EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Introductions
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-11-11, 12:54 AM   #1
tomboy mom
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: arizona
Posts: 39
Thanks: 5
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default great site! loving it already (8

needless to say since this an intro thread...another newbie here.

i live in arizona (the hot part) so this is our low-energy time of year. i have spent all winter trying to do more to reduce our outrageous summer electric bills.

up until about a year ago i focused mainly on the house itself. my new focus is the yard. i've planted trees, cacti, and shrubs all winter hoping for some relief this coming summer. it took a long time to get the soil modified enough to be fit for planting.

i ended up here searching to see if a goofy idea i had has been tried before. got sidetracked because i'm loving the site...hoping to figure out how to best keep the inside at least 40 degrees cooler than the outside.

tomboy mom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-11, 03:36 AM   #2
Piwoslaw
Super Moderator
 
Piwoslaw's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posts: 960
Thanks: 188
Thanked 110 Times in 86 Posts
Default

Hello, welcome to ER

Before you started planting, what improvements did you do to the house?

And what is your goofy idea?
__________________
Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog.
Piwoslaw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-11, 06:04 AM   #3
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Welcome to the site.

Do tell of your ideas and things you done recently. We love to hear about that stuff.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-11, 06:52 AM   #4
tomboy mom
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: arizona
Posts: 39
Thanks: 5
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Piwoslaw View Post
Hello, welcome to ER

Before you started planting, what improvements did you do to the house?

And what is your goofy idea?
thank you both for welcomes.

before planting:

-replaced downstairs carpet with tile, although that was probably more about the disaster of five kids in a dining room with carpet.
-bought curtains and lined them with two additional layers...the middle layer being pieced together from whatever i could find. all of them have one thick layer and two thin
-put cheap and ugly window shades between blinds and windows
-made exterior sun shades from a recycled sun canopy
-the usual caulk maintenance routine
-fashioned assorted temporary shades for air conditioner (it's not really big enough for the house--it died on us several times the first two summers), including sunflower walls to provide some afternoon shade for it. now i have an arbor there and need to figure out what will grow on it in summer heat. we only use the unit about six hours a day unless i can't keep up.
-climbed into both attics and stapled up an assortment of dollar store car shades, 1/2 roll of recycled mylar, aluminum foil...on the west facing side of the upstairs attic i used the insulated reflective rolls.
-added insulation to attic over garage
-put in foam sections on garage door
-where practical, added a back to shelves in garage.
-assorted windows have mylar--we have on hoa so this is tricky. we do it anyway in the back hoping they can't see it through the exterior sun shades.

goofy idea is not entirely well-developed--
i want to construct some sort of wall a few feet from the house. i'm considering making it the back of a raised bed and attaching a trellis. however, i want the back of it to have a couple of shelves to house my two bins of gardening tools without being attractive to black widows. what i really want is based on the shade system used by the metro phoenix light rail system-a durable living screen with attached raised bed. they use bouganvillas--i would prefer grapes.
tomboy mom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-11, 07:15 AM   #5
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Sounds like you've been busy!

Interesting idea with the raised bed. Although, I am a bit unsure of what you are talking about with the storage bins.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-11, 08:30 AM   #6
tomboy mom
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: arizona
Posts: 39
Thanks: 5
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
Sounds like you've been busy!

Interesting idea with the raised bed. Although, I am a bit unsure of what you are talking about with the storage bins.
think built in bookshelf.

tomboy mom is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:50 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design