Goals for 2012

Daox · 01-09-12, 10:17 AM

There is a fun thread we have going on Ecomodder.com about what goals we had for 2010 and what we hope to achieve for 2011. I think it would be fun to do that here as well. Each year you can look back at what you hoped to do and what you actually got done.

For 2012 here are the things I'd like to get done and see happen:

Get solar hot water setup working for hot water and space heating.
Continue air sealing projects.
Finish remodeling the office.
Make tweaks to attic heat fan (adding more fans).
I'd like to get my garage insulated, but we'll see.

Combination of projects I'd like to see a ~20% reduction in energy usage for the year.

MetroMPG · 01-09-12, 10:29 AM

Through my years thus far on this planet, I have learned to reach for the sky when setting goals! (Insert image of winged unicorn here.)

That's my biggest skill - the reaching part. I rarely actually meet my goals. But I'm a superb reacher.

I bought a wee house in 2011. A bank reposession. It's a beauty! Some parts of it are even structurally sound! (A "handyman special" in real-estate-agent-speak... a bit of an understatement. But I got a fair price and dove in with open eyes).

Haven't moved in yet, but that's the goal for 2011. Ideally, that means gutting the bedroom (water damage in the ceiling, next to no insulation in the walls & ceiling, no vapour barriers, etc), installing 2 new-to-me windows, and doing some minor structural repairs (at least 1 problem floor joist).

I have no idea what I'm doing, but learning curves are fun. Ecorenovation heaven, here I come.

Once I accomplish my 2012 goal, my next one is building a stable out back for my winged unicorn.

Piwoslaw · 01-09-12, 11:45 AM

2012 will see a small baby joining us, so any large renovations or construction will be on hold. New babies have a tendency to increase their household's energy and water usage (not to mention fuel consumption), so if those stay at the same level as last year, then I'll be happy.

We will get a new washing machine that uses less energy and water than the 12-year old model we have now. Hopefully this will partially make up for the cost of being used more often.

I'll also do any renovation if the chance comes by, but nothing can be planned at the moment.

MN Renovator · 01-09-12, 12:31 PM

This spring I am looking to finish up any additional insulation and air sealing that I've charted out as needing to be done.

I straightened the fins on the air conditioner last year and will check it again.

If it seems like I need to add any ventilation I'll do it, I'm right on the edge where barometric pressure changes and extremely windy days seem to freshen up the house enough. I'll see if the humidity stays down in the summer because that is the one way to know fairly well if the house is as tight as I want it to be. If the house is too tight in the winter I'll have problems with my natural draft furnace getting enough air to breathe so I have to watch that and perform a worse case depressurization with the clothes dryer, bathroom fans, and furnace on for awhile while watching to be sure air is being sucked up the draft opening and not back into the house.

I'm looking at talking my brother into getting his house to 14" of cellulose after air sealing the place well, I keep hearing that its expensive though but my cellulose bill for 50 bags and multiple cans of spray foam and some caulking was about $300 and $100 for the energy audit and his place would need less cellulose than mine and will be much easier to insulate. I can't imagine the work I did would take more than a few years to pay off versus the 7" of cellulose and large leaks I had before.

Edit/Add: Electricity usage goal: The last time I checked(November) my 12 month previous energy usage was 2500kwh/year or 208kwh/mo 6.85kwh/day. I misread the 2kw society text as 2kwh but apparently they say that a person needs 17.5kwh a year on global average. I'm quite certain that even including heating and driving(majority is here) that I use far less but I'll ignore the 2kw society thing and aim for 2000kwh for 2012 which is about 80% of my 2011 electricity usage.

Water goal under 10k gallons for 2012, not sure where I stand but that might actually be an easy goal even if I include the water I dump on the ground outside to make food.

Natural gas goal I can't really make since its more dependent on seasonal factors which this December was proof of with a 31 therm bill in Minnesota compared to last December at almost three times that.

If anyone new moves into my house, I'll lose some control over heat, cooling, and electrical use in general so these goals would be nearly impossible to keep.

Xringer · 01-09-12, 02:53 PM

My Goal in 2012 is to complete all the left over jobs from last year (and 2010),
and to learn how to use this new camera my daughter gave me for Xmas..

