Cooling Your Hou$e
Air conditioning bills got you down? You’re not the only one. Commiserate and collaborate with David from Rosewood Ave. He added this comment to a great discussion thread about the need for a local solar panel initiative.
I just spent last weekend blowing insulation in my attic! Trying to do anything and everything I can to not waste my energy that I currently pay for. Which according to one website is way more than the average home in my zip code. What I don’t understand is, in my 1923 row-house, I have replaced all the windows, blown insulation in the attic and overall checked for any exposure points. My a/c unit still blows constantly and my bills don’t go down. I don’t know what else to do. It’s a brick home and the plaster is right on the brick, so no insulation there. But, it’s still 3 bricks thick on my first floor. You’d think that would stop most temperature change. Very frustrating.
On another note, I am looking for a spray foam insulation contractor for another project. Does anyone know of any contacts? (dvbii@nadami.com)
Keep drapes closed. Get sunblocking drapes. Get a time controlling thermostat and program it to only keep the house at 80 when you are at work. Use fans to move the hot air from places it accumulates, like at the top of the stairs. Close off rooms you seldom use and close vents in those rooms. Close doors in rooms you often use to contain cool air longer.
Efficiency is laudable, but another piece is to just become less dependent on air conditioning. Get used to the heat, drink water, turn on ceiling fans, open windows and get in touch with the season.
To Mariane, I have and do all of the above. I still am not sure about the programmable thermostats. Doesn’t it take more work for the a/c to catch up, than to keep up? My house is comfortable, that’s not the issue. It’s the cost associated with keeping it comfortable.
To John M., that’s funny! Life with out air conditioning? I can understand if it is like it is right now outside (a nice 70′s feel) however, back a couple weeks when it was 100′s? I live in the 21st century, not the 19th. Now, I admit that I am conditioned to my air conditioning, and probably a bit more than I should be. But…I am not yet ready to quit that addiction. Especially when it is around 100 degrees outside. ha!
David: I’m feeling John’s suggestion, but you and I both have a trump card to play here. Pregnant wives. We would catch hell if we turned the AC down so we could “get in touch with the season.”
Hey Dave, I know we’ve discussed this before but it could just be that your A/C is not big enough to handle the house. Our houses are almost identical and we’ve had ours set to 76 (and run ceilings fans when we’re home) all summer and our bills have been $120 (its $50 in the winter) I don’t think thats bad but correct me if I’m wrong.
A note of the programmable thermosats: Dave’s right. Its more efficient to keep a constant temp then to vary it. We have programmable thermostats for both heat and A/C. For the last few years we’ve had them cycling up and down based on when we’re home/sleeping etc. This year as I was home on maternity leave we left the heat on constant and our bill wasn’t nearly as bad and our comfort level was way higher, in addition it didn’t stress our old heating system as much. Same has been true for the A/C this summer.
David: All I have to say is I feel your pain, Dominion Power is taking me to the hoop for about $130 in summer and $220 in the winter (all heat pump – i chucked my radiators) The best I can do on a 100+ day is 77-78, and I’ve replaced all my windows with Obama credit argon gas. Aside from putting up 1×1 and sprayfoaming all your walls, then going over them with new sheetrock and trim, id recommend adding installing ceiling fans in each room and buying lots of Dominion stock. ;)
I am sorry, but keeping your home at a constant temperature uses much more energy than using a programmable thermostat. Comparing utility bills from 2 different years is not an accurate test as there are many more factors that can affect your bill than just your thermostat (like the weather). Read more here: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/mytopic=12720
Have you had your A/C unit tested against coolant leaks? Unfortunately, the absolute best thing for keeping your house cool is a large basement, but that is cost prohibitive to add.
I also need additional insulation in my attic if you wouldn’t mind sharing who you used – or did you did it yourself?
Well this is by far the hottest summer and coldest winter since we’ve lived here (4 yrs) and our bills this year have not reflected this. In fact we changed to constant temp based on advice from a HVAC engineer. Brick isn’t that good of an insulator. It only has an R-value of 5. Which means it will only take 5 h for your house to become the outdoor temp. Therefore on a 100 degree day if you have your system set at 75 and then allow the house to come to 80 during the day it will only take 1 h to get there. Our system handles our house well but takes about 1h to reduce the temp by 1 degree. That means it would take 5 h of continuous running to get back to comfort. In the middle of the summer this will leave your A/C system continually stressed. By keeping a constant temp much less enegery is needed to maintain. In a less extreme environment I’d be right there with you on the programming.
Another note is that most systems are only designed to maintain a 20 degree difference between indoor and ourdoor temp this winter and summer have pushed that to the limits.
Also, all the houses in this neighborhood have large basements.
I can’t claim we live without A/C, but we live w/ little A/C: we have a window unit in the back 1st floor, window unit in the back 2nd floor and a window unit in the bedroom. We use fans a lot, but we adapt to the weather and use fans to move A/C from those rooms into the general space.
We also signed up to the Dominion power monthly-average plan. We pay the same amount every month (I think they base it off your last year’s bills) and that protects us from too many nasty surprises. We have a gas furnace, and have signed up for the monthly-average plan w/ DPU, too.