How much do you pay for water?
6 years ago
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Watering Cottage Gardens - Do You, How Do You, How Much
Comments (29)Right now, I need a sump pump...and I live on a hill. More rain in the forecast, too. The weather pattern has changed here - normally an El Nino year means severe drought in Oklahoma. Not this season anyway. With our normally semi-dry to dry summers, I use the garden hose to water EVERY day in most areas and every other day in other areas that prefer dryer conditions. We have our own well, so I can also use the sprinkler without ill affects on my plants. It is just like rain water. The birds, butterflies, bees and amphibians love it too. When I hand water, the birds follow me from tree to tree, so I spray up into the trees and they chirp and sing for me. The occasional tortoise will come out of hiding for a long, cool drink, too. I set the mister on the tropicals and water-loving ferns etc. to keep them happy. This takes all day. I use soaker hoses under my veggies when it is very hot and very dry to prevent scorching and so the water will get down deep where the nutrients are and encourage deep roots. For under my Phlox and roses, &etc., I screw on a fan sprayer and let it run slowly, gently and deeply under them to prevent leaf-scorch, and do this as often as needed. I even water in the winter if it is a dry winter. Soil heave (freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw) is terrible here in Okie, and in dry winters this will kill plants and even small trees and shrubs. And of course, potted plants need a drink just about every day in the summer. That is how I have to do it here to keep mine alive year round. ~Annie...See MoreHow much attn do you pay to color when planning landscaping?
Comments (5)Hi Xtal. I think you probably meant this post to go on the 'discussion' forum. I know -- conversations vs discussions -- what's the difference? Easy to get them mixed up. I have. Anyway, color is important to me too and I'm thinking that while the two colors won't clash (looked them both up on google images) a contrasting color like yellow would be more eye popping to go with the beautiful "Lynn's Everblooming" Texas Sage, What about a yellow blooming native tree like one of the acacias, or the shrub esperanza, even though it would need trimming back after winter? Or perhaps a white flowering desert willow would go nicely. Plus there are deeper maroon colored desert willows than 'Bubba'. Just rambling here ... I'm sure people on the Discussions Forum will come up with many more suggestions to mull over. Here is a link that might be useful: Many other varieties of desert willow for consideration ......See MoreHow much do you pay for utilities?
Comments (70)cynic: Someone else mentioned the position of the heating elements in an electric water heater in explaining why the lower water temp at the bottom, where the cold water inlet is, can encourage bacteria growth. Perhaps electric tank design will change to a bottom-heating element as in gas heaters to address the bacteria growth issue? I can't help but wonder if there's more contaminants in our water today that is making this a problem now, or if it always existed but we simply didn't know about it? It seems like if this involved an automobile manufacturer, there would be a recall. There was a period when electricity rates were much lower and in low-demand situations (like mine), an electric heater cost less to operate than a gas model. This is because electricity is 100% efficient when used for heating purposes. Standby heat losses with an electric water heater are also much less than a gas model because it can be totally encapsulated with insulation where a gas heater requires exposure of the bottom surface for the flame to transfer heat to the water. A gas water heater loses some heat to room air from the flame and the exhaust as it is piped outdoors. This is "free" heat in the winter, but it increases the air conditioning load in the summer. The difference in cost per energy unit of gas vs electricity has widened considerably over the last thirty years. In fact, natural gas prices in my area have recently declined, while electricity rates have continued to soar. The electric water heater is the original one installed by the builder thirty years ago and it is still functioning problem-free. I know of several homeowners who have conventional gas water heaters that required replacement three times during this period. Tankless on-demand water heaters sound good in theory, but they don't achieve the energy savings originally claimed by manufacturers. In fact, those claims had to be modified in point-of-sale displays. Reliability issues and high repair costs merely add to their high initial purchase price. I closely monitor my energy consumption and utility bills (as you might have guessed). I have all my utility bills filed from when I purchased the house in 1986. A new rotary compressor refrigerator and an LED TV take credit for some of the reduction in hydro use. While electricity consumption has decreased, but the bills have not. If it weren't for all the extra fees, charges and taxes, the monthly bill would be closer to the $20/month I paid in 1986 and not the $50/month bill I receive today. On the brighter side, my phone bill dropped $10/month to $15 when I switched from a dial-up landline to a pre-pay voice only monthly cell phone. I have a roof antenna that receives 42 off-air TV signals, but what I save not paying for cable I pay for Internet (which didn't exist thirty years ago.) Water/sewer used to be flat-rate in the good ol'days with no restriction on consumption. Property taxes however, have increased far more than any utility where I am located. We used to be a small, efficiently-run town that amalgamated with a much larger city. My property taxes have increased from $2,000/year in 1986 to $10,000 this year (which doesn't include a huge increase in water rates). Policing, fire, social services, schools, garbage collection and public transit are responsible for most of the increase. There's also been some extremely wasteful spending/mismanagement reported by the local newspaper. Bigger is definitely not better, or more efficient, in this case!...See MoreHow much do you pay your groomer?
Comments (5)I have used two different groomers in the last year or so. The first two times with the same groomer were for Amos, the larger of our two minilabradoodles, about 30 lbs. The first was a puppy cut for him and the second a shorter cut. Both times he charged $35.00 The second groomer was just this past May for our smaller female, Andi. She weighs 28 but is much shorter than Amos. She got a puppy cut and it was $35.00 I was told by both places that if there were mats to be dealt with, it would be $10 more but neither had mats....See More- 6 years ago
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