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

Radiant Barrier Insulation in the Bathroom.

As I mentioned before, a statistic I read said that 70 % of the heat lost out of an average house is lost due to radiant heat loss. Now I know that most of that is windows, but there are significant other "holes" elsewhere in the house.

Knowing this and having a remodel project, I decided to incorporate some of this technology into my construction. I purchased two rolls of radiant barrier insulation from foilbarrier.com and I placed some in the floor I was replacing. I did this to see if it made any difference in the heat retention of the bathroom tile once that gets in. I am sure some of you know the horrors of cold tile floor in the morning.
Next I placed some around where the tub will be. I have lived in a couple of houses that for various reasons lost a ton of heat out of the bathtub. As a fan of long baths (get your money's worth from the water and the heat) I didn't like that, so I thought this might be a good idea. I've only had one bath so far, but I think it has worked well, it definitely does keep the heat a little better. however, I cannot be exactly sure in a scientific way because I never bathed in this tub without the radiant barrier. I do know for sure though that the radiant barrier works because as I was putting it up on the ceiling before the drywall, I could most definitely feel the difference between the area with the barrier and the area without as the heat beat down on me through the roof a few feet above.

The real test will be when I put the radiant barrier in the attic, either on the underside of the roof, or over the insulation, or both. Either way, I am hoping for a reduction in heating and cooling bills. And if I ever get to build my dream house, this stuff will be all over it.

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