Here's my first video.. (I set it for low-def)..

m2.mov - YouTube

strider3700 · 01-09-12, 03:47 PM

hmm, clean up and organize the carport
finish the carport roof
close in part of the carport.
gut and redo the laundry room.
install a fresh air intake for the woodstove
covert/illegal solar hotwater install
kitchen fan hookup.
Bathroom fans or HRV setup.
paint the basement recroom
clean up and get all of the gardens going again.
make a new garden bed for raspberries where the cedar tree's used to be.
take 4 bait boxes and turn them into 2 fullsize hives and expand the apiary.
bring in 3 cords of firewood for next winter.
paint the kitchen porch
replace the kitchen porch roof
paint/wainscoting in the dining room
plus whatever my wife decides we need to do

Do a crap load more camping in my freetime lol

<edit> dog just decided to clear the clothesline of what he could reach and chew what he brought down so a dog kennel/run is now on the list in a fasttracked position </edit>

Higgy · 01-10-12, 09:10 AM

Well we just bought a new house (built in 87) in November so we have quite a bit to do.

- Cleaning fixing up the garage.
- The furnace/AC is 25 years old, so that will be our primary purchase this year. We need something efficient. I'd like to have someone seal up parts of the house that I don't want to do and then get an HRV put in, but I'm still debating that one. We need to get some fresh air in that house, more so for the winter.
- The basement has some issues such as uneven floors and they only put up the framework and insulation down the basement. Now the issue is that the framework is only 2x3. So since the floor is uneven I may just tear everything down, have someone come in and do the floor then re-frame the basement in 2x4 and spray foam it if I can afford it.
- Our water softener is also old I think. That may need to be replaced but I'm going to try to hold off until next year to replace that one.
- The toilets are old and we probably could use new ones. Costco sells some good ones for $150.
- I need to build a garden somewhere in the yard.
- I may need to put up a fence as my dog has to be on a leash in the yard right now.
- I need to put up my kids play structure.
- I'm sure there is more...but that's the big stuff. Geez I'm tired just writing about it.

Quest · 01-10-12, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

2012 will see a small baby joining us, so any large renovations or construction will be on hold. New babies have a tendency to increase their household's energy and water usage (not to mention fuel consumption), so if those stay at the same level as last year, then I'll be happy.

We will get a new washing machine that uses less energy and water than the 12-year old model we have now. Hopefully this will partially make up for the cost of being used more often.

I'll also do any renovation if the chance comes by, but nothing can be planned at the moment.

Congrats on that!

I got a 2yr old and a 5yr old and just downright busy...little work can be done to maintain my house (so I'd prefer to get it done right the first time instead of revisiting some 1/2 finished work along).

Q.

Quest · 01-10-12, 01:06 PM

As for me this grand 2012 will have the following done:

(1) if I'm lucky enough to get the HomeDeport rebate on AS Cadet 3 on sale again, I'll see if I can get my hands on a couple of 6L flush ones and get the municipal rebates (100bux each, up to 2 toilets per family per rebate filed (1time only))

(2) service all the CFLs and replace the lytic capacitors within with either Panasonic EE series or Rubycon CFX/BXA/BXC series, and see if I can literally stretch my CFL useful service life to beyond 8khrs (or until the filament within burns out).

(3). get all the Gila film (Gila residential Platinum series) done on all the windows. So far: completed about 30% and need to purchase more online.

(4).get a garden shed going this summer (to house my mower, wifey's spare tires, etc.)

Q.

MN Renovator · 01-11-12, 09:54 AM

"service all the CFLs and replace the lytic capacitors within with either Panasonic EE series or Rubycon CFX/BXA/BXC series, and see if I can literally stretch my CFL useful service life to beyond 8khrs (or until the filament within burns out)."

Are you actually seeing your CFLs burning out? I've been using CFL's since the early 90's and I have some of the twin tube GE lamps that were rated at 12,000 hours(they actually have a sticker over the 10,000 hour on the box with the revised rating) and I've had 8 that have been used for well over 12k hours and only lost one of them, I oringinally bought 12 and still have 11 but only had fixtures to use 8 of them, I figured I would have replaced these long ago. These old ones are a little off-color and were from the start and don't fit in the fixtures that I have where I'm living now since they are huge and their brightness has reduced over time but the only CFLs that I've ever lost were ones that were installed in a bathroom where they only stay on for a few minutes and get shut off. The cycling kills them so I don't use CFLs in the bathroom but the rest of the house except for the basement(lights aren't used often or for a long time here), garage door light, and my handheld light for working on the car. The bathroom has an 8 watt LED that is supposed to be equal to a 40 and two 60 watt incandescents that remain unscrewed slightly unless I have guests over.

None of my Sylvania or GE micromini CFLs have burned out yet. The GE are the on-instant start ones and are used in my bedroom often. I've got Sylvania instant start micromini CFLs in the kitchen and living room. I really like the Sylvanias, the instant start and quality of light make them my favorite. It seems now the standard GEs are instant start though even though they don't advertise it but I'm nervous to buy any that don't advertise it since they last forever and I don't think I could return one and I don't want to chuck a CFL to the recyclers just because it isn't instant start.

