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My office is freezing. Usually 69-72F. Then I go home and it's 80F.
My wife just read this and says that you deserve a raise for having to deal with such poor working conditions!
(She puts on a light jacket if the temp drops below 75. Below 70 she puts on a big winter coat! LOL!!!)
I think it's important to factor in the size of the house and number of people. I live in Hilo, single, stick to ceiling fans, electric about $150/mo. Sure, it gets humid, but I don't think it can compare to places in the South or even New York.
By the way, besides the calendar curling, the paper in the printer warps, clothes sometimes come out of the closet damp, and new envelopes are sealed before you even open the box! It's worth it, though.
Yes...I think so too...>smile<
Quote:
Originally Posted by whtviper1
We have some different geographic challenges depending on where you live in Oahu.
If you live in downtown (like me), Ala Moana, Waikiki - you do get tradewind challenged as the Ko'olau Mountains block them quite a bit.
Also, you are most likely in a condo - and the lanai faces south since everyone wants those ocean views rather than the mountain - so breezes coming from that direction aren't happening.
I could use fans more - I personally prefer central AC. If I used fans, the bill would probably drop from $350 to $200 or less a month.
All condo units can't possibly be situated to take advantage of the best tradewind conditions. It's a fact of life. Oahu has a population density that no other Hawaiian Island has to deal with---right now, anyway. Thank you for being honest, WHT---yep, some prefer A/C. Again, fact of life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ford Beebe
Keep in mind, tolerance for the heat and humidity will increase dramatically after a year or so. I've been in Hawai'i a year, and I'm in a hoody sweatshirt and it's nearly noon, whereas this time last year, a tee shirt.
Just don't whine to anyone on the mainland about being cold.
LOL, not during the winter, anyway. Totally agree about the tolerance thing. We're close to starting our thirteenth year here and I have about a 12 degree range of tolerance as far as temperature goes. A few weeks ago I went to a movie at Ward and forgot my sweatshirt. The last hour or so of the movie all I could think about was how cold I was. Okay, and maybe George Clooney. But I was freezing! And with the temps dropping into the sixties at night here lately we have THREE (count 'em, THREE) blankets on the bed. Scary, LOL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KauaiHiker
PaliPatty (didn't mean to pick on you), a good way to lower the electric bill is to increase ventilation. Add an attic fan so you don't have hot air in your attic. Install louvers on the breezy side of your house, if you don't have them already. Use a window fan instead of an A/C to move air through and drown out the noise.
Small fridges and freezers aren't efficient--you should check the energy rating on those, or better yet, buy a Kill-a-watt to measure the use on each device separately. Growing your own food is great, but Hawaii works better on the community exchange system where you give away more than you can eat, hopefully to people who give back when they have too much. Otherwise you're spending way more on preserving the food than you would from buying it (even organic). We sometimes use a dehydrator for our bananas, they're electric but you only run them for a 2-3 days, not forever.
But in your case, the solution might be a larger energy-star frigde-freezer in the kitchen. We have tons of leftovers and prepared meals frozen and refrigerated, and still have room for everyday items.
As for a pool in Hawaii, yes, I realize it is a nice feature, but is it really necessary? There seems to be a lot of excess energy consumption on Oahu--it's hard to get people to change their habits and recude their usage.
Installing PV is nice (and I hope to do it someday myself), but with the cost, it's like paying 10 years of electric bills up front in exchange for a fixed rate. Solar hot water is the first thing to install if you don't have it already yet. I can hear mine pumping right now, making me hot water for free (even the pump runs off a small PV panel). Solar hot water pays for itself in 2-5 years and then provides free hot water for the rest of its lifetime (10-15 years).
Hiker, we will definitely go for the attic fan. It's something we've been meaning to do for a while.
About the food. No. I grow the varieties that I personally prefer, in the quantities that we'll use. I know what goes into the soil that the food is grown in. Personally, after seeing the numerous recalls of e.-coli-tainted "organic" greens, I'll stick to homegrown, even if it doesn't pan out financially.
