The Bug House Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Although energy conservation is a year round effort in our home, heating season always seems to really drive it home. Figured I'd share some of the things I do and perhaps pick up a few tips.. 1st thing is the size of our house, only being around 1100 sqft it's not terribly difficult to heat/cool the place. I burn #2 fuel in a forced hot air system and wood in a typical woodstove. The stove is in the basement and I can easily get the entire living space over 70° if its not to cold. We keep the thermostat set at 63° and I usually burn well under 300 gallons a year (Heat only) and I split around 2 cord of wood and can burn about that in a typical Winter. In this climate, thats not a lot. ALso have a wall mount AC, 6900 BTU, that will cool the entire living space. Only really have to use it on the hottest days of the year here, can't imagine why previous owner installed it? Also use plastic window shrinkwrap when it gets cold, that makes a HUGE difference. General common sense attention to electricity use is always good. I have an electric water heater, we never use hot water for laundry, and use a clothesline during the Summer. I've also been known to use a drying rack near the woodstove to dry laundry in the Wintertime.....don't seem to be able to convince the wife to use that method. lol! I've been using the same CFL bulbs for around 5 years, some people don't like them for a variety of reasons but they suit us just fine. Not entirely convinced of their cost savings, I'd like to convert to LED bulbs down the road. Another fairly large utility expense here is water, We're on town water & sewer and it costs us around $1200 a year. When I run the dehumidifier, I dump it into the washing machine. Also have a sump pump in the basement, I use that water to irrigate the garden in the and also in the washing machine. I also collect rain water off the metal roof to water the garden. I have an incredibly complicated system......consisting of several 5 gallon pails I got off of Craigslist for free. lol! I just put them out when I need water and away when I don't. Anyone have any tips that they use? I'll post more when I think of them. ETA: We also use our dishwasher ONLY when it's properly loaded to full capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHISKEYSWAMP Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 About the only method I use right now is I run around the house after the wife and stepdaughter every ten minutes singing Every Light in the House is on by Trace Adkins. Doesn't matter how much I complain about leaving lights on so I've given up. I'd like to get an add on wood stove for the furnace but keep putting it off. I have a small house and run through 600-800 gallons of propane with the thermostat set at 68 which isn't too bad. The back master bedroom stays cooler than the rest of the house so we leave doors shut and run a space heater overnight (because of the wife). Our water comes from a well so not much I can do there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 We do a lot of grilling here. I finally convinced the wife to use the grill to heat up and cook various other items instead of using the oven in the kitchen. The CFL's have been put in any space that could use them. No cost for them. Get the used/older ones from work. The only thing I cannot get a handle on here is the amount of showers the boys take. Leave for school, shower, home from school. Shower. Go to gym...come home shower. Sometimes the 19&16 year old take 4 showers a day! Between water, gas to heat the hot water, soap( we go through a lot here) and towels( which means more wash). That is a big expense that I cannot get them to slow down with. I am alone on this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Everything in my house is electric so keeping stuff off that doesn't need to be on is the only method we have. That's not hard, it's just the wife, son and me. Our water comes from a well which has an electric pump. We have our own septic system so the only cost there is when its time for it to be cleaned, which isn't that often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 All electric here and our bills have been being pretty steep. Biggest consumers here are probably our heat and air system, not sure what our appliances are using but would guess the next are probably the water heater and the well. With 3 daughters and an 18 month old son we use a lot of water and hot water and do a lot of laundry. This house is 2400+sq ft on the main level with the loft and about 1760 sq ft of basement that has one bedroom finished, so we are heating and cooling a lot of space, ceiling in the living room is about 18 ft high that does not help us at all. I want to eventually build a fireplace, was considering vent free gas logs, but with all the wood we have available I may go with wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Here in Ontario the electric company (Hydro One) has "Smart" meters installed, and there's on-peak, mid-peak and off peak rates, which means rates per kWh vary depending on the time of day. Time of Use Prices so we try and use appliances mainly in the off peak hours if possible, like cooking, using the baseboard heat ect. Mind you when its 30 below zero it's pretty hard to avoid not using the heat 24/7. Lately it's been between 20 and 40 degrees for the past couple weeks at night so we'll turn the heat on until the temperature reaches 75ish then turn it off, it's surprising how long the heat will last. Also if we use the oven for cooking we'll leave it open after we're done to use the heat from the oven so it helps in the kitchen and living room. (we only live in a 2 bedroom apartment). Every little bit helps. Our bill last winter was average $200-225/month. We're gonna try and cut that back significantly this winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bug House Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 We are transitioning to Smart Meters here as well, there will supposedly be access to all sorts of rate and usage info once it's installed, we'll see. We do the same by leaving the oven open Shaun, lol! The prevailing wind here is from the NE, the previous owner had additional insulation put on that side of the house when he resided, helps quite a bit. Funny you mention