It's a legendary quest ! Receiving a smaller power bill ! You might be with Edenorte. I am with Luz & Fuerza in Las Terrenas, 12.75RD$/KWh... I really have to watch out ! (it's the price to pay to have a 24/7 service...). The funny thing with Luz & Fuerza is that the more you consume, the higher rate you get to pay ! I don't understand, as in other areas, you get a discount when you are a big consumer...
First, having a nice and clean cabling at your house, well grounded (la tierra)... It needs a (thin) ground at the meter, and (big) one at the "caja de breakers". Slightly oversized cables might help.
Then of course, all the light bulbs have to be low consumption (bajo consumo). Average 15W, or 7W for smaller room such as bathroom (good idea to paint all in white, then light reflects).
Leave all your windows (persianas) open, so you don't need AC or a fan.
If you are like me, leaving your PC on all day long, then have a LCD monitor, that shuts down after 5 mn of inactivity. Don't use any high-end "gamers" video card, as it sucks more juice... Turn everything off at night.
The biggest deal is the fridge !!! The fridge will usually represent the major part of your power bill (for me : 50%)... I am not an expert with the fridge, but make sure the rubbers don't leak any cold... Try not to open the door too often. There was a thread about that last year... A poster was explaining that a fridge full of groceries/water would suck less juice... I would be happy to get the other posters feedback on that fridge issue...
As of the water, I have a cistern and a tinaco. The water from the city falls in the cistern (whenever there is water...), and if it rains, most of it goes to the cistern as well. So there's no pump there.
There's a pump (the smallest one of the ferreteria) to fill the tinaco from the cistern. It uses electricity, but I would be interested if any of you guys has any successful story about solar powered pump !
I don't use any hot water, so I don't have to think about that issue, however if there are interesting ideas in this thread, I might go solar... Most of the year I don't mind showering in cold water, but in december and january, warmer water would be welcome !
Then from the tinaco, water goes down with gravity, no electricity required...
My family watch a bit of TV, that doesn't seem to be a big "juice sucker". We have a microwave oven, but almost never use it...
I usually spend an average 175KWh per month, and it makes around 2230RD$... Rates have just climbed last month...
I too would love some tips