I give away my extra veggies---nothing goes to waste. Tomatoes, calamansi, green onions, lettuce---whatever we can't use is shared. If tomatoes drop and turn into seedlings I pot them up and give them away. The lettuce trimmings go to my neighbor's turtles. In return I've gotten butter mochi, kalua pig, pansit, bibingka, plus more hugs than I can count. I guess that's kind of a barter system but without the mercenary aspect. It's all good.
We'll be looking into the PV thing at the home show this week. We need the gas for cooking and our water is heated by gas so we probably won't be considering solar for heating water right now.
The pool? Well, we won't be getting rid of that anytime soon. I LOVE my pool. Discussion over.
One thing that bugs me, Hiker, and no disrespect meant, are the somewhat derogatory "Oahu" references. As if those on Oahu are somehow less sensitive, less "real" than those on other islands. Somehow less in touch with how things "should" be.
After being here about a dozen years, that stuff gets old. We are all in the middle of this big ocean together and the sooner we embrace that, IMHO, the better.
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Originally Posted by IslandDreamin
I am so used to not having AC that when I go somewhere with AC like a store or the movies I freeze to death.
OMG yes. Sometimes I cut my shopping short just to get the heck out of the A/C in Safeway!! I can always come back tomorrow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slinkygirl
Patty, you sleep during the day -- if you set up a fan to blow right on you, could you do without the AC? Also the fridge can be a big deal. If yours is more than (anyone know exactly?) something like five years old it uses far more energy than a new model. Compact flourescents make a big difference and are a pretty easy fix. I was surprised that when I got a DVR, i saw a jump in the electric bill, since it's on all the time to record shows, so I don't leave it plugged in all the time any more. Interested in anything anyone else is trying. I rent, so can't make major changes to the power supply.
I have a powerful ceiling fan that I leave on the high setting and it's not enough. I really do need to sleep at least five hours, uninterrupted, to be able to function during my thirteen hour shift. The A/C is used three times a week for about six hours each time. I see it as a necessity.
We are going to get rid of the DVR in the bedroom. Never use the darn thing and it is a power drain. Thanks for reminding me!
My big fridge, teeny fridge, and freezer are all relatively new. All energy star, IIRC. So, short of dumping them, they are optimum.
We have all CFL's too. So who cares if I look like I have terminal liver disease when I look in the mirror...we're saving pennies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hotzcatz
The size of the fridge matters, too. As well as if it has things in the door or not. We have a new 22 cu ft ice maker in the freezer and freezer on top model refrigerator and our electric bill runs about $50 per month. We also run a small chest freezer, big LED TV, solar hot water with no electric back up at all, (we turned that off when we saw how fast the meter would spin when it was turned on). Curly bulbs through out the house and most of the electronics on a cut off switch. My DH is planning on plugging in a hot tub, though. There will probably be several months of OMG electric bills before he connects that to a solar system, although just running the jets will suck power. We will see how much that costs, but he really wants one.
We need to do the power bar thing, definitely.
Oh, go for the dam hot tub. You only live once.
Thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions and the nice shove towards thinking more responsibly. I really do appreciate it.
Last edited by PaliPatty; 01-26-2012 at 12:47 AM..
But what about the folks who reincarnate? We might be living much more than once! Too bad we can't get a savings account going for our reincarnated selves.
Yeah, the hot tub will be nice but we will have to figure out a way to make it affordable to use all the time. Probably some photovoltaics (we already have a large PV system we can use) as well as some solar water heating.
We went from an on demand gas water heater to 100% solar water heating and the savings have been enormous. I didn't realize we had been spending that much on gas to heat water until we were only using gas to cook with. Over 3/4 of our gas had been going towards water heating.