01-09-12, 10:17 AM	#1
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Goals for 2012 There is a fun thread we have going on Ecomodder.com about what goals we had for 2010 and what we hope to achieve for 2011. I think it would be fun to do that here as well. Each year you can look back at what you hoped to do and what you actually got done. For 2012 here are the things I'd like to get done and see happen: Get solar hot water setup working for hot water and space heating. Continue air sealing projects. Finish remodeling the office. Make tweaks to attic heat fan (adding more fans). I'd like to get my garage insulated, but we'll see. Combination of projects I'd like to see a ~20% reduction in energy usage for the year. __________________ 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. Last edited by Piwoslaw; 01-09-12 at 11:29 AM.. Reason: Changed year from 2011 to 2012

01-09-12, 10:29 AM	#2
MetroMPG Infrequent noob Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: 1000 Islands region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 402 Thanks: 37 Thanked 20 Times in 19 Posts	Through my years thus far on this planet, I have learned to reach for the sky when setting goals! (Insert image of winged unicorn here.) That's my biggest skill - the reaching part. I rarely actually meet my goals. But I'm a superb reacher. I bought a wee house in 2011. A bank reposession. It's a beauty! Some parts of it are even structurally sound! (A "handyman special" in real-estate-agent-speak... a bit of an understatement. But I got a fair price and dove in with open eyes). Haven't moved in yet, but that's the goal for 2011. Ideally, that means gutting the bedroom (water damage in the ceiling, next to no insulation in the walls & ceiling, no vapour barriers, etc), installing 2 new-to-me windows, and doing some minor structural repairs (at least 1 problem floor joist). I have no idea what I'm doing, but learning curves are fun. Ecorenovation heaven, here I come. Once I accomplish my 2012 goal, my next one is building a stable out back for my winged unicorn. __________________ . 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. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

01-09-12, 11:45 AM	#3
Piwoslaw Super Moderator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 961 Thanks: 188 Thanked 110 Times in 86 Posts	2012 will see a small baby joining us, so any large renovations or construction will be on hold. New babies have a tendency to increase their household's energy and water usage (not to mention fuel consumption), so if those stay at the same level as last year, then I'll be happy. We will get a new washing machine that uses less energy and water than the 12-year old model we have now. Hopefully this will partially make up for the cost of being used more often. I'll also do any renovation if the chance comes by, but nothing can be planned at the moment. __________________ Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog.

01-09-12, 12:31 PM	#4
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	This spring I am looking to finish up any additional insulation and air sealing that I've charted out as needing to be done. I straightened the fins on the air conditioner last year and will check it again. If it seems like I need to add any ventilation I'll do it, I'm right on the edge where barometric pressure changes and extremely windy days seem to freshen up the house enough. I'll see if the humidity stays down in the summer because that is the one way to know fairly well if the house is as tight as I want it to be. If the house is too tight in the winter I'll have problems with my natural draft furnace getting enough air to breathe so I have to watch that and perform a worse case depressurization with the clothes dryer, bathroom fans, and furnace on for awhile while watching to be sure air is being sucked up the draft opening and not back into the house. I'm looking at talking my brother into getting his house to 14" of cellulose after air sealing the place well, I keep hearing that its expensive though but my cellulose bill for 50 bags and multiple cans of spray foam and some caulking was about $300 and $100 for the energy audit and his place would need less cellulose than mine and will be much easier to insulate. I can't imagine the work I did would take more than a few years to pay off versus the 7" of cellulose and large leaks I had before. Edit/Add: Electricity usage goal: The last time I checked(November) my 12 month previous energy usage was 2500kwh/year or 208kwh/mo 6.85kwh/day. I misread the 2kw society text as 2kwh but apparently they say that a person needs 17.5kwh a year on global average. I'm quite certain that even including heating and driving(majority is here) that I use far less but I'll ignore the 2kw society thing and aim for 2000kwh for 2012 which is about 80% of my 2011 electricity usage. Water goal under 10k gallons for 2012, not sure where I stand but that might actually be an easy goal even if I include the water I dump on the ground outside to make food. Natural gas goal I can't really make since its more dependent on seasonal factors which this December was proof of with a 31 therm bill in Minnesota compared to last December at almost three times that. If anyone new moves into my house, I'll lose some control over heat, cooling, and electrical use in general so these goals would be nearly impossible to keep. Last edited by MN Renovator; 01-09-12 at 03:41 PM..

01-09-12, 02:53 PM	#5
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	My Goal in 2012 is to complete all the left over jobs from last year (and 2010), and to learn how to use this new camera my daughter gave me for Xmas.. Here's my first video.. (I set it for low-def).. m2.mov - YouTube __________________ My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..

