This is a true story about a home with SMECO service in SOMD
One way you can lower your electric bill (we did) is with a monitoring device similar to this – The Emporia Gen 3 Smart Home Energy Monitor.
The images in this post (except the Amazon product link) are from this very example. Check the time stamps on the Screen shots and the image info for dates.
- SAFETY YOU CAN TRUST WITH UL CERTIFICATION: With Emporia Energy, your home energy monitoring is safe, reliable, and cert…
- INSTALLS IN CIRCUIT PANEL of most homes with clamp-on sensors. Supports Single phase, Single-split phase, and 2-wire sys…
- 24/7 ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING: Automate, manage and control your home’s real power anywhere, anytime to prevent …
Heres the deal, yes I happen to be an Amazon Affiliate and I will get a commission for any purchases I suggest at no additional cost to you however this post topic is a HUGE interest of mine.
My wife and I relocated to MD 5 years ago. All our same devices, frig, tvs, etc – we brought with us and SMECO cost considerably more (Obnoxiously more to be clear) to run per month than our previous residence.
You gotta lower your electric bill and you can
That said, we got an estimate to replace our outdated electrical panel and power throughout the dwelling. Then 2 of my neighbors suggested this particular monitor from Emporia. He told me that is how he charges only for the electricity exclusively used by his workshop that his buddy has sole use of. No questions about the bill – no “dirty math” -Bush Sr.
I’m just sayin, We were able to identify what devices used the most electricity in real time. I set the meter to show the actual cost of the power usage down to the second.
Its the little things
I found running the dish washer at the same time as taking a shower resulted in a reduction as we have a 20 year old electric tank water heater. The hot water heater draining at once seemed to reduce the amount of time the heater was on and the total power in a month it used. (empty -refill -be there for rando short needs – hand wash etc.)
We have since installed an on demand LP water heater. Its installed and all the lines have been run to bypass the current electric tank water heater. Its not tied in yet. The current heater is still operational, then the holidays, then the polar cap shifted to MD for the month of January. BUT its in, ready, and on standby for the call.
We used a clothes line for a good portion of clothes. We got a rack to hang dry the unmentionables in our bedroom/bathroom.
We watched live real time stats that showed an older TV in the kitchen used more power by the second than a 1200 watt microwave running for a minute.
St. Marys County has some OLD 100+ year old homes
Being aware of the little things can lower your electric bill. We had been on the Estimated Bill program with SMECO for 2 years at $361 per month.
Have you ever seen a negative SMECO power bill? Me either … but here we are killin it with no SMECO bill for EIGHT MONTHS!
Check the dates on the text messages from SMECO. – 14 months after monitoring the power consumption of the outlets we made adjustments along the way in usage and load balancing (draw power from multiple circuits by moving devices or using properly rated extension cords for low voltage devises/appliances). We found a single breaker was supplying power to 2 living room walls and 2 dining room walls. That lil bit of info was very helpful. A single third floor outlet was found to share the breaker with the kitchen stove/oven.
Finding and correcting or minimally, mitigating these things went miles in cutting our consumption. In the context of the power we’re using: its a 2200sq ft home built in 1919.
- Single Pellet Stove heats the house (we did use space heaters during that long January freeze we just had).
- Items we have powered on 24/7 include:
- 8 flat screen TVs 75in, 65in, 55in, 46inx3, 42inx2, 32in
- 3 laptop computers 24/7
- porch, kitchen, deck, bathroom, stairwell lights on 24/7
- Whole house Well water pump.
And all the other miscellaneous rando devices, appliances plus additional induction cook tops and elect oil fryers for weekly food/drink gatherings with neighbors and friends.
So in closing, yes I am an Amazon Affiliate site However, the proof is in the paint here – and as a former business owner monitoring power like this can tell so much more and even help predict what your going to be fixing or replacing next. For example, you notice the water heater, heat pump or AC using more power but otherwise operating normally. Thats a clear indication that somethings up, the unit isn’t happy. Minimally, this additional information can help you make more informed decisions when prioritizing home improvements or upgrades.
