And so the winter cool down begins!

As we pass by the portal of time that is called December the 1^st, we can almost see the sun arcing lower in the southwestern skies each day as that day becomes a little shorter. Many species of birds and animals know that it's time to head south into warmer climes for the next three months while winter rages around the northern hemisphere. Us humans, well, we aren't so smart all the time!

So, come December, many of us are stuck with dealing with whatever the coming winter deals out. And, it generally gets colder and colder and colder. But, that's not always the case. December 2014, for instance, was one of the better early winter months that I can remember! For one thing the month was 4.4 degrees above normal. And, while the nighttime temperatures did get down to the 30's on a regular basis, there were only nine days where we say the 20's and they were the high 20's at that! Rainfall, and most definitely snowfalls were few and far between. Actually we did get 2.8 inches of rain and zero inches of snow! That put us 2 inches down for the month, but it really wasn't a big deal as we more than made up for it in the months that followed. Electrically, my home used a whopping 500 less kWh's when compared to the year before! And, those savings really helped me out!

So, for me it's all about the average temperatures and exactly where they go. December typically sees a monthly average for the highs and lows at about 35ºF, down where I live in southwest Missouri. Then, January slams in at an average of 33 degrees with February moderating only a bit up to 28! Heating my humble adobe, at an average outside temperature of 33ºF, translates to an electric bill of about 1200-1800 kWh's. At 13 cents per kilowatt hour that amounts to $156 to $234! Let me tell you, getting hit, in that manner, for each of those three months really mounts up for a person living on a fixed income as I do.

Whoa Nellie! Lot's of energy savings for Nov 2015!

With the furnace at idle, I was running my condo at about 15-16 kWh's a day!

Looking back at last November, I can distinctly remember how it was we got clobbered with frigid weather right in the middle part of the month. On the morning of the 14th, it was only 16 degrees above zero! This year, however, the month of November has been a dream as you can see on the graph of power used! The question is, when will the other shoe finally drop?

Some winter considerations for condo dwellers!

Forsyth MO. - Recently, I moved to a condo having forsaken the stick built life. My building is a three story affair supporting 15 units, (some of which are unoccupied during the winter season). I purchased a top floor corner unit which had a number of good selling points. For one thing the kitchen has a window that looks out – something that was important to me for some vague reason. It also has both a spacious front area and balcony that overlooks a pool with a river in the distance. Above me is an attic space that should provide good insulation, but, I have three walls that face the outdoors. So, I have to see how that shakes out. Following are a few of the things I like to do to get ready to get through the really cold spells we get from late December on into March!

Space heaters!

As I am single and living alone, my tenancy during the winter months are to ensconce myself into my office/bedroom where I can write, watch TV and sleep the cold days away. My infrequent ventures out of that space are mainly to raid the fridge in the kitchen. So, one of my strategies was to invest in a couple of small space heaters that contained thermostats to properly heat that space while retarding my electric furnace stat downwards to a cool setting of 64ºF. Past experience had shown me some pretty amazing savings by following that type of scheme.

Windows and sliding glass doors!

In my current location, I have two windows (bedroom and kitchen), a front door and two large sliding glass door the run the length of the outdoor balcony. Of these,my largest concern was the sliding glass doors that looked to be dual pane and which were covered by vertical blinds. These could prove to be a big transmitter of heat and would bear close watching. 3M makes a very good window film that past use, by myself, proved to be valuable in adding another layer of dead airspace where needed and at an affordable cost! These films are easy to install when two people are around and more of a challenge for just one.

My front door appeared to be good to go as I checked the clearances around the top and base for excessive air flow. If needed a simple towel can be used to help seal out the weather on any really cold days. As this area also has a storm door, I plan to check to make sure there are no excessive gaps – If I find any, I'll make sure to seal them properly.

Sinks!

One area that sometimes avoids detection are the locations under sinks where the pipes enter the walls. Any gaps you find can allow for a lot of the heat you paid for to easily escape. To that end, I plan to inspect them and then apply some foam gap filler available online at Amazon, if needed.

Furnace!

Even though I found my furnace cooling fins to be somewhat clogged with dust, I could ignore that face as it used resistive heating elements to warm the house in the wintertime. By keeping my thermostat set low, I hope to keep the use to a minimum.

Well, those are the main area I plan to inspect and repair for this fall. As we move closer to the start of winter, I hope to update this post from time to time.

Update: November 24, 2015 - I've ordered some 3M film, enough to cover one of the sliding glass doors. When that gets installed, I plan to set up an experiment using three temperature sensors so that I might quantify how much (or how little) it helped. I'll post a link here.

New digs in condo and AC reading!

After a week of moving, I was able to install a Total Energy Detective unit that monitors my electrical use real time. I wanted to get a quick handle on what I could expect in the way of power use for the news digs.

It took my AC 25 minutes to drop the ambient temperature by 1.57 degrees in the condo. The power used was about 1.5 kWh. Not the best performance I've seen, but I am in the hottest portion of the year. I also plan to block the two large west facing sliding glass window more effectively in the afternoon hours when the sun is beating down.

Living life at 20 kWh a day!

Forsyth MO - Man, if it weren't for those cold winter night and hot summer days, I'd be doing real good from the standpoint of electrical use. My electric bill for January 2015 will come in at about $200 (1800 kWh's used) and boy, I've been looking for some fresh ideas to try and cut into that!