01-09-12, 03:47 PM	#6
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	hmm, clean up and organize the carport finish the carport roof close in part of the carport. gut and redo the laundry room. install a fresh air intake for the woodstove covert/illegal solar hotwater install kitchen fan hookup. Bathroom fans or HRV setup. paint the basement recroom clean up and get all of the gardens going again. make a new garden bed for raspberries where the cedar tree's used to be. take 4 bait boxes and turn them into 2 fullsize hives and expand the apiary. bring in 3 cords of firewood for next winter. paint the kitchen porch replace the kitchen porch roof paint/wainscoting in the dining room plus whatever my wife decides we need to do Do a crap load more camping in my freetime lol <edit> dog just decided to clear the clothesline of what he could reach and chew what he brought down so a dog kennel/run is now on the list in a fasttracked position </edit> Last edited by strider3700; 01-15-12 at 01:52 PM.. Reason: remembered more to do

01-10-12, 09:10 AM	#7
Higgy The Gardener Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Manitoba - Canada Posts: 492 Thanks: 17 Thanked 8 Times in 7 Posts	Well we just bought a new house (built in 87) in November so we have quite a bit to do. - Cleaning fixing up the garage. - The furnace/AC is 25 years old, so that will be our primary purchase this year. We need something efficient. I'd like to have someone seal up parts of the house that I don't want to do and then get an HRV put in, but I'm still debating that one. We need to get some fresh air in that house, more so for the winter. - The basement has some issues such as uneven floors and they only put up the framework and insulation down the basement. Now the issue is that the framework is only 2x3. So since the floor is uneven I may just tear everything down, have someone come in and do the floor then re-frame the basement in 2x4 and spray foam it if I can afford it. - Our water softener is also old I think. That may need to be replaced but I'm going to try to hold off until next year to replace that one. - The toilets are old and we probably could use new ones. Costco sells some good ones for $150. - I need to build a garden somewhere in the yard. - I may need to put up a fence as my dog has to be on a leash in the yard right now. - I need to put up my kids play structure. - I'm sure there is more...but that's the big stuff. Geez I'm tired just writing about it.

01-10-12, 01:06 PM	#9
Quest Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 109 Thanks: 13 Thanked 13 Times in 11 Posts	As for me this grand 2012 will have the following done: (1) if I'm lucky enough to get the HomeDeport rebate on AS Cadet 3 on sale again, I'll see if I can get my hands on a couple of 6L flush ones and get the municipal rebates (100bux each, up to 2 toilets per family per rebate filed (1time only)) (2) service all the CFLs and replace the lytic capacitors within with either Panasonic EE series or Rubycon CFX/BXA/BXC series, and see if I can literally stretch my CFL useful service life to beyond 8khrs (or until the filament within burns out). (3). get all the Gila film (Gila residential Platinum series) done on all the windows. So far: completed about 30% and need to purchase more online. (4).get a garden shed going this summer (to house my mower, wifey's spare tires, etc.) Q. Last edited by Quest; 01-10-12 at 01:31 PM..

01-11-12, 09:54 AM	#10
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	"service all the CFLs and replace the lytic capacitors within with either Panasonic EE series or Rubycon CFX/BXA/BXC series, and see if I can literally stretch my CFL useful service life to beyond 8khrs (or until the filament within burns out)." Are you actually seeing your CFLs burning out? I've been using CFL's since the early 90's and I have some of the twin tube GE lamps that were rated at 12,000 hours(they actually have a sticker over the 10,000 hour on the box with the revised rating) and I've had 8 that have been used for well over 12k hours and only lost one of them, I oringinally bought 12 and still have 11 but only had fixtures to use 8 of them, I figured I would have replaced these long ago. These old ones are a little off-color and were from the start and don't fit in the fixtures that I have where I'm living now since they are huge and their brightness has reduced over time but the only CFLs that I've ever lost were ones that were installed in a bathroom where they only stay on for a few minutes and get shut off. The cycling kills them so I don't use CFLs in the bathroom but the rest of the house except for the basement(lights aren't used often or for a long time here), garage door light, and my handheld light for working on the car. The bathroom has an 8 watt LED that is supposed to be equal to a 40 and two 60 watt incandescents that remain unscrewed slightly unless I have guests over. None of my Sylvania or GE micromini CFLs have burned out yet. The GE are the on-instant start ones and are used in my bedroom often. I've got Sylvania instant start micromini CFLs in the kitchen and living room. I really like the Sylvanias, the instant start and quality of light make them my favorite. It seems now the standard GEs are instant start though even though they don't advertise it but I'm nervous to buy any that don't advertise it since they last forever and I don't think I could return one and I don't want to chuck a CFL to the recyclers just because it isn't instant start.