4000 kWh Electricity??? (Houston, Howe, Mart: houses, construction, restaurants)

[hendersj31]

I am not at 8.5. I am around 9.5 IIRC. It was the best I could find when it was time to renew.

Oh... I didn't catch that they are all 7-9 month plans in the 8.4 cent range. You are right that 12 months is a little above 9 right now.

Originally Posted by LonghornHotspur

Who are you using for $0.085/kWh? I'm only seeing 2,000+ kWh plans around $0.09 or higher for 12 month plans. Grabbing a 9 month plan in August puts you up for renewal again right before peak summer in June '19.

[Big_Hitter]

we used about 4000kWh during warm months when we lived in the 77018 - 3400 sq ft house, two ac units, poor insulation

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by hendersj31

Bet you $1000 you don't want them in a 20 plus year old house. They only suck conditioned air out of the house. The proper solution is radiant barrier.

Sure, because it’s better to have an oven in the attic 24hours/day
My garage has its own roof and I’ve walked there at 10pm and I swear the temperature was over 90F
Because the heat has nowhere to go since the hot air stays in the attic

[predatorprey]

When you change your roof, make sure you add radiant barrier decking. Do not use the spray on, doesn’t work as well and won’t last as long. Also adding ridge vents if you don’t already have will reduce cooling costs.

Upgrading ac/heater units to higher SEER ratings will reduce costs. Look into it when your compressor goes out. Adding

A window film or solar screens on the sunny sides will help.

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I've got a 3900 sq foot with 2 story living space (2 large offices) that we gutted and remodeled in 2015.

When we bought it and prior to the remodel it had R19 fiberglass in the walls, two 14 year old 3.5 ton AC units, single hung double pane windows, older appliances, poor ceiling fiberglass insulation and poor venting in the attic. We spray foamed all exterior walls with 3.5" of closed cell foam, 5" of foam under the floor and 5" of foam on the underside of the roof deck with a new radiant barrier and we converted the attic to conditioned space, we replaced asphalt with galvanized steel on the roof, upgraded to two 3 ton high efficiency zoned AC units, new appliances and all new double hung, double pane windows.

We went from an average of 3800kWh of usage in the summer to just under 1400 kWh. We have dual programmable thermostats and once we got the zones dialed in to account for office time, living time and sleeping time for a family of 5 we are able to keep our thermostats at 72 at night and ~74 during the day depending on what part of the house you're in. It's been a drastic improvement to say the least, it used to be difficult to keep the house cool in the summer months but now we routinely have to raise the temp a couple degrees because people are cold.

I'm guessing your lack of good insulation is the biggest factor in your energy bill.

[fbf2006]

Thanks for the suggestions. So what kind of professional can we call to help us evaluate what exactly we need to do?

[predatorprey]

Originally Posted by fbf2006

Thanks for the suggestions. So what kind of professional can we call to help us evaluate what exactly we need to do?

Not sure you need, a bit of common sense will go a long way. Work on the cheapest and most effective fixes fist.

Just a few from cheapest to most expensive fixes. Some I have done personally in the past.

1. Sealing windows inside and out. Seal attic opening with door tent.
2. Change lights to led. Especially heavy use areas.
3. Add insulation to attic. Look into non distructive ways to add insulation to walls.
4. Consider tinting or adding solar screens to windows that have direct sunlight.
5. Only when changing roof. Add tech shield decking and ridge vents
6. Purchase high seer (16-18) ac/heating combo. Expensive
7. Change to double/triple pane windows. Very expensive.

Even if you do everything you might see a 30-40% cut in Useage at best.

[fbf2006]

A bit of common sense lol. I'm sorry, all this sounds technical to me.

Anyway, we actually do have solar screens on windows and I am gradually changing lights to LED. Everything else seems to need a professional to me. I guess #5-7 are more long term solutions.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by predatorprey

Not sure you need, a bit of common sense will go a long way. Work on the cheapest and most effective fixes fist.

Just a few from cheapest to most expensive fixes. Some I have done personally in the past.

1. Sealing windows inside and out. Seal attic opening with door tent.
2. Change lights to led. Especially heavy use areas.
3. Add insulation to attic. Look into non distructive ways to add insulation to walls.
4. Consider tinting or adding solar screens to windows that have direct sunlight.
5. Only when changing roof. Add tech shield decking and ridge vents
6. Purchase high seer (16-18) ac/heating combo. Expensive
7. Change to double/triple pane windows. Very expensive.

Even if you do everything you might see a 30-40% cut in Useage at best.

Funny that in your list of "common sense things to do" you don't have the purchase of a infrared thermometer to find hot/cold spots around the house.
https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lase...00562779&psc=1

I used that in my house, checked the 2nd floor ceiling and it was 92F.
I was missing some information on a wall, there was a 20F difference in temperature between the spot without insulation and the one with insulation.

[hendersj31]

I understand what you are trying to say but the fans have been proven to suck your cool conditioned air from small crevices, attic entries etc.. and in a 20+ year old house it will be worse. Your attic may be tiny bit cooler but the air conditioning system will work harder to replace the air. They are rarely considered the solution for a hot attic. Like I said, as well as others since my post radiant barrier is the best solution. Especially the one you add when replacing the roof.

Martin Holladay describes it near the end of this article as well as all over the green building advisor forum if you do a search. He is considered an expert on the topic.

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com...r-do-they-hurt

Originally Posted by Dopo

Sure, because it’s better to have an oven in the attic 24hours/day
My garage has its own roof and I’ve walked there at 10pm and I swear the temperature was over 90F
Because the heat has nowhere to go since the hot air stays in the attic