This is why we conserve...

A $357 power bill.

Okay, here's the situation. We live in a flat that's about 80 years old, but was probably renovated in the last 15-20 years (or so it appears). It's winter here, with lows in the 30s and highs in the 40s. Given that, does a $357 bill seem reasonable?

I really don't know. This isn't a cry for help either - Butler gives us money for our share of power bills, and it should be fine. In fact, it's a $387 bill, but we get 10% off if we pay by a certain date. That equates to $282 US, by the way, or $70.50 US per person for the month. I guess I never really realized how much power costs? Maybe 14.664 cents per kWh (10.7 cents US) is normal...I can't say (and my appreciation for my parents paying the bills has certainly grown).

Anyway, I've already looked into more energy conservation strategies. By changing all of the 100 bulbs in the flat to their CFL equivalents, we would save about $30 a month alone. There are possibly other things we could do, but the weather is a real bitch as far as energy-saving alternatives go. Line drying would be a big help, but it's too cold and damp at times for that to be efficient (I've succeeded once with it). With more sunlight, of course, we wouldn't need to use the heater as much either - despite the fact that it's pretty efficient (6 kW of heat per 1 kW of power) which we set at about 64 degrees when we're in the living room, something that could be lowered I suppose. We already wash our clothes with cold water, which is good. Besides these things, there's not much else we, as temporary flatters, can do. Efficient, quality insulation and good seals around doors would do wonders, but we have little control over such things.

I know this may have turned into a disjointed rant, but in short, I suppose I don't understand why people won't try to conserve energy, if not for the environment, then at least for their wallets.