Energy Saving Tips for Winter

[StoneHeartFarm]

RPM

Uh, actually, the stage I'm at, I don't HAVE any trim yet, so I guess I did it during construction. Drywalls up though. Anyway, you are going to have to pull the trim around the doors and windows (if you decide to do the windows, mine are vinyl framed and I've only done 1 so far, forgot to test it, and don't know yet if the foam warped it or not.) Just remember to use the "window and door" stuff, ordinary foam sets up hard and I've warped doors permanently shut with it. Pull off some trim and you should be able to see both the house framing around the doorway and the door unit itself. Just have to fill that space between the 2x4 (2x6?) and the door casing. Also, on the outside, a little clear caulking helps cut down any draft and keep out moisture. I've crawled around the foundation of the house I'm in now almost every fall with a can of foam and a tube of caulk filling up any holes I find. If you can get into the basement or crawl space on a sunny day and turn out the lights, you should be able to see most cracks and gaps. Cold air infiltrating the crawl space will make a big difference in your energy costs. Just sent my brother in law down in his to do the same thing. (Maybe this year he won't have to worry about his water heater freezing.) I've still got to get down under the new house and insulate all the pipes, heat ducts and the tank for the well. Keep the hot water hot, cold water cold, and everything else whrere it's supposed to be.

SHF

 

[Rodneyd]

fishman
I bought a heat pump programable at one of the local discount lumber yards a couple of years ago. It is made by Hunter (the fan people). Paid about $70. Has 3 programable cycles for different days/weekends, etc. Also auto air/heat. I installed it on my Lennex heat pump myself. No problems. It has worked fine for several years.

 

[dummy]

Southern Md. Would like to go to OZ, but not in the budget. Another source for the thermal imaging camera is your local fire dept. Some dept's. are getting them to check for occupants in buildings, hot spots in buildings and hot spots in the ashes also.

 

[bgott]

The police department has them, too. Just remember to turn off the heat lamps over your garden in the attic before they use it!

 

[heehaw]

i always "thought" that a heat pump would kick on the back up source, heat strips or whatever, if you increased the temp by more than 3 or 4 degrees: which is why i also figured a set-back thermostat would defeat the purpose of trying to save money, on the heat cycle anyway. My better half worked as a facilities manager for a very large local church a few years ago, and saved them mucho more than her salary by installing/using set-back thermostats in the summer, all the while several hvac folks in the church hollering that it wouldn't save anything.
heehaw

 

[3rdbase]

Mine was new construction last year, so some of this may not be practical.

1. Paid extra for blown in cellulose instead of batt insullation. This really seals up the holes. I was present when they did it to make sure there were no shortcuts. Expandable foam around holes for electical/plumbing etc.
2. Installed a ridge vent and two thermo contolled ventilators in the attic. Did the ventilators myself. Very cheap. Switched the ventilators in an easy to reach area so I can turn them off when I want, like now when I let it heat up a bit during the day and use the residual at night.
3. Put a timer on the water heater in the winter, don't need it in the summer-see below.
4. We have a room that has no outside windows, so I installed a product called solotube. It's an 8" tube that goes up through the roof to capture the sunlight. It is dispayed through an 8" flush ceiling lens. Very effective. Even on nights when the moon is out we don't need to turn on the lights. Builder wanted $350 installed, I did it in 45 mins for $135.
5. Installed a geothermal heating/ac system. Mine uses freon/ underground copper for the medium/heat exchange. Some use a glycol solution with PVC like tubing. Freon/copper is more efficient. Used two zone (upstairs and down) system with two thermostats. Spent a bit more for an air handler that runs at 10% unless both therms are selected off. This moves the air at very low speed, can't hear it at all. Prevents stratification, so the thermos call for action a lot less, so it pays for itself. When the thermos need more, the blower spools up through three stages. Get much better filtration from this. The geothermal also handles my summer hot water needs since the fluid gives up a good deal of it's heat to the hot water heater before it goes outside and underground. This system provides better dehumidification in the summer. My electic bills are much less than my neighbors who use combination heat pump/propane systems. It's a bit more initially, but I've been immensely pleased. Retro fitting an existing system is not as big a deal as some think, but i can't speak to that.
Anyway, that's what I did.

 

[Rodneyd]

The Hunter set-back unit that I have for my heat pump looks at your usage and determines how long it takes the heat pump to get you back up to the temp you want. After a couple of cycles it starts to bring the temp up prior to when you want the heat, ie it slowly ramps the heat up so that it only uses the heat pump and not the electric heat coils.

 

[cowboydoc]

I think the cellulose insulation is the cheapest and easiest solution to cheaper bills. This last weekend I did this in my barn and while I had the machine we did one of my friends houses. First the machine and such is a piece of cake to operate. Anyone can do it. Just make sure you have two people. He had been given a quote of $1100 to blow in another 20 r-value in his house. He currently had maybe 18. We did it for $165. The insulation was on sale this week for $4.59 a bag so he saved about $900 with us doing it and it took about two hours to blow 35 bags in.

 

[Bird]

That's just what my brother and I did when we built his house about 5 years ago; got the machine from Lowe's for the day and it didn't take long to do the job.

Bird

 

[fishman]

Cowboydoc,

Yep, cellulose is easy. Insulated over my garage for about $80 last spring which kept it MUCH cooler than previous. Also put in additional ventilation in the form of passive vents on the backside of the roof for another $100 (fancy vents). Electric bills dropped at least $25 from May-Sept, so a quick payoff.