Oh, when three blankets aren't enough, see if you can find an electric blanket. A warm heated bed is a true joy! We have an electric blanket and a down comforter. Last year we also found a down mattress cover at a garage sale so it goes electric blanket, down mattress cover, flannel sheets, down comforter and we are toasty warm at night! It's been cold this winter, especially on clear nights. We are at 1,000 foot elevation, though, so it's a bit chill sometimes.
winkosmosis wrote: "My office is freezing. Usually 69-72F."
The public areas of county and state buildings on Kaua'i are definitely not refrigerated like that. I'm not even sure they have A/C. But I bet it's different in the offices though, I could understand having the A/C for the workers. However, at that temperature, I bet they're trying to keep people awake.
PaliPatty wrote: "Sometimes I cut my shopping short just to get the heck out of the A/C in Safeway!!" Safeway does seem to be the worst at freezing their stores. I always thought it was to preserve goods on the shelf, but then it "sweats" when I get it home. I don't shop there much, and this is one of the reasons.
Ford Beebe wrote: "Keep in mind, tolerance for the heat and humidity will increase dramatically after a year or so." I always believed in the thin blood/thick blood thing, but it turns out that's a myth. However, there is a physical change in your body, as your capillaries near to the surface of your skin are more open to allow more circulation and radiate heat from the skin. In cold climates, it's the opposite, your skin capillaries are more constricted to keep blood from losing heat.
PaliPatty wrote: "We need the gas for cooking and our water is heated by gas so we probably won't be considering solar for heating water right now."
I don't see the issue here. Gas is slightly cheaper for heating water than electricity, but not much. You don't lose anything by having a solar water heater and using less gas. You pay the service charge every month anyways, but your bill will still go down significantly. On Kaua'i we all have gas tanks that they fill from a truck that drives around once a month, but since we only use it for cooking (and occasionally laundry), they just top ours off every 3 months. Solar hot water is the most efficient, trouble-free, and cost-saving of all renewable energy applications.
hotzcatz wrote: "solar hot water with no electric back up at all, (we turned that off when we saw how fast the meter would spin when it was turned on)." Just put the electric backup on manual, flip the switch an hour or 2 before you need the hot water. I have one of those timers in a grey box, with a big switch that sticks out. The timer has no ON trippers, but OFF trippers every 4 hours. That way, if I forget to turn it off manually, it never runs too long.
The alternative is an on-demand gas heater for backup. That would be nice, and much cheaper to run, but much more expensive to purchase and install than the electric in-tank backup.
Which reminds me: another way to save on energy costs is to line dry your clothes. You can get folding laundry racks that fit easily on a lanai if you have a condo without a yard. Another trick is to dry your shirts directly on the hangers--just put them in the closet when dry and take empty hangers down to the laundry room. We keep the gas dryer as a backup for convenience when you really need to do laundry on rainy days.
Sorry for 3 posts, but each has a different topic.
PaliPatty wrote: "I have a powerful ceiling fan that I leave on the high setting and it's not enough. I really do need to sleep at least five hours, uninterrupted, to be able to function during my thirteen hour shift. The A/C is used three times a week for about six hours each time. I see it as a necessity." And it sounds like it is. When you asked how you could cut your bill, this seemed like a logical place to start, but now that we know the details, we can understand. That said, there are white noise generators that may work for you as well, if it's just a noise issue.
PaliPatty wrote: "I know what goes into the soil that the food is grown in." That's a good a reason as any to grow your own food, I respect that. But "after seeing the numerous recalls of e.-coli-tainted "organic" greens, I'll stick to homegrown, even if it doesn't pan out financially." That's only true for the mainland industrial-farmed organic-in-name-only produce. I've never heard of problems at Hawaii's farmers markets. You asked for ways to decrease your energy bill, freezers take a lot of energy in Hawaii, so I made some suggestions. You have valid reasons for doing things the way you do, and like the A/C, now we can understand them. Please don't take the questions and suggestions as criticism.
I looked into the mini-fridges, they run about 100W. If they run 10hrs a day, that's 1kWh or 30 cents a day or just under $10 per month ($110 per year). Not extravagant, but not insignificant either.
