Here is our update for 2010. We did not do so well in 2010 and regressed back to some of our wasteful ways. It is quite a let down to lose some of the ground we have covered over the last couple of years. We are planning on really cracking down on the simple things in 2011 to get back to where we were at the end of 2008. Even though this year was bad compared to 2009, we are still way ahead of where we were in 2006.
Electricity Usage:
| Month | kwh | Cost | Avg. kwh* | Avg. Cost* |
| January | 690 | $90.46 | 585 | $71.56 |
| February | 668 | $87.80 | 589 | $72.83 |
| March | 513 | $68.72 | 598 | $74.53 |
| April | 518 | $69.34 | 594 | $74.67 |
| May | 465 | $64.49 | 590 | $74.95 |
| June | 532 | $74.16 | 590 | $75.79 |
| July | 1458 | $185.27 | 662 | $85.12 |
| August | 1027 | $135.07 | 701 | $90.53 |
| September | 709 | $97.08 | 716 | $93.14 |
| October | 586 | $82.20 | 722 | $94.73 |
| November | 696 | $95.39 | 722 | $95.51 |
| December | 799 | $112.30 | 722 | $96.86 |
* This is the monthly average over the previous 12 month period.
As you can see, we lost a lot of ground this year. The summer was hotter than normal, and we ran the air condition quite a bit. The fact that my wife was pregnant made us regulate the indoor temperature a little more than normal. So how bad was the set back, our electric usage increased by 28.5% (562 kwh to 722 kwh) and our costs jumped 42.6% ($68 to $97). So not only did we increase our usage, we were also hit with a huge increase in the electricity rates from our utility. I knew our electric bill seemed higher, but I had no idea that it had increased that much.
The only consolation that we have from last year is the fact that we are still way under where we started. Our electric usage is still down 39.8% (1200 kwh to 722 kwh) and our electric bill by 11.1% ($108 to $96) from 2006. It is scary to see that even with a 40% reduction in usage we are almost back up to the same costs as in 2006. Electric rates have increase by 32% since 2006, which makes us glad we are now using a lot less electricity.
Natural Gas Usage:
| Month | CCF | Cost | Avg. CCF | Avg. Cost |
| January | 304 | $336.30 | 114 | $117.45 |
| February | 310 | $313.93 | 123 | $127.84 |
| March | 235 | $224.43 | 128 | $133.66 |
| April | 119 | $101.11 | 125 | $130.90 |
| May | 75 | $70.38 | 126 | $131.44 |
| June | 27 | $39.03 | 127 | $131.78 |
| July | 21 | $35.92 | 127 | $132.43 |
| August | 21 | $35.92 | 127 | $133.10 |
| September | 27 | $37.49 | 128 | $133.74 |
| October | 29 | $39.20 | 129 | $134.33 |
| November | 77 | $66.33 | 129 | $133.11 |
| December | 309 | $237.47 | 130 | $128.13 |
* This is the monthly average over the previous 12 month period.
Just like our electric usage, our natural gas usage went up for 2010. Our gas usage increase by 17.1% (111 CCF to 130 CCF) and our costs increase 14.3% ($112 to $128) . Unlike the electric rates, the natural gas rates in our area dropped considerably in 2010. This provided some offset to our increased usage. This current winter has been extremely cold and long, so I am not sure how much we are going to be able to lower our usage in 2011.
Even with the increased usage and costs we are still way ahead of 2006: we have reduced our monthly gas usage by 36.6% (205 CCF to 130 CCF) and our natural gas costs by 53.6% ($276 to $128.)
Overall since 2006, our average monthly energy costs have dropped by 41.7% ($384 to $224.) It is surprising that even after we took huge steps backwards in are goal to reduce energy costs, we are still saving more than our original 40% goal. This just proves that saving energy is not as hard as it seems. It only takes some simple changes in behaviors to get huge returns.
From this point on, we will be providing updates on a monthly bases (comparing year over year progress.) Our goal for this year is to get back down to our usage levels from 2009.
