjoy the aroma of the cooking all day!  Froogs has had plenty of slow cooker recipes on her blog this month, so do hop over to Frugal Queen and have a look.  I have my eye on a recipe for pulled pork which I think that the EFG will enjoy when she is home.

Sadly, the biggest difference is the people who are not here, and the greatest impact on the usage is actually the fact that there are just the two of us here now.  I do expect a spike in the electricity usage when the EFG is home at Christmas.  It will be worth it to have her home for nearly a month, though!