Tips for reducing energy in the summertime

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by tstone

I'd rather spend the money on the appliance rather than the energy.

Well said...

[City Love]

My tips are:

1. Tint windows with direct sunlight
2. Install tile if possible, keeps areas cooler than carpet.
3. Keep fans on.
4. Turn stove exhaust on when cooking to extract heat(obvious)
5. Install fancy thermostat to check total running time. Adjust when necessary.
6. Spray Insulation in attic under roof and over the ceiling drywall.
7. Adjust water temp if heater is electric.

Our light bill for a 3,200 sq ft house is $250 for about 2000KWH, each of the past 2 months. We like it cold at night though. Not the best, but not bad either.

[studiobtm]

I had the roof replaced 2 years ago including the decking and used tech shield radiant barrier. My electricity costs during the summer dropped 20-30% (I also had a ridge vent installed). This spring I had additional insulation installed and had the soffit areas uncovered so that the ridge vent could function. I'm using only 60% of the kWh's that I used to in the summer. I have a 3k sqr ft house built in the early 80's with lots of windows, all single pane, and my pool pump runs 6-8 hours a day (equivalent to 1/2 my house load). My bill last month was $280. I keep the house at 77 day and night.

CFL's may or may not be cost effective given how much more they cost to purchase. They certainly do not last as long as is claimed. Given the amount of mercury in CFL's and their manufacturing complexity I think their "greeness" is marginal at best. Probably negative.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by studiobtm

CFL's may or may not be cost effective given how much more they cost to purchase. They certainly do not last as long as is claimed. Given the amount of mercury in CFL's and their manufacturing complexity I think their "greeness" is marginal at best. Probably negative.

I can't speak for generic bulbs but I've had only a couple of bulbs flicker & strobe on me, so I immediately exchanged them. I have a monster 42-watt lighting up the driveway that's in its 5th year of operation and it has stayed on 12-13 hrs/day. Certainly there are defects in the crowd, but if these bulbs are buzzing/humming and burning out left & right then your home's electrical system is probably on the fritz. These bulbs die quickly with too much electrical variation.

As far as costs go, a good quality 4-pack of CFLs (Nvision, Home Depot) is about $7. So initial cost, figure on $1.75 for a 14-watt CFL vs. $0.50 for a basic 60-watt soft white. If you're paying 11 cents per kWh, the initial cost + electricity usage cost for each bulb hits an equilibrium point at 3 months, assuming 3 hrs/day of use. Multiply by # of bulbs in the house and over time this becomes quite cost effective on the consumer end. Extremely cost effective for certain commercial establishments where lights are on 12+ hrs/day.

Regarding Hg, yes that's an issue. They need to be dropped off for recycling, simple. It's actually been an issue for decades with tube-style bulbs, too, in the kitchen, bathroom, garage, office, etc. Everyone used to put those in the trash and the fact they have 5-10x the Hg content vs a modern CFL was never an issue. As far as the CFL's go, I can see Hg being a problem in the house if you can't change bulbs properly on your own or purposefully break them.

I think the CFL is a bridge between incandescent and LED. I'm seeing more and more LED options out there, and while the price is dropping they still seem way too expensive to be cost effective on the consumer end.