Electricity Question

[Smiling JOe]

If your hot water heater is in an uninsulated part of the house, that can cause crazy energy bills, esp in the winter. You can wrap it in an insulated jacket made specifically for hot water heaters. This will help tremendously. Also, you may have to get the timers out for the showers. Just remember what Dr Phil says, "you can be right, or you can be happy." -- even if it hurts the pocketbook. Whatever you do, do not stop the long hot water baths and showers for Mrs Landlocked. They are much less expensive than the marriage councilling will be if you try to time her showers.

 

[Bob]

Replace the windows...double panes are a cheap fix....check that the element in the water heater is clean....set it to 120 degrees....put the water heater on a mechanical timer,... is there a leak in the hot water line somewhere? ....make sure, if you have a heat pump, that,in the heat mode, the compressor is running, not just the heat strips. Check how well the exterior doors seal air...change all light bulbs to flourescent[costco], If you have can lights in the ceiling, make sure they don't leak air, insulate the attic, conversely does the attic allow for proper ventilation. get rid of older appliances[10 yrs.plus], clean the mildew off roof shingles, are the shingles a dark color? analyze the perimeter of the house...is an asphalt driveway too near one exterior wall contributing to heat gain. How many computers/tvs are left on continuosly..small aplliances on...any grow lights for pot cultivation left on in the master bedroom?

 

[OhioBeachBum]

LL - I noticed one of the items in your "watch out for" list...
Does your current home have aluminum wiring???

 

[Landlocked]

LL - I noticed one of the items in your "watch out for" list...
Does your current home have aluminum wiring???

Yes, unfortunately it does.

 

[Miss Kitty]

Yes, unfortunately it does.

Put that at the top of your list for replacing!!!!

 

[Landlocked]

About the aluminum wiring, I will have to have it replaced one day. This is unfortunately going to be a costly update, not to mention, they're going to have to cut holes in walls, etc.

Not long ago, we had a light switch that was installed upside down, so, I took off the plate, and unscrewed the switch to flip it over. I turned the switch a half turn and one of the dang wires twisted in half and broke. Aluminum wiring is the stupidest idea anyone ever had. The stuff is dangerous. If you have a loose connection somewhere, it causes HEAT. How smart is that? Even smarter than that, is the person who buys a home with aluminum wiring? Yep, that would be me.

 

[OhioBeachBum]

About the aluminum wiring, I will have to have it replaced one day. This is unfortunately going to be a costly update, not to mention, they're going to have to cut holes in walls, etc.

Not long ago, we had a light switch that was installed upside down, so, I took off the plate, and unscrewed the switch to flip it over. I turned the switch a half turn and one of the dang wires twisted in half and broke. Aluminum wiring is the stupidest idea anyone ever had. The stuff is dangerous. If you have a loose connection somewhere, it causes HEAT. How smart is that? Even smarter than that, is the person who buys a home with aluminum wiring? Yep, that would be me.

Worse, heat causes fire (much greater potential than with CU) and heat is energy wasted. You don't have to replace the wiring - you can mitigate with COPALUM pigtails at all the connection points for about 1/5 of total wiring replacement cost:
http://www.inspect-ny.com/aluminum.htm
http://www.montanahomeinspectors.com/consumerinfo/aluminum.htm
http://tooling.tycoelectronics.com/wiring_dangers.stm

Some more questions:
Basement, crawlspace, or slab?
Ranch or multi-story?
All electric or fossil / electric mix?

 

[Landlocked]

OBB-

From one of your links:

"A lot of times people ask me for an estimate on rewiring," said Bob Krebs, vice president of Hawkins Electric Services in Hyattsville, another authorized COPALUM installer. "But I won't even give them one 'cause you might as well tear the whole house down."

That's just freakin' great!

The house is a one story ranch on a slab with electric only.

Anybody want to buy a house? Ha ha

 

[OhioBeachBum]

The house is a one story ranch on a slab with electric only.
Anybody want to buy a house? Ha ha

The pigtails are an OK alternative - fixes the problem points.
Your monthly elec cost seems dramatically out of line, if I have my info right. The high (apparent) elec use + AL wiring + all you've replaced makes me nervous. Marginal connections (that's what happens with AL) burn power, in addition to other obvious hazard. I'd dig into that PDQ.

My area, elec is around 8-9 cents per KWh and net shopping suggests price in your area is lower, in the 6-7 cents per KWh range. I was paying (in 2001) about $160/mo for an all electric 1800 sq/ft place (and I had a well pump in the mix then as well) - rates were slightly lower then. That was nearly 200/mo when I first picked up that place in '95, and elec was even cheaper then!
Here's what I did (mostly echos of what bob & SJ already mentioned):

• Vent the attic properly. Major bang for the buck. Soffit vents between each truss. Continuous ridge cap vents. Gable end vents (and I had to hack through brick to put those in!). Lowers temp in attic, less delta between attic and living space, keeps insul dry, more efficient.
• Windows. If you can "feel" air, you're throwing major $$ out the window. In '95 I replaced all the windows in that place with argon filled double-pane, solar reflective coating, vinyl stuff - old windows were double pane metal frames, leaked like the dickens. Cost about 5K then, shaved about $25/mo off my bill right off the bat. If you're handy (I saw your shop product, you can handle this ;-) ), Pella custom sized replacements, install yourself. A neighbor back then did this, one or two a month.
• Match heat pump / exchanger properly to living space. Either too big or too small wastes significant energy. Hopefully, folks that handled your new stuff did that math right. Have refrigerant pressure & HP checked every year.
• Electric W/H elements tend to crap out every 6-8 years or so, usually top one first. Drain the W/H every year to get lime out of bottom. Set to no more than 130, 120 even better, and carefully match top & bottom element settings. If running out of hot water frequently, go to a 50 gal unit. Put an insul blanket on it.
• Install flow-limited shower heads. You end up not using as much (hot) water, and I sure don't notice any difference showering.
• Keep your dryer vent clean. A little lint build up increases dryer time, and they're expensive to run.
• Replace incandescent light bulbs with those fluorescent gizmos. Pricey initially, but a 35W fluorescent puts out as much light as a 100W incandescent, and lasts much, much longer.
• Programmable thermostat. Auto adjust temp by as little as 2 degrees when sleeping and/or not at home saves $$.
• Weather seal around doors & add quality storm doors can save $$.
• If your walls are not insulated (some still in 70's were built without), major $$ going out there. You can have retrofit foam installed. Not cheap, but major energy savings over uninsulated walls.
• Whole house fan & ceiling fans. Can buy you an additional 8-14 A/C free weeks per year. Ceiling fans can make higher A/C setting feel more acceptable.
• You didn't say whether you had a well. Replacing an old pump with a new more efficient model can save $$.

Most utility companies will do a free energy audit. Have them check your meter - make sure it's calibrated/functioning correctly, particularly if your neighbors are paying much less for similar sized homes. Friend had that done, found meter was faulty (got a big refund check and a new meter).

 

[kathydwells]

LL, my house was built in 1980. I have lived there 12 years. My utility bills for the first 3 years I lived there were about $250 - $300 a month. My heat pump ran all the time and it never seemed to be cool enough/warm enough. The heat pump finall went out. The utility company came and did an energy save audit on my house. He discovered that the unit that was there was never large enough for the house. We bought a new heat pump, and had some duct work done. The largest utility bill I have had since then is $164.00. The new heat pump paid for itself. Just wanted to let you know my experience....Good Luck!