Great News! Home Energy Usage Update.

Great news, my home now consumes two thirds of the electricity of the average American home.

As you can see above, my usage over the last year shows that I have dropped below the two thirds of the average mark.  I'd have to do some statistical analysis to see how many households are using more or less than me, but I'm not even sure that data exists.

Just a reminder as to how I am able to do this, and how I am able to steadily continue lowering my consumption rate, I have made some improvements to the house.  I removed a window, replaced a window, and replaced a door.  I added radiant barrier insulation to the attic as well as adding eight or so inches of cellulose insulation.  I use an on demand electric water heater with a one gallon per minute shower head.  We wash clothes in only cold water, we use all CFL or LED light bulbs.  We have a programmable thermostat that automatically drops the temperature in the house by ten degrees at 9:30 PM in the winter time, and we open the windows at night in the summer time.  We use ceiling fans and usually keep the air conditioning at 78 degrees.

Other than the insulation, we haven't really done anything out of turn to increase efficiency, though at times we'd like to.  We have simply replaced things as they have burned out or broken.  As you get the chance, just do things the best way possible, it will add up in the end.

Ultimately, we'd like to build our superinsulated dream house.  It doesn't even have to be all that big, I just want it to be really efficient and really utilitarian.  It is my goal to build a home wherein I can keep the temperature around 75 year 'round and have virtually no heating or cooling bill.  That's not to say that it won't have to be heated or cooled at all, just very little and in ways that are cheap or free like wood heat and solar hot water and hydronic heating.  Making a good investment in home efficiency will hopefully produce a house that pays off in the long run and lasts for generations.  As you can see on my spreadsheet, I make a comparison to the Passivhaus standard in Germany.  Though I use two thirds the electricity, the Passivhaus standard calls for one fourth of what I use, and that's all energy included.  I still use a few gallons of propane every year.

Here's to goals,
WiredForStereo

Energy Consumption Update

The above jpeg shows a screen shot of our most recent information for our energy bills.  Click on it to get a more magnified view.

Notice the downward trend in our energy usage since we moved into the house.  Notice especially the first August when there was a peak.  After that August, I added radiant barrier insulation to the attic and from then on, there was no summer peak.  That speaks to its effectiveness even though it technically has no R value as an insulator, is paper thin, and is perforated.  Moreover, it's cheap, get some.  We usually set our thermostat to 78F in the summer, but lately we've been finding ourselves wanting to set it lower and it seems to be because the AC isn't on enough to draw all the humidity out of the air and make it seem cooler.

Since adding more than six inches of new insulation to the attic this last spring, I am wondering what the change in the bills will be.  Notice the difference between this November and last November.  There is a difference of 7 kWh per day, that is significant, though differences in weather could be to blame, I doubt all of that would be due to the weather.  The rest of the winter will bear out the differences, but I predict continued record lows.

If you look toward the upper right hand corner, you can see that I make a comparison between the average household and mine in terms of energy usage.  This doesn't account for gas and other forms of energy usage on the national numbers, but my house is almost completely electric.  Only the backup heat which comes on when it is lower than 25F outside is propane, and as you can see, I use 80 gallons or less a year.  As you can also see, right now I am using about 65% of the national average.

I also drew a comparison between the Passivhaus standard in Germany and my own energy usage.  I am running a little more than four times as much energy as my goal of a Passivhaus.  I use Passivhaus because Passive House doesn't really mean the same thing and isn't necessarily identified with the same standard.  The Passivhaus standard is very strict, it includes energy used from gas, oil, and wood, not just from electricity.

Hope this has been informational, I enjoy continued projects to try and lower the energy usage of the house.  This year as I mentioned, I added insulation, but also removed a window.  I replaced a window last year, but a single window won't show up on the stats in such a short term with little to compare to.

Happy savings,
WiredForStereo

Sawdust Toilet and Radiant Barrier Insulation

Without our bathroom, the sawdust toilet is doing fabulously. I do have a few problems to report, there's not enough rain to keep the compost pile moist right now, so when I empty the bucket, I take a gallon of water with me. This also helps to rinse the bucket by the way. As was expected, smells are virtually non existent, and the water bill is on it's way down. Like many people, I just never realized how much water gets flushed down the toilet.

By doing some simple calculations (this was before the sawdust toilet) and not including the filling of the wading pool, I found that we have just over half of the national average per person water consumption. This was a result of a rainy first half of summer and modifying our bathroom behavior to flush less. After the sawdust toilet, I expect our consumption to go down an additional 20-30%, though I have had to start watering some of the plants so that may make a difference.

While recycling, er remodeling the bathroom, I decided to put some radiant barrier insulation in some important places. Our last house was absolutely horrible for the cold tile floors, and I am hoping that the radiant barrier in the floor will help at least some of that problem. I have also decided to put some up in the roof and wall sections that are being removed, and the rest of it will go in the attic, hopefully to cover the whole ceiling and reduce heating and cooling bills. I read one figure that claimed that 70% of our heat loss was due to radiant heat losses. Additionally, I will be adding some more insulation to the attic in the fall because there is only something like six inches of rock wool up there, barely worth even mentioning. The former owners claimed to use 600 gallons of propane per winter, and with the state I am finding things, I don't doubt that the central heating system ran constantly. I've also decided to install radiant barrier surrounding the shower. In my reading of technologies like the German Passivhaus, I discovered that a major source of heat can be the shower. Additionally, I like baths that stay warm, so I am interested to see where this will go.

After the move, I am still unable to find the mini-USB cable to get the pictures off the digital camera, but I have pics of both the toilet and the floor. I'll get them up as soon as I can.

WiredForStereo