the grill Adjam5, use it quite a bit here as well. Once during an extended power outage, we cooked anything we needed on the grill. The wife was sold after that, especially for things that really stink up the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bug House Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) All electric here and our bills have been being pretty steep. Biggest consumers here are probably our heat and air system, not sure what our appliances are using but would guess the next are probably the water heater and the well. With 3 daughters and an 18 month old son we use a lot of water and hot water and do a lot of laundry. This house is 2400+sq ft on the main level with the loft and about 1760 sq ft of basement that has one bedroom finished, so we are heating and cooling a lot of space, ceiling in the living room is about 18 ft high that does not help us at all. I want to eventually build a fireplace, was considering vent free gas logs, but with all the wood we have available I may go with wood. Wood is the way to go IMO, especially if can cut it yourself. Thats how I get the majority of my wood. Also, I saw the photos of your house, a woodstove would fit in there just great! A ceiling fan on the high ceiling will solve that problem. A good friend heats his 2500+ sqft house exclusively with wood using an outdoor furnace. He has 150 acres or so, and has an essentially unlimited supply of wood. Edited October 23, 2012 by The Bug House Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Wood is the way to go IMO, especially if can cut it yourself. Thats how I get the majority of my wood. Also, I saw the photos of your house, a woodstove would fit in there just great! A ceiling fan on the high ceiling will solve that problem. A good friend heats his 2500+ sqft house exclusively with wood using an outdoor furnace. He has 150 acres or so, and has an essentially unlimited supply of wood. Have ceiling fans in every room in the house, unfinished space in the basement is the only space without fans. Thing with burning wood is it is not exactly free, unless you are manually cutting it then it does require fuel and maintenance for the saw and the fuel to bring the wood to storage. All our windows in this house are pella low e rated windows, don't know yet if they really help or not, I need to go back and fix some of our contractors screw ups around the windows where we have drafts. Been in the process of caulking between our logs too, hoping when I am done with that it will help some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 my house has elec stove and oil for everything else. we tend to grill and smoke a lot, as well as having all CF bulbs in all fixtures, which helps a lot with the elec bill. to reduce the amount of oil burned for heat i've been using an Eden Pure electric heater. the electric bill costs in the end are far lower than oil heat costs. i've got central air but rarely used it during the summer. My thermostat and also time and day programmable. set things turned down while we're gone at work or outside during the day. I also keep doors to rooms not in use closed. During the summer shades and windows are closed during the day and some open on cool nights. house is less than 20 yrs old so it's efficient enough and sealed up. most likely adding on in the future. when i do i'll most likely install a zero-clearance fire place, like my parent's have. it seems to be super efficient and throws a lot of heat. you can duct off them too. only insulated chimney stove pipe for exhaust, so not much to clean or construct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PriceRacing35 Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Household energy $avings. Wood stoves are a good option if you can take the brunt of the initial cost. Another great option is a dual fuel heating system. Electric/gas furnace(90+ percent) with a heat pump(16 SEER). A heat pump is an air conditioner that the compressor has a reversing valve to reverse flow of refrigerant to turn condenser(outside coil) into a evaporator and vise versa. Very very efficient and saves a lot of utilities. It is a top seller for my dads hvac company. Also, a zoning system with an adequate amount of thermostats is also a HUGE energy saver. We installed a system with zoning like I just mentioned in our house. We cut utilities 75%. On top of EPA and government rebates. This is a great choice. From a heating and cooling standpoint. A fireplace is an added bonus that we rarely use unless its way way below freezing or without power, like we were during the ice storm a few years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 10, 2012 Report Share Posted November 10, 2012 Had an old guy tell me a blanket on the water heater would make a difference. Not sure on our heater, you touch the thing it is the same temp as the air, but I do plan to eventually wrap all our hot water lines in the basement, might make a little difference in how long it takes to get hot water to the farthest runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted November 10, 2012 Report Share Posted November 10, 2012 I have an outdoor boiler which I burn corn that I grow..never shut it down all year, it heats the hot water year round and when temps dip to where we need heat I just turn a few valves and we have heat..shut them off I run my a/c right in the same plenem. We have a private well so water isnt that big of a deal cost wise..but we run full loads like stated above..as far as irragation..I let the Lord take care of that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbeck Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 I have a wood stove in the basement, oil baseboard heat, electric water heater. I pre heat my water going into the water heater by passing it through a coil above the wood stove. in the last 5 years I have burned 100 gallons of oil just because it is difficult to get the heat from the wood stove up to the second floor. I go through about 7 cord of wood per year, I buy a triaxle load for $650.00 every other year and cut the remainder off my property. shoot my own meat, cut my own heat. barter with a friend for vegtables in the summer and I hook him up with venison in the fall and winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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