Energy Saving Tips - Please Share

[RhondaHonda]

How much are your current utility bills? If I remember correctly, you keep your house barely above the outdoor temp as it is, so I can’t imagine there’s much to be saved. If this is just something you are interested in doing I can get that but I wouldn’t spend a ton of money to save $3/month.

The corner door seals are exactly what I need for our exterior doors. The garbage Therma-Tru doors don’t seal very well or possibly installer-related. I can see daylight at the bottom strike side of the doors so I’ll mess with that today.

 

[wings&wheels]

Send your 16y/o Daughter away to school...seriously, almost halved our oil bill (45 minute showers.....)

 

[Pew]

I actually just bought a Duck max strength kit. Supposedly the film is reusable, you just have to buy more double-sided tape. My windows aren’t drafty, so it may not be a good ROI.

This year I tried that one, the Frost King sold at Home Depot, and the md PolarLock from Ace Hardware. My favorite was the md PolarLock for ease of installation but the Duck Max Strength plastic was notably stronger but I couldn't stand the tape that came with it. I haven't taken one off yet but I'm not sure how easily reusable the plastic is after heat shrinking it.

 

[Boomer]

One thing to think about with blown in cellulose insulation (it is a great product). It is fireproofed using borax and borates which has the added advantage of keeping out insects. Boron inactivates an enzyme that insects need to survive and so they instinctively avoid it. This helps keep out ants, roaches and other unpleasant pests from your house!

 

[gathermewool]

Keep in mind what I say may help someone else out in the future even if its not applicable to the thread starter.
I had a new home last year and it has a 65 gallon Rheem hybrid water heater. It cost a fortune upfront. I have geothermal HVAC and decided against a desuperheater for hot water.

Here is the energy label @ .14 a KW for a 65 gallon, 59 filled Rheem ProTerra.

View attachment 135370

I‘d kill for $0.14/kWh!

It’s funny that their estimate is lower than the bottom of the scale.

I would like to make a hybrid work, but I need to find out whether I can divert the exhaust based on the time of year. The water heater is in the basement. Some extra cooling and dehumidification would be nice in the summer, but it gets down to the 40s every so often in the winter. It’s usually around 50, but on the coldest weeks it gets low enough that I run a space heater To save the pipes.

Im greedy, so I want the best of both depending on the season. The outside wall is right there, less than a foot from the heater.

 

[gathermewool]

I installed a hybrid water heater last summer which seems to help. Sadly, they raised our power rates 30% so I never did see an actual drop in cost.

What’re your thoughts on the heater? Do you use it
lately I’m heat pump mode? How loud is it?

 

[gathermewool]

This year I tried that one, the Frost King sold at Home Depot, and the md PolarLock from Ace Hardware. My favorite was the md PolarLock for ease of installation but the Duck Max Strength plastic was notably stronger but I couldn't stand the tape that came with it. I haven't taken one off yet but I'm not sure how easily reusable the plastic is after heat shrinking it.

You brought up my own question wrt re-use. The only way I see to do that would be to leave a decent amount or extra at each side. I don’t have high hopes.

 

[dlundblad]

What’re your thoughts on the heater? Do you use it
lately I’m heat pump mode? How loud is it?

We are both happy with it. We’ve never ran out of hot water and I even have it in energy saving mode. Can’t tell a difference between it and my old “gas guzzling” electric unit in terms of service.

It is just my wife and I though. We do laundry in the AM and put a delay on the dish washer so it runs while we are in bed.

My parents have a first gen hybrid unit and I remember taking many cool showers. The technology has definitely advanced in the last decade.

 

[gathermewool]

We are both happy with it. We’ve never ran out of hot water and I even have it in energy saving mode. Can’t tell a difference between it and my old “gas guzzling” electric unit in terms of service.

It is just my wife and I though. We do laundry in the AM and put a delay on the dish washer so it runs while we are in bed.

My parents have a first gen hybrid unit and I remember taking many cool showers. The technology has definitely advanced in the last decade.

Thanks for that. Seems like a no-brainer, so long as it’s too loud, which I believe is one of the top complaints. I wonder if it’s one of those things where the heater is delivered on its side and then turned on before the refrigerant and oil have had time to settle. Noisy fans are what I’m mostly reading though.

 

[pghvolvo]

I would suggest correcting inexpensive areas such as drafts, adding insulation (DIY) and weather stripping. "Improve " on what you have such as leaky doors, areas needing cauking and leaky windows. Plastic window insulation does wonders on large patio doors. To me it makes no sense to replace all windows and doors with energy efficient ones. It likely will take many years if not more than a decade to recoup the money spent on such items to save a small amount every month.

They make storm window inserts that really aren't that bad on price.
Energy Window Inserts

Another cheap fix is under door draft blockers.

