Really Going Some

My gas-and-electricity bill arrived this morning. I admit that I wasn't expecting one quite so soon, as the last one only arrived about a month ago. Even so, it's always nice to pay an essential utility bill, it feels as if I'm doing something useful and industrious to keep the lights on.

Thing is, perhaps I have too many lights on. Seems that this month alone, I've somehow used £120 of gas and electricity. It works out to about £90 of electricity and £30 of gas, but by any measure, I estimate that I must be really going some to be using quite so much of the earth's natural resources. What on earth have I been doing?

February was not THAT cold a month, surely. But it looks like I spent about £60 on gas during December and January as well, so maybe it was. I think I will look forward to the summer, when I will be able to turn off the heating entirely.

And where is all that electricity going? This month I used almost as much electricity as I did during all of December and January! What on earth was I doing? I use a stupid amount of electricty anyway, but this is more still. It's like I've been wired into the Texas correctional facility by accident. Surely the shredder can't use that much electricity? I haven't had more lightbulbs on than usual, as far as I remember. I'm pretty good about turning things off.

My bill should be going down, not up. In fact I even installed a new low-energy lightbulb upstairs last month. I am quite sure.

I can tell that I will not rest until I get to the bottom of the problem. I'm going to have to spend some time staring at the little spinning thing on my electricity meter, while turning things off and on and off again.

It's good to have a hobby. Even if it is an expensive one.