Airing Some Dirty Laundry

Actually it's clean, but I bet that title got some of you interested ;o).

This is more of a post for Canadians because I don't think my American friends have Smart Meters yet. (Here's hoping you don't get them!)  Here in the Great White North, where laundry has to be dried in the dryer almost half the year, we have this new system called the Smart Meter. (I call it the you-can't-do-laundry-or-cook-at-a-normal-time-anymore-meter). It's your typical hydro meter that measures the amount of hydro that your family uses on a regular basis, but there's a catch. If you want to spend the least amount possible on your hydro, you have to switch your nights to days and your days to nights.

Here's how it works:

See that green section? That's when you want to be doing your wash -- especially if you have to use the dryer. (The rates are as follows: 5.9cents/kWh in the green, 8.9 cents/kWh in the yellow, and 10.7cents/kWh in the red). Or you can wait until the weekend (or statutory holidays), when the pie chart looks like this:

So instead of using Mondays as my laundry day, I now use Saturdays (and *gasp* yes, Sundays) to do my laundry. Except that it's a pain. Enter swim meet season. Saturdays are usually half gone by the time we get home and my new washer takes an hour per load. That means if we're home by noon, I can get only get four loads done by 4pm and hope that the weather is cooperating to get them on the line and dry before dark. Problem is, I usually have at least five loads. (Does anyone else have a separate load for reds -- errrr mostly pinks in our case?) On a not so good drying day, I hope my loads are all on the line by 1pm. It doesn't happen. Inevitably, at least one load has to go in the dryer. So sadly, my days of getting my laundry washed, dried, folded, and maybe even put away before the end of the day are over. This Monday is a stat. in Canada, so I'm going to do everyone's sheets. Hope the lines can hold them all! Hooray for a green day!

Oh, and here's what the winter chart looks like:

I'm really hoping my family wants to quit eating supper during the winter months ;o)!

So my Canadian friends, I ask you, how do you work with this new Smart Meter? Or do you just ignore and go with business as usual?



P.S.

Did you know you  can entirely fill a 20 ft line with just undies when there are nine people in your family? That's allota undies!!