- Joined
- Dec 1, 2011
- Messages
- 33,000
- Reaction score
- 13,973
- Location
- FL - Daytona
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
Theres new sprayed insulation that STICKS its not fluffy like balls of pink insulation they used to blow in...this stuff sticks to what it hits and yyou can move it and put it back and the R factor is very high...I just had 30+ rfactor blown in my attic and it covered the duct work also.
I put a timer on my hot water heater...my plumber tells me its a waste of time...I said why...he said savings are minimal if any.
Some of the biggest offenders...is leaky windows, most people buy a home and never re caulk around the outside of their windows to stop leaks... To my knowledge there is no way to route hot water pipes correctly...most dont insulate hotwater pipes running through your house because any on the outside wall have insulation already and inside walls dont really need it.
High R fact central AC and really efficient furnace burners help dramatically....one thing that I have that helps in fla...I have a solar powered attic fan that uses zero electric and keeps the temp down in the attic to 90 degrees...sounds like alot not in fla..lol
I saved almost a $100 off my monthly electric bill with three changes. Smaller hot water heater, changed all light bulbs to cfl and bought an infrared oven to cook with. The new hot water heaters have two elements but only one stays heated, until there's a draw on the water then the other element kicks in. Also a timer cutting it completely off/on for bath times would save even more. Anything with heating elements pulls energy faster than anything else, except central air/heat. Extra insulation and caulking can help with that alot.
Infrared Oven - cooks most anything - cost $90.
Regular oven - cooks multiple things but is heating too much area for items that will fit in the smaller oven above.
Now I didn't get rid of my larger range/oven just don't use it, unless needed. Besides the smaller oven I also use many microwavable sides, like baked potatoes, rice, fettuccine, steamed veggies.
The microwave also uses much less energy than the range tops.