Our observations are that anything that has a heating or cooling element uses the most power, that's where most of our attention is now focused on finding savings.
Can't do a great deal about the fridge and the freezer. Denise buys cheap quality meat from the local abattoir shop, cuts it all up and freezes it, we save heaps!
We have split cycle air conditioning but that won't fire up until the weather changes significantly! But I can see that we will need to be very careful with it.
Denise has now been convinced that the clothes dryer is a huge trap. It used to go for what seemed like hours on end!
She's added an extra bit of rope to the clothes line out the back, and is actually using the solar clothes dryer!
When the off peak issue is sorted she agrees that doing the washing on the weekend will be the go.
I must confess that putting the Watts Clever monitor in the kitchen has been a master stroke, Denise looks at it every time she walks past and talks about the changes she will have to make. It's really got her thinking about the problem, she can see that there might be more shopping money in prospect!
Previously, I would say something about saving electricity and she would just shake her head and ignore me. She's even got rid of the electric alarm clock beside the bed!
Getting the outside lights turned off permanently will never happen, but Denise is much more aware now of the cost of using them, and they only go on when absolutely necessary. Wish I could get the message across to the neighbors up the hill!
Cheers
Chris