Since the Ontario Liberal Government installed their Smart Metres and "Time of Use" Rates we have done everything possible to only use our electricity during Off-Peak hours..... usually from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am. We have been able to keep our Hydro Bills around $200 per month.
But recently the Liberal government again announced that they were going to raise the Off-Peak rates to 8.7 cents per KW Hr. This does not seem like a lot, but when you consider the fact that these "Off-peak" rates have climbed from 2.7 cents in 2008 to 8.7 watts this October it equates to a 222% Increase. And that is a lot.
We started to hear stories of people's Hydro Bills going above $500/month. Some as high as $1,200/mo.
In fact the Liberal Government has decided to penalize those that are working hardest to reduce their consumption, those of us trying our best to only use Power during Off-Peak times.
At the moment we only run our Washing Machine, Dryer, Dish Washer, and AC after 9:00 pm, on weekends or Holidays. We wanted to also change all of our Light bulbs from 25 or 40 Watts to the new 3 and 6 watt LED Light bulbs. But the cost of these Light bulbs was ridiculous, until recently. So in September I changed every Light bulb to a 6 Watt LED. (40 Watt Equivalent)
Watch for Sales on these 6 watt - 40 Watt Equivalent Light bulbs at Canadian Tire, Loblaws or even Amazon.ca (Pack of 10)
B-right 10 Pack 5W LED Bulbs, 400lm, 40W Incandescent Bulb Equivalent .. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B016KAKVG6/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_hA3oybFESJ5H6
See the chart below - The Right hand side shows our October and November Usage. The results are quite dramatic..... This October we had our Consumption down to 554 HW Hrs. This is for a 2,000 sq Ft home & family of 4. We used $62.39 of Electricity and with Delivery Charges, other fees and Taxes our October Hydro Bill was $107. I'll post our November Usage and Bill on Dec 1st.
