We saved $1500 during the past 12 months on our power bills. It wasn't that hard to do.

We invested in a mid-size Energy Star fridge, replacing our 20 yr old fridge that ran constantly. We replaced our washing machine with an energy-star front-loader. We stopped using electric heat in the living room and kept the wood-stove burning instead.

Our power bill went down from $160 to $75 once we had done these steps. We were then able to cut the bill in half once more, to $35....read more to learn how.

Skeptical? See our last power bill attached, showing 186Kwh compared to 972kwh the previous January, which is over an 80% reduction in power usage.

We completely stopped using the clothes-dryer; instead we keep a clothes-rack in the living room next to the wood stove or use an outdoor line. Yes this was kind of inconvenient, but now it's no big deal because it's part of our routine.

Then we did a bunch of little things that added up: we reduced the # of loads of laundry per week from 4 loads to just 2 loads, just by being more conscious of what really needs to be washed, while enjoying a good reason to do less house-work.

Then we replaced 12 lightbulbs with compact flourescents that we got for $1 each, after a $5/bulb Efficiency Vermont discount made available through the local hardware store.

We spent $35 on five power-strips so we can turn off the "phantom loads" on our entertainment center and a few other appliances.

We got somewhat fanatical (is that a word) about turning lights off when we're not in the room, training our 4 yr old son to know that leaving lights on when you don't need them "hurts the world," so now he helps with this task as a light-keeper.

We reduced the number of times we run the dishwasher to just one load per week just by being more conscious of the dirty dishes we create.

We stopped using electric heat in our bedrooms, but use a fan to circulate heat better from our wood-stove.

Our power bill went down from $75 to $35 per month after those steps. Really nothing too painful. We still use the toaster almost every morning, have a warm and comfortable house, watch movies every night, brew coffee every morning and use the waffle-iron on weekends.  We are not roughing it, but we're saving $1500 per year just on our power bill.

Thank You to Carbon Shredders and The Low Carbon Diet for helping us understand our energy-use and C02 footprint!