The bigger picture is that it's not just about saving money on your electric/gas bill, it's also about saving energy, reducing energy consumed, reducing the reliance on imported energy, and reducing the overall use of fossil fuels in the world. Some will say I'm getting all preachy, and that's why I just talk about saving money in the first place. But if you use less imported energy, it has a multiplier effect, because you need less energy to ship that fuel here in the first place, and less impact on the environment to mine/drill for it elsewhere in the world.
PaliPatty wrote: "One thing that bugs me, Hiker, and no disrespect meant, are the somewhat derogatory "Oahu" references. As if those on Oahu are somehow less sensitive, less "real" than those on other islands. Somehow less in touch with how things "should" be. After being here about a dozen years, that stuff gets old. We are all in the middle of this big ocean together and the sooner we embrace that, IMHO, the better. "
No disrespect taken, so let's talk about it. From what I read, I get the impression that people on Oahu, by virtue of being more metropolitan, are more consumerist oriented. This of course, is a generalization. It does not apply to every person, nor to the same degree. And there are energy waster on the neighbor islands--I could go on about the trucks and the gated compounds, not to mention the resorts and the waste they generate, etc. But I have a hunch that the average is higher on Oahu. I'd love to see the numbers for per capita energy use by county, if anyone has them. I'd love to be proven wrong. Maybe high-rise living is more efficient. Or maybe Oahu uses more energy but also creates more GDP (as a rough measure of economic value)--so we should probably look at those numbers as well. But when I hear these anecdotes about A/C usage and necessity of having a pool, I do wonder--because I don't hear such thing as much among my peers on Kaua'i.
Each island (or rather Oahu vs neighbor islands) has it's problems, and each is dependent on the other in certain ways. But then we hear stories such as the ferry or the undersea cable and Molokai/Lanai wind farms, where it looks like Oahu's problems are going one-way to the neighbor islands. I'm all for wind farms, but if there is excess consumption on Oahu, not a critical shortage, why bring development to the neighbor islands? Pristine (undeveloped) environment is just about the only thing the neighbor islands have, for themselves and for the state. And I do feel that the majority (but not all) residents on Oahu sometimes forget that. They are consuming away, oblivious to their impact on the unique environment we have in Hawaii. Whenever you read about renewable energy and its cost analysis, the first conclusion is that it's always more cost effective to to just keep fossil fuels, but use less of them.
KauaiHiker wrote: "No disrespect taken, so let's talk about it. From what I read, I get the impression that people on Oahu, by virtue of being more metropolitan, are more consumerist oriented. This of course, is a generalization. It does not apply to every person, nor to the same degree. And there are energy waster on the neighbor islands--I could go on about the trucks and the gated compounds, not to mention the resorts and the waste they generate, etc. But I have a hunch that the average is higher on Oahu. I'd love to see the numbers for per capita energy use by county, if anyone has them. I'd love to be proven wrong. Maybe high-rise living is more efficient. Or maybe Oahu uses more energy but also creates more GDP (as a rough measure of economic value)--so we should probably look at those numbers as well. But when I hear these anecdotes about A/C usage and necessity of having a pool, I do wonder--because I don't hear such thing as much among my peers on Kaua'i."
I don't know what the island by island difference in energy consumption is but I'm sure its higher in Oahu just by the basis of how people live in a major city versus a much more rural setting on the neighbor islands. I don't think lumping people in Oahu as consumerist oriented is the right way to put it - the demographics and living conditions in Oahu/Honolulu are very different than being in Maui, BI, or Kauai. We all live in Hawaii but to compare the islands energy consumption island by island isn't much different that taking any mainland state and comparing its major cities to largely rural areas. It isn't a good data point.
I also don't think the overwhelming majority of residents in Oahu want to disfigure neighbor islands and build a bunch of wind farms - that to me seems corporate and political driven.
Last edited by whtviper1; 01-26-2012 at 08:22 PM..
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