Re: dead battery

On 21 Jan 2008 10:10:35 -0500, Allan Adler <ara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

They charge me for a certain amount of gas whether I use it or not,
while for electricity they only charge me for what I use. So, it makes
sense to use at least some gas, from the standpoint of cost.

If you cook for yourself in a microwave, you can cook your meal in the
same dish you will eat it from. If you cook on a stove, you have to use
pots and pans and then you also have to wash them, instead of just washing
one dish. I use hot water to wash dishes, so they have to burn coal to
produce heat to heat the water I use to wash dishes, and the more dishes
and pots and pans I wash, the more coal I use. On the other hand, maybe
they will burn the same amount of coal no matter how many dishes I wash.

Yes there is that. Here I have nothing but electric so I don't use
gas. They charge me a distribution fee even if I use no electricity.
I cook outdoors with wood and charcoal when I can.

There's lots of foods that just don't taste good in a microwave - I
should mention that I cook real food - not frozen food or foods that
come in boxes - as a rule. Can't make a decent stir-fry chicken and
vegetables with rice without using a stove . . .

I have cut my bill in half by taking some extreme measures. I put a
switch on the water heater with two pilot lights to tell me when it is
turned on and when it is actually heating water. For a shower I have
to preheat water for 6-10 minutes in winter (I set a timer to tell me
when it is hot enough) and 3 in summer then shower with the heat on in
winter (added a very low flow shower head - it actually heats water
faster than I can use it) Finished showering and I turn it off.
Leaving it on 24/7 and it runs for ~50 minutes a day, using a switch
cuts that to 20 minutes or less a day. That change saves about 60
cents a day or $18/month. My bill is ~$22-25 a month so water heat is
one big savings.

Everything else gets cold water except dishes and for that I heat the
water in a large "bain marie" (big stainless steel pot) on the stove.
By doing that, I save the water it takes heating the pipes to carry
water from the water heater (which isn't that hot since it is turned
off) to the sink, and can bring the temperature up if it falls while
washing dishes -dishes go in the bain marie along with the wash water.

all the little wall wart type power supplies and things that don't
really turn off have switches on them - computer printer, VCR,
electronic typewriter, etc..

almost all the lights are compact fluorescent types - if I run it more
than an hour a day it is a fluorescent lamp.

I did go around with an ammeter and used a spread*** to calculate
how much each appliance costs to run - so if I bake bread I can factor
in the cost of the electricity as well as the ingredients. I can get
a dozen rolls out for ~60 cents - versus 1.20 for day old store bought
rolls.

I don't really know how to compute these things. I have a similar problem
with economics: goods and services get translated into dollars or some
other currency, and then the different currencies have different relative
values which are always changing, so I don't know whether it is meaningful
to speak of making or saving money.

Its possible to save quite a bit of money by rationing energy use but
it practically has to be an obsession to do it.
--
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