[winter-rabbit]

It helps to sleep on the floor. Feel cooler.

I also user window sun deflector from my car on the east windows during the day.

[Merrily Gather]

Originally Posted by jaimilyn

Merry, what kind of curtains/window coverings are you using? The light/heat blocking kind really help

The unit has somewhat opaque 3 1/2" PVC Vertical Blinds on all the windows. I need to check our lease before investing in installing energy efficient blackout curtains.

Originally Posted by winter-rabbit

It helps to sleep on the floor. Feel cooler.

I also user window sun deflector from my car on the east windows during the day.

We did that the first week and then I cried to my husband about the bruises on my hips and I got a bed out of it. lol. Sleeping on the floor is not fun for me after all.

[longton52]

are you in a house or apt ?

You can buy temp shades at Lowes/HD. They have black out ones for about $10. I bought some several years ago that were peel and stick but rather than stick them, I wrapped them around a tension rod that I placed across the top of the window, underneath the wood blinds.

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by winter-rabbit

It helps to sleep on the floor. Feel cooler.

I also user window sun deflector from my car on the east windows during the day.

Yeah, I have no desire to go camping.. Especially in my own home

[winter-rabbit]

I do a lot of running like 40-60 miles per week. My resting heart rate is 32 beats per minute. That means my body doesn't overheat so I actually shiver a lot at night running AC at 80.

So do a lot of running and you won't need AC due to low heartrate and core body temps at resting.

[winter-rabbit]

The more support the human body needs the weaker it will get.

Once your back gets weak, you will need even more cushion. Cushioning is like a drug, once you have it you need more of it.

I sit on a rock hard stool with no support for 8 hours plus working at home. Back at the office in Boston, people are sitting on $1000+ office chairs, while I sit on a stiff non-adjustment conference chair. I tell my coworkers the same thing.

Originally Posted by Raiderman

Yeah, I have no desire to go camping.. Especially in my own home

[winter-rabbit]

Drinking tons of water will help with blood pressure. Win win for health and electricity savings!

[SportyandMisty]

Here's my energy use chart for the past couple years. The house is about 4400 sf, two story, built in 2006, and has 3 separate ACs. All the can lights are CFLs. I've got a few LEDs just to test them.

Just a week ago I got rid of a 15 year old 21 cu ft upright freezer in the garage that was on its last legs. the compressor was running 24x7 and the interior was at 20 degrees, and that will help some.

The 3 ACs are for the following zones: (a) the ground floor living area, (b) the upstairs master bedroom over the garage, and (c) the other upstairs bedrooms & game room.

We keep the downstairs AC at 77 from about 7am when I come downstairs through about 11pm (overnight it is set to 85). There is a ceiling fan which we keep on low in the great room (one space that is family room, kitchen & breakfast nook).

We keep the master bedroom AC set at 73 from about 10:30pm until about 9:30am when my wife gets up. We also run the ceiling fan. We keep it that cold because my wife has reached that special age, and can't abide warmer temps. I actually have a blanket while she goes from nothing to just a sheet several times/night.

Unless we have guests, the 3rd AC is always off.

Note we only occupy the house from mid-April through Thanksgiving, as we spend the ski season on the slopes out of state. You'll note that winter of '13 used more electricity than winter of '14. During the winter of '13 I apparently incorrectly programmed the pool/spa computer - the pump ran pretty much 24x7 until I detected the mistake & had someone reprogram it. (worse still - I incorrectly programmed the set temperatures for the heater, so I kept the swimming pool in the upper 80s all winter, but that isn't electricity use).



This year's daily use is higher than last year's daily use. Last year we took many trips out of town for weeks at a time.

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by longton52

are you in a house or apt ?

You can buy temp shades at Lowes/HD. They have black out ones for about $10. I bought some several years ago that were peel and stick but rather than stick them, I wrapped them around a tension rod that I placed across the top of the window, underneath the wood blinds.

Perfect!

Were having the entire house remodeled and all the old window coverings were tossed. Bad shape, people smoked.

I estimate we can do a temp covering of all windows for around $100 that will hold us until we move, order, and wait 6 weeks for the new ones to arrive. We are going to fly out in July to look at the work and put these up.

Thanks!!

[gvc8]

for the same billing period we used 5% less kwh from 2013 but our bill is 5% more $$.