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I am also in support of removing the rate cap. It is ludicrous to pay less than the actual cost of electricity as we have been doing, and it does nothing to encourage conservation.
According to what I was watching on the news tonight though, this won't happen until the spring, and the average household shouldn't see a major difference at first as the price is only going up to 4.7 cents per kWh.
As for using less-
Heat tape and UTHs are definitely way more efficient than bulbs. Sure, some baskers need bulbs, but for those that don't, a lot of heat simply rises up from the bulb and is wasted.
Compact fluorescents- fabulous. Can't say enough good things about them. Switch every bulb you can.
Plastic on the windows is great. Use the heat-shrink kind, not just regular plastic sheeting. Even better, replace the windows with triple-glazed low E. Expensive, but worth it if you'll be there for the long term. Triple-glazed adds more R value and also virtually eliminates condensation around the edges which is important in a humid herp room.
Don't heat with electricity... Our herp room (in fact, the whole house including the hot water) is heated with wood. The only electricity used is for a small circulation pump and fans. So far we have been able to get enough wood from a local hardwood floor mill (kiln dried oak offcuts, can't beat it) for free, so we haven't even had to cut any from our own property. Obviously this wouldn't work for everyone, but it works great for us. We figure we're saving ~$6000 per year over using the natural gas heating system to heat this crazy place...
Increase your insulation wherever possible.
Use a programmable thermostat to automatically reduce the temperature when possible.
Hang your laundry instead of using a clothes dryer. Given the typically dry winter air, this will also help to humidify the air. Also, use a front loading washing machine.
Unplug all of the little battery adapters/chargers/etc. that you can, or put them on switchable power bars and turn the switch off when not in use. All of these things with little transformers in them use power even when the actual device is not connected or turned on. Although a small thing individually, many houses have quite a few of these things and they do add up.
Just a few thoughts,
Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!
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