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Old 09-26-10, 08:42 AM   #1
Sularus65
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Default Learning for the future

Hi all,
I am glad I stumbled on this site (actually came over from Ecomodder). I am currently renting a house, which is nothing more than a giant energy black hole. I am hoping to learn quite a bit of energy savings items save money whenever my wife and I decide to buy a house (hopefully soon). I am tired of paying 500 dollar electric bills. I am looking forward to learning as much as possible and may possibly come up with ideas of my own.

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Old 09-26-10, 09:46 AM   #2
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Welcome to the site.

Ouch, $500! That is crazy. Care to explain or show pics of the place? Perhaps we can give some good suggestions off the bat.
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Old 09-26-10, 11:11 AM   #3
Ryland
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I have never heard of a $500 electric bill, at work our bill is around $300 for my boss's house and the work shop combined, house has electric in-floor heat, shop has electric forklift charger and 3 400watt lights, pumps, granite cutting saws and a whole lot of other tools.
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Old 09-26-10, 11:24 AM   #4
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The house is a 3000 sq ft home built in 1920. It is situated in a historic district in New Bern, NC. it has original hard wood floor. A majority of the walls are still orginal or repaired plaster. There are two a/c packs, one for each floor. The upstairs blower is in the attic, and the downstairs system is all contained outside. There are newer storm windows installed over the original singal pane windows from the 1920s.
My wife and I are not holding too much hope for this house. We are looking to buy a home of our own. The landlord here mislead us in the energy usage and we cannot afford to stay here with utility bills this high.
The first month we were here, the house used over 3000kwh with the thermostats set at 77f. After the first month we modified the thermostats. THe upstairs is set to 82 during the day and 79 at night. The downstairs is set at 78 during the day and 76 at night. We run ceiling fans all the time to help with air movement. We leave our cable box with power, but all other electronics in the house (game consoles, tv's, phone chargers......etc) are unplugged or turned off on power strips at night.
If you guys have any ideas we can do until we can get out of this house is greatly appreciated.
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Old 09-26-10, 11:27 AM   #5
RobertSmalls
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
Perhaps we can give some good suggestions off the bat.
DIY energy audit! Get a Kill-A-Watt and figure out where your electricity is going. Look around and see if you can find any incandescent or halogen lights in use, and replace them with CFL and daylight. Figure out how much power is being used by appliances that nobody is using. Then figure out where all your HVAC loads are generated and how you can reduce the amount of energy required to keep your house comfortable.
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Old 09-26-10, 05:03 PM   #6
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I'll look around for one of those Kill a watt devices. See what we can do in the interim.
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Old 09-26-10, 05:28 PM   #7
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They're ~$20 at Home Depot next to the light switch timers, or ~$20 on NewEgg.
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Old 09-26-10, 08:00 PM   #8
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cool, thanks. I know what I am picking up on payday. Gotta hate living paycheck to paycheck on a military income. At least I don't have to pay for child care. My wife is gracious enough to stay at home with the kids. Of course that means I don't have any extra money, other than what the Corps gives me. Good with the bad I guess.
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Old 09-27-10, 01:13 PM   #9
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I have a similar house, but half the size. When I moved in, there wasn't a stitch of insulation in the attic. There were gaping holes where the ceiling dropped down and plumbing went through the ceiling and floor. All of this showed up in my energy bills--the first winter, I had a nearly $400 utility bill followed by several at nearly $300 and the house was still cold. My guess is that most of that bill is going towards heating and cooling.

Before the second winter, I spent a lot of time in the attic sealing gaps, covering up the expanses from the dropped ceiling, and finally insulating. I spent less than $800 and saw a $100/month drop in utility bills in a colder winter. The weatherization and insulation will have paid for themselves by the end of this year, so a 2 year payback.

You may want to see if your landlord will let you deduct improvements that he approves from your rent, say $100 a month until you reach the amount spent. Point out to him that once you move out, he will end up with a substantially improved property making it easier to rent out. He will probably be able to increase rent, but don't mention that! You don't want him increasing it on you. Usually "sweat equity" is limited to owners, but sometimes renters can do it too.

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