I had this same problem last year, where my electricity usage stays the same, but then around this time of year the bill doubles.
Electric consumption is higher during august-september months due to hotter days. Fuel costs also affects your consumption rate making your bill higher. Expect lower bills during next months.
I’m working on a school project where I make a circuit board to emulate a snack machine and I’m wondering how to make a sensor that does this… but I don’t know how to tell a one from a five without using some kind of image scanner/filtering program and thats obviously not how it works since that sort of thing would be too expensive to add to a simple coke machine. Does anyone know how this sort of thing is done in the real-world industry?
You’d be surprised what goes into a "simple coke machine."
"Also known as bill validators or bill acceptors, paper currency detectors scan pliant currency using optical and magnetic sensors. Upon validation, the bill validator will inform the vending machine controller (VMC) or other host device of a credit via a parallel or serial interface. Various interfaces exist for the host device including a single-line pulse interface, a multi-line parallel interface, a multi-line binary interface, and serial interfaces such as ccTalk, SSP, MDB2PC and MDB2USB."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_validator#Paper_currency_detectors
I have received notices for disconnection, but always paid it before then. Will this appear on my credit? I heard NOT, unless it went to collections and was actually turned off, please help.
yes thats right only if it takes the next step and goes to collections and gets turned off…….so your safe so far.
We just bought a home and are trying to decide on whether to get a front or top loading washing machine. What are some pros and cons of top/front loading washing machines? What are your experiences? Thanks so much.
Yeah, it is actually amazing when you look in and see the clothes washing, they are merely just "soaked" with water not sloshing around in gallons of it. And yes, as another user said…very little detergent is needed.
For instance, when you wash your new babies’ clothes, you will only need to put a couple tablespoons of Dreft (assuming that is what you use 
in for a very large load.
My favorite feature is you can barely hear them running, even during the spin cycle. So, laundry during babies’ nap time is a good option. One more thing is that the Kenmore brands have a feature called "Sensor Dry" and it knows when all the clothes are completely dry. So there is no need to scorch the crap outa them.
I think they are a really good investment, although I have not seen much of a difference on my energy/water bills. But the tax incentive was nice…ask about that when you buy them!
