ive actually had someone come into my home years back to do just that a energy audit..i was told this..dryers ..ceiling fans ..aquariums..refrigerators ****with tons of magnets on them are major energy gulpers and now i assume so are the new HDMI tv's also some appliances that say **energy efficient have been discovered to be fraudulent and the system is now cracking down on them...i was also told computers dont use that much again these were the older ones with the older type of monitors not the flat panels which again i assume eat more electricity..thats why i always shut down.

oh one more thing..if you have a electric hot water heater that has a insulating wrap on it..you can actually if you have a small household where the hot water isnt being constantly used..**turn it off at your power box..and will save a CONSIDERABLE amount of electricity by turning it on a half hour before you need to shower or do laundry etc. and when done turn off again as the insulating wrap keeps the water quite warm for several hours.

Apparently dryers use up a whopping 20% of all household electrical usage according to some studies. So especially if you have an older dryer, it is amazing how much electricity they use up. Remember, they're one of the only appliances in your house (other than your stove) that probably uses the double-strength 240 plug. New flat monitors definitely use far less electricity than the older giant tube models! :) From CNET.com - " …the approximate cost of using the LCD 24 hours a day is $3.74 per month. If you use this device for three years, the extended power cost for the life of the device would be $134.78. By comparison, if you had a CRT device consuming 90 watts with the same usage requirements, its monthly power consumption would be $6.48, and its three-year usage cost would be $233.68. So simply using the LCD device for the same requirement over three years of 24-hour usage would give a savings of nearly $100. In locations with high energy costs (such as California), this savings can exceed $130 over the three-year term (assuming a $0.14 rate)." You can tell that just from the heat those old nasty monitors put out!

I don't have a washer or dryer, but i like Illusive's idea of wrapping the heater and turning it off at night. Mine is propane, though, so i guess that won't help me either. We do turn off the propane and the blower at night and just run a tiny space heater in the bedroom.

We also have a propane stove.

I don't have any more aquariums. [sad]

So why is my electric bill so high? Lisa, i heard you on your bill, but usually out in AZ my electric bill is only $30 a month. So something is being wasted here.

No washer, no dryer. Propane water heater. Propane stove. Compact florescent lighting. Thin screen monitors. No game systems. No stereos. We have a toaster, fridge, microwave, crockpot, space heater and DVD player. My treadmill is still in storage.

I am starting to think it's the propane heat blower.

Illusive, what is that about magnets on fridges? Should I take the magnets down? I've never heard that.

Hi Jilly. There are other things you can check. Look at your refrigerator door seals. Are they clean? Are they torn? Are they in line with the other seals? See if the door closes tightly.

Make sure that (on the back of frig) you keep that area as clean an possible. no cobwebs and dust and things that get stuck in there. And keep the "coils" clean.

Refrigerators use a LOT of electricity!
Also try to put your frig in a place where it will not be hot. It will have to work harder, using the compressor a lot more.

I've heard that televisions use a lot of electricity.

And I've heard that something about the wiring in a house making it use more. Some houses use more lightbulbs than others. But I do not know why that is. I just know a couple things from doing make-readys.

a space heater will eat electricity but im glad to know the more modern flat screen monitors take less phewwwww.

Magnets on a fridge cause it to run more and as mentioned make sure there is no dust behind or in front down the bottom as that will also cause it to run a lot and what are the settings on your freezer/fridge.

It may also be the blower ive no knowledge of that..what about fans do you run any..also anything your not using ..unplug when you dont use as even tho say like the toaster your not using it if it is plugged in its drawing electricity same with lamps if not turned on they still use electricity so unplug everything not being used and plug in when you need them.

Do you have automatic outside lighting that maybe coming on when it doesnt need too? Do you have old wiring or circuit breakers?

Do you run a dishwasher a lot if you have one?

Jilly - do you have an electric meter on your house? One of those spinny things that turns around and shows you how much electricity you're using, in real time?

Illusive, I don't have a dishwasher or automatic lighting. There is a floor fan my hubby needs to have on at night to sleep.

I think i will take down the magnets and clean the underside and back of my fridge, and see to my seals, as you and Tweetymom suggest.

I do try to unplug things like appliances when not in use, but it also annoys the hubby for daily use items. So i compromise with occasional use items.

Yes on the old wiring. Old as in 1970s. I think there must be a circuit breaker. Have not looked.

Dinah, what is a make-ready?

Lisa, i have to wait for the rains to stop and the yard to dry up a bit before walking around the house. It's a quagmire. But I will take a look when things dry up a tad!

On the plugging and unplugging of items I can see the concern about the cords getting pulled out a bit from having to put them in and out of the sockets. So in that case I'd hook up a power strip with an on-off button. That way it can be turned off - saving electricity - but turning them on is just one button push. So that makes it easy and not a pain.