The Electricity Monster and the Saran-Wrapped Windows.

Last year, my cousin Jason left to serve our country in Afghanistan. As I was the only one left in the apartment, I inherited the electricity bill. Suddenly, I started thinking about things that I had taken for granted. I knew that CFL bulbs used less electricity, and that heating a house takes electricity, but I had never *really* thought about it. I guess paying for something is a good way to get someone to appreciate something.

Long story short: I went on a year-long quest to reduce my electricity bill.

I switched all the light bulbs to CFLs. I turned down the temperature on the water heater. I did my laundry using cold water. I turned off the water heater completely if I left for more than 3 days. I turned the heat in the apartment down. (Way down.) I put empty containers in my fridge and freezer. And I saran-wrapped my windows . . . .

I first learned about saran-wrapped windows in Minnesota. 3M sells a special film which you wrap around your windows, then you use a blow dryer to make it tight. The film acts as an extra insulator; well, not the film but the air between the film and your window. Or if you have drafty windows, it blocks the draft.

At Lowe's, I found a similar kit for wrapping my windows. I figured the cost would at least be worth the experience and the experiment.




The apartment has a lot of windows. Big windows. Plus the huge patio door. In the end, I needed 3 kits for everything in the apartment.

I started with the window in the left of the picture.

Oh no! It looks really tacky! Just like ... saran wrap!










Ten minutes later, after using a blow dryer. I guess that's why we need the special film!









All the windows and the patio door are now wrapped. (You can see the "saran wrap" running along the bottom of the patio door.)

From Electricity bill

And how did all of this affect our electricity bill? We saved a ton! (Compare JAN 2009 to JAN 2010.)

Actually, I suspect that most of the savings were from simply turning down the heat. However, the wrapping helped keep the little remaining heat inside and the nasty wind outside.

From Saran-wrapping windows

I wrapped even our bay window! (I didn't need any of the stuff in there, anyway.)