Windmills for power generation

[asavage]

I've got my electric down to $36 a month.

I'm impressed. I don't do laundry at home, heat water with propane, and don't own a television; I run about $24/mo. (max = $35 in the coldest weather) and we have "cheap" hydro power here.

Three computers (1G, 1G, 5M), loaded to run at 100% at all times, run 24/7. They're also a major portion of my space heating, so turning them off does not mean I save power, I'd just have to increase my other electric heater duty cycle to compensate, at least in winter.

[davehoos]

my power bill is aprox $75 month average..
water heating is off peak.

we have TV computor etc etc,ceiling fans.water pump 2 freezers and electric stove.my mother house has gas heating and cooking this drops the power bill.

i have a wood heater that heats half house.electric oil radiator used in winter in childrens room..but it not that cold here.wood is free i have to collect it of the farm from dead trees..

[glenlloyd]

I don't leave lights on unnecessarily except for two outside lights, one std. low energy use bulb at the back door that's on all night, and the big dusk-to-dawn yard light which has a sodium bulb. My cloths dryer is electric, and it's old, but it works and it's very simple so I don't replace it since I can service it myself.

Furnace is old (1980?) but I don't ask it for much, I keep the temp low in the winter. This past winter I shut off one of its four burners just as a test and it still performed fine...reduced my natural gas consumption by a chunk. Still needs to be replaced though, maybe this year but again I hate to because I can fix it myself.

Problem is that the house is all masonry so it's an oven in the summer and difficult to heat in the winter. It was 10 years ago this coming summer that I first got central air.

steve a