 

[Pew]

You brought up my own question wrt re-use. The only way I see to do that would be to leave a decent amount or extra at each side. I don’t have high hopes.

I'll let you know how mine goes - if I do ever take them off because I don't think I'd be able to save any of them.

 

[dlundblad]

Thanks for that. Seems like a no-brainer, so long as it’s too loud, which I believe is one of the top complaints. I wonder if it’s one of those things where the heater is delivered on its side and then turned on before the refrigerant and oil have had time to settle. Noisy fans are what I’m mostly reading though.

We can hear it running, but it isn’t loud. It’s ~15 feet from the bedroom in a farmhouse basement.

 

[tbm5690]

I‘d kill for $0.14/kWh!

It’s funny that their estimate is lower than the bottom of the scale.

My rate is $0.10. Still use all LEDs, no door gaps, and one little thing that I really don't know if it's made a difference is the foam plates inside every exterior wall electrical box. It was cheap and easy so I thought what the heck.

 

[gathermewool]

My rate is $0.10. Still use all LEDs, no door gaps, and one little thing that I really don't know if it's made a difference is the foam plates inside every exterior wall electrical box. It was cheap and easy so I thought what the heck.

Is that the actual cost or just the electricity rate? At least where I am there’s a charge for the electricity, which is what’s advertised, and then there is an equivalent charge for delivery, which is broken up into a dozen sub-categories.

My rates, dividing what I pay divided by the kWh is more than $0.23/kWh. Guess what? The rates are going up 30-50%. I‘m very frugal, but last month’s $380 may be closer to $500. That’s insane.

 

[mattwithcats]

Insulate the attic.

Finding 23 inch wide, unfaced, R30 or 38 insulation is a problem,

I know three people waiting on insulation, delivery is scheduled for mid March…

Careful, there are bags with 8 batts, 2 foot by 4 foot, 64 square feet, and there are bags with 9, 72 square feet…

The difference is $10 between the two…

 

[Al]

Fewer/short hot showers. 100% leds

 

[Warstud]

This may sound dumb, but I also switch out LED bulbs for my leftover incandescent bulbs in ceiling fans. I put the fans on reverse rotation, low during the winter to push the warm air down. With electric baseboard heat, I’m not losing any efficiency and I’d rather send the old bulbs to the grave dead instead of useful. It also takes a (minor) load off the LED bulbs. Ya know, so they last 2 decades instead of 1.999.

Not a bad with keeping the incandescent for heat in the winter . Instead of replacing all the incandescent bulbs with LED's ......I just replaced the ones I use the most .

 

[Skippy722]

Is that the actual cost or just the electricity rate? At least where I am there’s a charge for the electricity, which is what’s advertised, and then there is an equivalent charge for delivery, which is broken up into a dozen sub-categories.

My rates, dividing what I pay divided by the kWh is more than $0.23/kWh. Guess what? The rates are going up 30-50%. I‘m very frugal, but last month’s $380 may be closer to $500. That’s insane.

Same for us… it’s about $0.12/kWh, but then a bunch of riders tacked on… transmission/storage/improvement, fuel cost, power purchases from cogeneration and small power plants, etc. I effectively paid $0.18/kWh last month, but they don’t tell you all that you have to go digging through the website. The bill simply shows how much you used, how much all that costs, and tax.

 

[eljefino]

When I pour the boiling water out from my cooking, I pour it into a dishpan. If I drop an ice cube on the floor, I chuck it outside into the wintry night.

When I walk in or out of my garage, I jump over the sensor beam so it doesn't turn on the light.

I remove the owners manuals and other weight from my cars to save gas.

But seriously, I'm running a "Mr Cool" DIY heat pump for its first winter, and loving it, although this really hasn't been much of a winter. Also have a wood stove and fuel oil boiler. I put a laundry rack in front of the heat pump, thing is like a hair dryer and it gets the clothes dry in under twelve hours. Keeps the household humidity in a better spot too.

Ride a van pool more than 2/3 of my commute distance, also gets me nap time. My Prius goes 2 weeks on a tank of gas even though my job is 60 miles away. My electricity is around 22c per kWH so I'm actually NOT plugging the Prius Prime in until gas exceeds ~$3.75/gal.

Hear you all on the teenagers, mine also consume lots of shower water.

 

[tbm5690]

Is that the actual cost or just the electricity rate? At least where I am there’s a charge for the electricity, which is what’s advertised, and then there is an equivalent charge for delivery, which is broken up into a dozen sub-categories.

My rates, dividing what I pay divided by the kWh is more than $0.23/kWh. Guess what? The rates are going up 30-50%. I‘m very frugal, but last month’s $380 may be closer to $500. That’s insane.

With city fee and delivery charge (taking the entire bill divided by kWh comsumed) comes out to just under $0.12/kWh.