Utility Bill Savings

Since I moved back to my parents' house in 2001, I've been doing what I can to make the house more energy efficient. All 3 of us are on very limited incomes now and so must conserve the collective monies in any way possible.

One problem being, they are elderly and are getting cold at warmer temperatures. This means each year, the average indoor temperature goes up about a degree. And with Mom's heart/lung issues, she needs AC in the summer for air quality as much as temperature. So AC is turned on at cooler outdoor temps.

Conserving with parameters like these is a challenge! However, with a 140 y.o. house, it's not as bad as it could be. I'm getting close to maxing out on improvements, but I have about another year of major work before I'm struggling to find ways to bring the numbers down.

My natural gas (NG) and electric (E) numbers go back to 2004. Unfortunately, I've not found the bills for prior to 2004, although I'm certain my mom has kept them somewhere. It's just a matter of finding them.

2004 we added a new roof, which meant some more attic insulation, peak vents, better underlayment - the new roof is in the picture above...

So, 2004 numbers

NG total 1606 btu's

E total 12,595 kwh's

CO2 in Metric Tons - 13.07

WOW - are those horrid numbers or WHAT? Perspective - it's about 1000 sf.

In 2005, we resided it. Sorry - vinyl. We couldn't afford anything different. I believe we also got the new gas stove and furnace, which the numbers reflect...

The numbers for 2005

NG - 1127

E - 11309

CO2 - 10.37

Late in 2005, so the numbers are reflected more in 2006, we insulated an unheated space of the house, the cellarway. It went from hideous to fab (by comparison) in a month. Life can be that good sometimes!

We weren't able to add a lot of insulation, but a new window was put in, a new door, a new storm door, drywall and caulking continues as I find new cracks to fill.

This, along with the addition of CFLs to most of our lighting, was all we could do for the house. I turned my attention to landscaping for 2006.

Some of the improvements helped with the heating and cooling of the house, but mostly beautification and reducing the amount of lawn to be mowed.

2006 numbers

NG 1268 (up, but winter was brutal)
E 9377 (down!)

CO2 - 10.42

2007 turned into the year life was put on hold. Mom had her heart attack April 1, and is still undergoing stent placement 18 months later. I did little more than trying to keep the house running since she was fully unable, I'm barely able and Dad is oblivious/unable. LOL I did get some more of the attic insulated with radiant barrier, but that was it.

2007 Numbers

NG 1315

E 9832

CO2 - 10.85

More heating and more AC due to the illness.

And finally 2008 rolled around. It's been the year of weather extremes. Hot, dry, cold, snow. And that was just April. But truly, we had many more days to AC and to heat than the previous 2 years, so I was certain we'd be headed for trouble.

However, we were able to remodel Dad's bedroom, which meant ripping out the lath and plaster, insulating fully and making it look like something other than a 140 y.o. attic space.

Yes, those are plank walls.

With the added insulation all the way around, his room accounts for almost 25% of the roofline. A mighty big chunk to be insulating. And WOW did it help during the summer! The upstairs stayed cooler when I added the reflective barrier stuff to crawl spaces - by almost 10 degrees. This decreased it another 15. So rather than being 100 on an 80 degree day, it was 80 at 4 in the afternoon on an 85 degree day.

The house needed to stay as cool as before, but the AC didn't run half as much because of the house staying cooler all by itself.

This winter, I have better wood to use in the woodstove, which is poorly placed to be heating the entire house (and so doesn't). The pieces are smaller, which makes it far easier for me to control the heat output. And, I've finally installed those programmable thermostats I bought a year ago. Both factors keep Dad from playing with the heat as much - at all really.

I also purchased a spin dryer. I know solar dryers are the best, but with all of the disabilities in the house, the electric dryer is really necessary. So, by spin drying, I can remove up to 2 quarts of water from the clothes before they hit the dryer. All for 300 watts. Drying time is halved, saving us a ton in electricity.

2008 Numbers

NG 1204

E 8079

CO2 - 9.59 - WOOO below 10!

A decrease of 8% year to year for NG and 18% for E. WOW

Natural Gas Numbers

2004 - 1606

2005 - 1127

2006 - 1268

2007 - 1315

2008 - 1204

Electric Numbers

2004 - 12595

2005 - 11309

2006 - 9377

2007 - 9832

2008 - 8079

The amount of money saved for this year alone, from 2004's numbers to 2008's numbers is nearly 1G. Amazingly, electric is within 1 penny of the 2004 cost. So, even though that's seen such a dramatic decrease in use, it's not as dramatic for cost savings as the NG. But, any savings is more than worth it to me!

I also know they were paying more per month for their utilities in 2001 than I am paying now, so there has been at least a halving of the amount used over the last 7 years.

The savings are being put back into the house - we'll be redoing my room next. It's on the NW side of the house, no insulation, storm windows that don't really work, and receives the full brunt of winter wind - even with the landscaping I've done.

It should be interesting to see what savings we accrue this coming year. It makes me very excited!