The first full month I was hooked up to AP&T’s grid, I used 91-kilowatt hours. Then I went to the Middle East to work – mostly to recoup the expense of hooking up. While I was gone, a very frugal young woman stayed at home to mind the plants and animals. Her usage was extraordinary: 50, 40, and a “high” of 67 kilowatts a month in December, which, probably can be chalked up to my return Jan. 4. (The usage period included 13 days in January.)
I left my house sitter with all toys in place: refrigerator, answering machine, stereo, freezer, AC pump in the well, blender, mixer, TV/DVD player, vacuum, washer, dryer, and of course, lights which are exclusively CFLs. Clearly, my house sitter was not an energy hog. Alas, I am.
It’s true that I have installed a few new – and, ahem, “essential” – electronics. I have added a microwave, a laser printer, an “airport” for wireless Internet, and a DSL router.
What’s going on? Well, I haven’t been minding my watts; nor have I been doggedly turning lights and appliances off like my house sitter must have been; like folks in Juneau certainly are.
Sierra Kaden, a former Juneauite, now happily transplanted to Haines, sent me an Excel spreadsheet of the wattage of appliances and the cost of operation per hour at Juneau’s new rate: $.54 per kilowatt hour (KWH). Trusting that the wattages are at least in the ballpark for the appliances (no brand names are given), a friend made a version of the spreadsheet using Haines rates, with and without the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) Credit. Our base rate is $0.2304 per KWH. The PCE program drops our rate down to $0.0846. (Juneau is not in the Power Cost Equalization Program.)
Here are some estimated per hour costs from the spreadsheet. If you would like the complete Haines spreadsheet, please email me and I will send it to you (sscott@aptalaska.net).
Coffeemaker, automatic brew-cycle, 880 watts per hour @$0.13/hour
Coffeemaker, drip brew-cycle, 1500 watts per hour @ $0.22/hour
Freezer (16.cu.ft) manual defrost, 333 watts per hour @$0.05/per hour
Refrigerator, new (14 cu.ft), 130 watts per hour @ $0.02/per hour
Microwave, 1000 watts per hour @ $0.15/per hour
Range, 12,000 watts per hour @ $1.75/hour
Toaster, 1100 watts per hour @ $0.22/hour
Clothes Dryer, 5000 watts per hour @ $0.73/hour
Television, color, 120 watts per hour @ $.02/hour
Computer, 120 watts per hour @ $0.02/hour
Considering that refrigerators, freezers, and answering machines run 24/7, my house sitter’s frugality is even more amazing. My personal best in kilowatt usage is 122. To get back there, I need to shave 29% off of this past month’s usage. Why bother? Well, for one, it’s fun. I’ve always loved those Timex challenges – you know, how fast can you do this or that. I’m one of those people who sets a timer to see how many wheelbarrow loads of wood I can bring in 20 minutes. But there’s another, more serious, reason.
I hooked up to the grid September 2006 because I thought that AP&T was hydro. I traded in my solar panels, my huge lead-acid batteries (I couldn’t even move them), my 5 KW Northern Lights Diesel generator for a cleaner, more environmentally responsible power source. Silly me. I feel very very foolish. Right now, this very minute, 50% of the electricity I am using is being generated from costly, polluting (both air and noise) diesel. So I am determined to do my part by using as little power as I can. If everyone were to take on a similar challenge, maybe AP&T could satisfy more of our demand with its presently limited hydro capacity, thus using less and less diesel. Let's see, exactly what is in our control? The level of Goat Lake? Probably not. The level of our consumption? Probably so. When Goat Lake is low we can either put on diesel, or use less electricity. Which will it be? Even without considering the impact of diesel emissions on climate, the soaring cost of diesel pretty much makes the answer obvious.
I am inspired by Juneau. Juneauites have cut demand by 20%. Admittedly, they are motivated. There is a world of difference between eight cents (Haines) and 54-cents (Juneau) per kilowatt hour. We are so lucky. But that is no reason to be piggy about power. I am going to try to slim down.