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Originally Posted by 8307c4
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I just checked they're work, added in where I found any gaps/low spots, etc. the ceiling in the living room/ kitchen is vaulted so it just has bats, can only get to about half of it, the rest is blow in. The house is 2x6 construction.
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Light bulbs means LED's all the way, enough said.
My electric bill consistently falls below 1,000 kwh but it's a small 1,200 sq.ft one-story rancher.
I'm used to paying... I think the cheapest this year was $56, and the highest was $120.
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I used mostly LEDs, I only used CFLs in places like closets where they get flicked on for a very short time
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Replacing my refrigerator cost me $600'ish and made a HUGE difference.
This mostly depends how old your unit is, turns out mine was either a late 70's or late 80's model, we're talking $10 - $15 a month difference but even if your refrigerator is only 10-20 years old I may suggest checking the daily or annual use against a newer unit.
As a rule I would replace it IF the savings would pay for the unit within 5-6 years or less and under no circumstances would I replace it if it would not pay for itself within 7-8 years.
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All our appliances are 4 years old and pretty decent units. The one I unplugged was a spare from the 80's we kept in the basement
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I have found lately, dressing appropriately in winter (as in, wearing long john's inside the house) helps me keep my thermostat down... Mine stays at 59 nowadays although I keep a small space heater in whichever room I may be in... Because it's cheaper to heat one room than the whole house.
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We keep the house at 20.5 - 22 deg C in the winter and 23 in the summer
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I also like to turn the heat completely off while I'm gone but you REALLY have to watch it coming back make SURE you have a way to keep the EM heat from kicking on as it has a nasty tendency to do that and it will drive your electric bill sky high in no time.[/QUOTE]
Can't really do that as it gets down to -40c here
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The other problem I did find, is lower winter temperatures means less heat tolerance in summer... Where I used to keep my summer thermostat set to 78-80 I now find myself turning it down to 76 however I found using a window unit A/C in the bedroom I can keep it cool while leaving the rest of the house warmer.
Turns out the human body gets used to being either cold or warm, whichever one...
When the seasons turn the body doesn't catch up right away and there's a limit in terms of temperature extremes that we comfortably tolerate as well.
The trick thus became, to warm / cool the room I happen to be in.
Oh...
I hang my clothes up to dry, I have it but I don't use the electric clothes dryer.[/QUOTE]
We do plan on installing a clothes line, in the meantime I built a filtered drier vent to vent the heat back to the basement during the winter.
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Hope that helps.[/QUOTE]
You bet, thanks