Our weather for May 2009 was pretty much the same as the weather for May 2008, although it was a bit rainier as I recall. Electricity and water costs were up and natural gas costs were down. The big difference, I believe, is that we had five people living under our roof this year but we had three people living here last year.
Georgia is no longer suffering from a drought, so we are now legally allowed to water our yards. After much work with the sprinkler system, we turned it on — and managed to get through 7,500 gallons of water, at a cost of $25, in just 20 or so days. Although I seriously need to adjust the settings, I do have to say that the yard looks great.
Our middle daughter moved out last week and our oldest daughter is moving out next week, so we can hope for a reduction in our overall utility bills comparable to what we had in May 2008. I do know that when the weather started to seriously warm up in mid-May, the attic exhaust fans we installed last year started coming on during the middle of the day. Between this and our aggressive approach to setting the thermostat, I am hopeful that we will be able to show lower BTUs per square foot, year-over-year, next month. Tune back in next month find out!
May 2009 Data
| Electricity, in kWh | Cost / Unit | Gas, in Therms | Cost / Unit | Water, in CCF | Cost / Unit | BTUs / Ft2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 869 | $.097 | 41 | $1.56 | 20 | $2.85 | 2,020 |