Electricity

5/13/2014

When we moved into our house in 1986, our electric company, in their infinite wisdom, decided that all homes in our area should have a time and use meter for electricity.  Our power bill in the winter is mere peanuts compared to this time of year.

The time and use meter says that our electricity is almost free from 6:00 am (or thereabouts) until noon.  From noon until 8:00 pm, we pay a premium (with a capital P) rate for our power.  Obviously, during the summer time, I run the dishwasher and washer either early in the morning or after 8:00 pm.  We strive for, but don't always succeed, to use as little extra electricity during the peak hours during the day.  This year, in particular, we are trying to not turn on the a/c and have it run all day, it's just too expensive.  We have ceiling fans in most rooms as well as other fans that, during the day, keep the air moving enough so that you aren't sweating - at leas too much!

I can do the high temperature in the house during the day, but at night, I want the bedroom to be ice cold.  I just can't sleep when I'm hot and so spend much of the night tossing and turning.  All the heavy winter blankets are off the bed, but there is still Sam and Maggie, who no matter what the temperature is, want to be right up alongside of us, which is nice, but they are very hot.

This morning I took shredded zucchini from the freezer and made a cake, before noon, for us to enjoy later this evening while we search to find something decent to watch on TV.

I have always said that I would rather be cold any day of the week, rather than be hot.  If you're cold you can always put on a sweater, but once you're hot, there are only so many clothes you can take off!

Since the back of our house faces west, around noon each day I close all the blinds on the back, to keep the sun from absolutely radiating through those rooms.

I hope it's cool where you are.

P