Yes, but the TV and the refrigerator combined are costing me about twelve dollars a month to operate. Before I realized my mistake about the bi-monthly billing, I was seriously concerned about going into the third pricing tier (the DAC rate) which might have made replacing the power-hungry appliances more appealing. But as things stand now, DAC is not a problem.

The very few light bulbs in the apartment are all compact fluorescents. I'm guessing that total light-hours of all bulbs combined come to less than an hour a day. Hot water heater is propane, and at about $30 per month costs more than all other utility expenses (excluding Cable TV subscription) combined. Air conditioning is not needed--one of the four walls of the apartment is actually below ground level, and outdoor temperatures rarely exceed 85 degrees F.

My apartment, which is on the top floor of the building, has solar hot water heating which has proven highly effective. A couple weeks ago, on a day when the outside temperature was in the high eighties, I measured the temperature of the hot water in my kitchen at 170 degrees F.

However, in contrast to John's apartment, three of the four walls of my place are glass from floor to ceiling, and it is not uncommon for indoor temperatures to get into the 90's. So, we have A/C in our place. Because of all the glass, we don't try to cool the house. Instead, if it is just too warm, we lie on the bed, switch on the A/C for half an hour, and cool ourselves. We used the A/C very liberally in May and June, with the result that our electric bill was staggering -- $52.94 for the two month billing period, or something over twenty six dollars a month.

My thermostat is very fancy, it actually talks to me and when it gets too hot it says "Where's the remote for the air conditioner?" and moments later, like magic, the A/C comes on.

tanstaafl.