You know the commercials that remind kids to save electricity? Something will be left on by a child. A friendly parent or character will remind the child to do the electricity saving act. The child will smile and claim he/she understands. From then on, he/she will be vigilant to save electricity.
NOT IN MY HOUSE
To quote Dikembe Mutumbo, “not in my house. “
In my house, that friendly smiling parent, would have a vein popping out of his/her head as they remind the child for the 1000th freaken time about the electricity sucking behavior that the child allowed to happen.
Seriously, I’m on 24/7 patrol. The entire house is my beat. I’m looking for electricity that’s being used unnecessarily.I will save electricity.
It could be a light left on. It could be a television that was never turned off. It could be a computer that was never fully shut down. It could be a radio that continues to broadcast. It may be a charger that remains in the wall even after the item it was charging was removed. It could be a refrigerator that is left open.
All these things happen in my house – SO VERY OFTEN!
ANGRY
And it annoys the heck out of me. I literally start growling like a Rottweiler whose food is being messed with.
Yes, it’s about the electricity. Yes, it’s about the money. Yes, it’s about waste. I hate waste.
True story. When my father would see the door was left open when the air conditioner was on, he would say, what do you think this is a barn? I’m not quite sure what a barn has to do with empty or shut doors. I do know he like the door to be shut.
SUCH A WASTE
There’s a scene in the move Christmas Vacation, Clark (Chevy Chase) has just put up the Christmas lights. His house has a ridiculous amount of lights on it. They then flash to the electric meter and it’s spinning like an out of control top.
(Check out the meters at 2:08)
That’s what I imagine when I walk my beat and see the electricity being used wastefully. I particularly get these feelings in summer and winter. After all, you have the air conditioner or heater running – depending on the season – non-stop. Well, that’s life living in this climate. But when you have the waste added on top.
Breathe MMK breathe.
Okay, I’m back. I’m calm.
The first winter my family and I lived in our house, one electricity bill was $800. What the …? I did a double take ala Wile E Coyote when he thought he had the Roadrunner. Now, I live in an average size house (approx. 1800 square feet) and thought this had to be a mistake. It wasn’t. Before the next winter, we did some work in our attic, and the bill never got that high again.
TRYING TO SAVE ELECTRICITY
Now if I could just get my boys on board and turn off the electricity when they are not using it, the electricity bill would be even less scary. We could save the planet. My blood pressure would be consistent. Of course, I’d have to find another way to exercise cause I wouldn’t have to walk the beat. I’m willing to make that trade-off.
So, any suggestions on how to get kids to turn off electricity? Just don’t send me those annoying commercials.
picture is courtesy of Flickr
I feel your pain. My kids are terrible! My ex was worse. If he was home alone with the kids at night EVERY light in the house was on, upstairs and downstairs. When he left my hydro (electricity) bill dropped by $100 a month. I wonder how much I’ll save when the kids move out….or start turning things off.
Based on this, would you judge me negatively if I started charging my kids for electricity? It might prove a motivator.
You’re going to be a rich empty-nester one day!
$800 for the electric bill? Do you have an electric heating system, or does that bill (like ours) include the electric and natural gas?
That’s a horrible amount of money!
It was insane. I had to sit down. I literally questioned home ownership.
I fight the same battle in my house each day. No good solutions yet, but I am working on it. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything.
Okay Jack. I’m waiting. Hit me when you got it. I’ll send you 1/2 the savings from the 1st month.
This is the one thing (of many) I will not miss about my ex. She grew up with a silver spoon up her ass and money wasn’t something her family was concerned with. In 13 years of marriage and now 7 years with my daughter I’ve turned blue in the face getting on both of them about turning lights off etc… I feel your pain good luck!
Thanks for the empathy.