Whole house versus single room heating!

Dec 2018 average temps vs last four years averages combined

Data valid for Forsyth, Mo.

Taney County MO. - After getting through the first third of December in a somewhat fine style, it was becoming apparent that my cold weather strategy of heating just one room in my condominium was bearing some savings in heating costs. Following are the current temperature and power use averages:

December 2018 - (Days 1 through 10)

Average temperature: 39.0°F (versus a historical average of 35°F)

Average power used per day: 22.7 KwH's

At the current rate and assuming that the temps continued to hover at close to normal averages, I could expect to expend about 682 kilowatt hours of electricity. With the current rate (Liberty Utilities) at .13006 per KwH, that would result in a 31 day total of $88.70. Then after the COOP finishes packing in additional charges of about $18, I would have a bill equaling about $107 for the month.

Now, had I tried to warm the entire 900 square foot condo, I would have averaged about 39 KwH's each day for a total bill of $175! Thus, I will have saved about $68 by choosing my plan of selective heating.

OK, I get you all. Sixty or seventy bucks ain't all that much of a savings. However, it will be exactly that amount of money that the Electric COOP out of Canada will not be getting out of me!

About that graphic on top. After taking the average of the last four years (2014-2017) and then plotting those against what is happening in 2018, it was pretty clear to see the days were cooler than had been the case before. That trend looked to hold true through at least the 22^nd day of the month too. Last year I consumed 829 KwH's at a cost of ~$126. With me coming in significantly below that figure, not only was I saving some energy, but I was doing so in colder temps than had be the case some past years! That was good news to me.

The first arctic outbreak of December 2016!

Forsyth Mo. - All over the news, recently, was a forecast of arctic air that was scheduled to slam into the Taney County Missouri on or about December 7. The forecast sounded serious as the weather service was calling for some morning temps in the lower teens! This from the National Weather Service;

'Overall, it looks like winter will make its first real appearance to the Ozarks over the next week to 10 days.'

My thinking at hearing that news was how I would face the challenge of keeping most of that cold air at bay. I was living in a condo located on at the end of a building on the top floor of a four floor structure, and so my unit would be exposed to the elements from a number of sides. Sure, my building was well insulated, but still there were areas of concern...

For instance, there were two sliding glass doors that lead out to my balcony. They were built in 1991 and were showing their age, as air leakage was a problem. That area was located in the living room, and so I decided to set the furnace on a low setting (60ºF) and then retreat to my bedroom office during the worst of the weather. That location offered a much smaller volume that I hoped to heat adequately with a small space heater. The lone window, in that room, was also treated with a collection of cardboard boxes that would supply some dead air space along with R-values of about 3. That should help a lot, I figured. At least that was the plan....

Last January, when it got cold, in a similar fashion, I used about 45-55 kilowatt hours of electricity to maintain my unit at a livable level. Back then, I have daytime temps in the low 30's while overnight temps got down into the teens! And, as a senior living on a fixed income, I really needed to try and keep those electric bills under some kind of control!

I hope to update this post, beginning December 7 when the weather turns colder.Be sure to visit my weather site at www.taneyservices.com for more real time weather data!

It’s a Cold Blogger Blogging

Typically, about this time of year (January) in southwest Missouri, I begin to internally grouse about how cold it’s been. It’s 21 degrees Fahrenheit this morning and my body is now set on low shiver. (While trying to save a little energy, I’ve set my thermostat down to 69F in early December and that’s pretty much where it’s been at ever since). Let’s see air temp is 69F, body temp is 98F. What’s wrong with that picture? To keep warm, I have a couple of strategically placed space heaters that have already seen quite a bit of use. I generally have one close to my feet, which are cold most of the time even with socks on.

When I get to feeling really blue, like I am today, I go on the internet to see how cities to my north are faring. They say misery loves company, especially if that someone is more miserable than you are! So, I look at a map and right away I feel much better. [Silent cackling] Minneapolis is in the negative digits at just a few degrees below zero. My Gawd, Fargo, North Dakota is at fourteen below. Wow, I’m feeling so much better now.

Cold, I will assume, is more or less a state of mind. That is, until hypothermia sets in, and then you have some real problems. My current state of mind is somewhere between ickythermia and happythermia. It's leaning more to the former as the weather lady on TV just informed me that things are going to get even more dicey early this coming week (January 11th and 12^th) with forecast highs in only the upper twenties and lows hovering close to or below zero. Bout time I looked for that old pair of thermal underwear, I guess. I haven’t even bothered to see what’s going to happen to the folks in Fargo. What do you call a frozen man in that city...a Fargosickle of course!

On a brighter note, this will be an excellent opportunity to see how well my winterized house holds up against some truly cold conditions. My heat pump will just have to content itself with running almost entirely in ‘auxillary mode’ which is double-speak for ‘this is an f’ing emergency mode’. Were I of the mind, I would take that opportunity to watch the little metal disk on the electric meter go nuts. I won’t, but I do intend to call my local power cooperative to see if they might need some more Champagne! I guess it’s the best of both worlds when you can crank the heat up to your hearts content and get paid for it all at the same time.