I came across some energy bills from 16 years ago, and I compared them with current bills that almost perfectly match the months involved.
It is interesting that my electricity use has stayed pretty constant, but my gas bill dropped significantly.
Conservation improvements:
- Nat Gas central air heating replaced by 3/4 Ton Mini-Split.
- Tank style Nat Gas DWH replaced by Nat Gas tankless demand DWH.
- Mix of incandescent and CFL lighting replaced by all LED lighting.
- Nat Gas cooking replaced by induction cooking (except for gas oven).
- Occasional air conditioning replaced by ceiling fans (+ mini-split A/C when it is just too dreadful).
- Poor to no insulation replaced by very serious rigid foam, and some mineral wool insulation... more upgrades still needed.
Anti-Conservation:
- I still run my Gas oven on "warm" to cut the chill, during the worst winter days.
- I now seem to be running 2 computers 24/7.
- My sound system is much improved.
So, in the big picture:
My gas heating burden has been almost completely shifted to electric mini-split heat.
My gas use for DWH has gotten so low, that the cost to read the gas meter in the "no-heat" months is higher than my gas use. Since my gas cooking has shifted to induction, this also has a reducing effect on gas and a very small increasing effect on electricity use.
My electricity use has remained the nearly same, despite it being the greatest source of heating.
My insulation jihad is really paying off.
Best,
-AC_Hacker