I do realize that the lights are a small part, but they are about the only thing that I can do to cut down. I have 3 50 gallon fish tanks in a built in setup, a freezer and 2 refrigerators, 2 computers that all run 24 hours a day. I look at them as things that I am not willing to change. I do have timers on my lights for the tanks, I keep the coils clean on the freezer and fridges and while I could turn off the computers, I keep them running to practice training from work (server stuff).
I looked at what other things I could do and found that using 15 watt CF's in all the cans in the basement, and in the bedroom fixtures as well as the track lighting has helped. I am not one to leave anything on that I am not using but I have 4 kids so it is always a challenge. I average $120 a month most of time and about $250 if I have to run the window ac's (Getting central this spring) I don't think that is all that bad with everything I have running.
Thanks to everyone for answering my questions, now I understand how the meter works and why the balanced load thing will not save on the bill. Just another too good to be true thing.
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