I love it when a plan comes together

[elizilla]

Back on June 21 I located the culprit behind our high electric bills. The old dehumidifier was consuming 2/3 of the electricity coming into the house. I replaced it.

I just got an electric bill covering the first full month since I replaced the dehumidifier. For the first time since I've been monitoring this, our electric bill is lower than the average similar household. Usually it has been about 50% higher. The bill has dropped by about the amount I predicted after the first few days of measuring the new dehumidifier's power consumption, averaging 8 or 9 kwh lower per day.

I expect the new dehumidifier to pay for itself in under a year.

This power metering gadget is a nice tool!

Comments

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

We unplugged the downstairs freezer for similar reasons. (I had hoped to buy a whole pig or cow, but never did; it was full with other stuff for a while, but not now.) I am waiting for this month's bill to arrive to see if it dropped. Given that we haven't run the central A/C at all, it should be a lot lower than last year. (We have run the window A/C in the computer room, but not often.)

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

Is the power metering gadget something one borrows (like from DTE) or one buys? Where? My dehumidifier is in the range of 10 to 16 years old.

[elizilla]

I bought it. If you want me to lend it to you, let me know.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

I might want to borrow that to check a couple things.

[elizilla]

Sure, anytime. The way it works, is you plug it into the wall, then plug your device into it. Leave it plugged in for a day or three, and see how much power gets used. It took me a while to work my way down to the dehumidifier, but I'm satisfied now that I have found the culprit. From here on out I'll probably just use it occasionally to check new computers or whatnot. So I can spare the meter to you for a couple weeks if you like.