In some of the milder months of the year, like April and May for instance, my furnace is (thankfully) silent all day long. On those types of days, the average power use per is somewhere between 13 and 20 kWh. This would translate in to 30 x 17 = 510 kWh which would translate to a $70 bill! Very livable. In the graph, you can also see that some of the wintertime cost saving efforts I've made have paid off! Sadly, January 2015, however was a real bitch with many nights dropping down in to the 20's! It's those really cold temperatures that force my heat pump to use resistive heating as they just don't work very well at temperatures below 30°F. In the summertime, I've generally been able to cope pretty well using fans and the results of that effort are also apparent in the graph.

Now this is what I'm talking about!

So, the challenge will be to come up with ways to maximize my energy savings for four months out of the average year, without giving up too much in the way of creature comforts. I've discounted on-grid solar energy systems as still being way too expensive. In order to lower my yearly electric bill an average of 30% using one system I looked at, I'd have to pony up about 7K. Last year I ball parked my use at about 14,000 kWh. Let's say that translates to about $1600. So, were I to save 30% each year that would be about $480, which means my break even point would be 14 years from now! I don't think so.

Another way to save some money is to replace energy inefficient appliances with those that are more efficient. This I've done over time and it shows. Of course, some years the gains have been offset by the constant rise in rates charged by my electric coop. In the last two years, Empire Electric (my electric supplier) has raised their rates by 13% or about 6.5 percent a year. (That's about a month's worth of use every year and it makes it tough to achieve any significant gains). Still, like a man swimming upstream, I'm losing less ground than others around me who are doing nothing but going with the flow!

As time goes on, I hope to post more entries at this site when inspiration strikes me from out of the blue!

Hitting a 35:2 electrical ratio in December! What?

Let me explain, right off the bat, that the 35 to2 thing is the ratio of the average temperature to the amount of heating (electricity) that has to be expended in kilowatt hours per hour. A power use rate of two kilowatt hours per hour for one day would equate to 48 kWh’s! In terms of money spent, that would be about $5 a day or $150 per average month! (Not a bad heating bill in the mist of winter down here in southwest Missouri)! Let me did a bit deeper.

The month of December, where I live, typically will see daytime highs at around 46°F with overnight lows at about 24°F. (This reflects the 30 year average for West Plains, Missouri which is near where I live)! The average, then, comes out to about {46+24}/2 = 35°F. (Last year, my average was 34.3°F, and so it was pretty close). Back in December 2013, I used 1850 kWh’s of electrical power in my home. That averages out to 1,850/31 = 59.7 kWh per day or 2.5 kWh per hour. Close, but no cigar! So, the challenge this year, will be to knock off that .5 of a kilowatt hour over the course of the 31 days that constitute the month of December. Hope this all makes some sort of sense.


This year (2014), December has been rather warm. As of the 15^th of the month the average temperature was 42°F with just 566 kWh used versus a last year mid month total of 1047! Wow! That’s pretty warm! So, this year, I was thinking that perhaps I could do even better than a 2 kWh per hr rate! That’s assuming that we don’t go into the deep freeze for the balance of the month. But, what it that does happen? What’s my plan to conserve energy?

My Five Step Plan
In order to insure that I get through December in the best style I can, I’ve come up with five steps to reduce my heating costs as much as possible. (Note that I’m a bachelor living alone).

1. Cut back on whole house thermostat settings while heating just one room with space heaters.
   One of the best ways to save on heating costs is to reduce the envelope of space that you have to heat! The rest of the rooms can be kept at 66°F (or lower) while energy efficient space heaters supply just enough heat to keep the room you are living in at 73°F!
2. Use a humidifier to insure a humidity level of about 35%.
   During the dry and cold months of the year, the energy you expend on a humidifier to keep the moisture levels at a livable range are well worth every penny. Moist air retains heat much better than dry air!
3. Keep all windows covered with blinds to conserve heat.
   With the exception of those days when bright sunlight streams directly into a room, it's best to keep them covered. I've found that there is a significantly large deviation in temperature reading between a cold window and the surface of a blind or window cover.
4. Leave those computers on 24/7.
   I have a couple of computers in my heated room that use only a bit of electricity, but which deliver a surprising amount of heat!
5. Use a ceiling fan to evenly circulate the heat.
   This last is pretty much a no brainer – fans even out the hot and cold spots while also insuring that water vapor from the humidifier is properly distributed.

So, that’s the plan for this December. If the month continues on a warmer than normal trend, hurray for everyone. On the other hand, if things go into the dumpster, and energy savings I accrue will be appreciated! I’ll update this post at the end of the month to let anyone with an interest know how I did!

The GoodNight LED bulb!

Want a better night’s sleep? Did you know the light bulb that’s been in your bedroom lamp since…well…forever just might be getting in the way of your body making melatonin – the hormone that helps you fall asleep? Many people spend $200 a year on sleeping pills, or up to $1200 on sleep therapy. It’s time for a better solution. The Good Night ™ LED light bulb originally developed for NASA astronauts on the International Space Station, lets melatonin do its thing. So when you’re ready to sleep, your body is too.

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While not cheap at about $55 (available at Amazon), this bulb uses only about $1.45 of energy per year while supplying 60 watts of light!