We're Not Energy-Vampires: A Personal Report Card
While my husband sits down at the kitchen counter with the mail, I watch over his shoulder waiting to see what was delivered and if anything is addressed to me. Mike deftly sorts out envelops like a Blackjack dealer in Vegas. The biggest stack is usually junk mail, but bills generally run a close second. I can’t help but cringe as familiar company logos printed on the upper left corner materialize in front of eyes: insurance, utilities, phone, cable, credit card, water, and garbage. They are each take a turn at gnawing away at our bank account. Nothing good ever comes tucked in those envelopes. Or does it?
Illustration above of a energy leaky home: Energy Star homes typically are 20 to 30 percent more efficient than standard homes, according to the Energy Star Web site. The EPA and the US Department of Energy run the Energy Star program.
We received an unexpected letter from PG&E, our California utility, in February that detailed our gas and electric usage over the past 12 months. First of all, it was a relief to open the envelope and discover it wasn’t a demand for payment. But there’s nothing like getting report card out of the blue to make you feel like you’re back in high school again!
The detailed information about our energy consumption actually proved to be quite enlightening (so to speak). The personalized Home Energy Report compared us with two other groups in our locale: similar sized households using gas for heat, and 20% of the most energy efficient similar sized homes. Now admittedly PG&E didn’t have a comparative study between houses inhabited by teenagers and homes not plagued by those habitual energy-vampires, but perhaps that aspect is still being evaluated. Meanwhile, apparently all our efforts are paying off.
We make a habit of wearing multiple layers of sweaters and flannel shirts to stay warm indoors during the winter. Afghans and quilts are also utilized to bundle up in the evening while watching television. It’s always advantageous if I can entice one of the cats to sit on my lap and assist in generating a little extra body heat that way and I’m not above bribing them with tasty treats. We keep the thermostat set low … maintaining it at about five degrees above ‘teeth chattering’ and marginally below ‘goose bumps’.
During the summer months the air conditioner is set as high as we can tolerate. We rely on electric fans to make a breeze to cool us off. I want to go on record and say that I am forever deeply indebted to the inventor of the ceiling fan and the microwave (no slaving over a hot stove in August for me). There is, after all, a limit to how much clothing can be removed and still remain decent if one is required to answer the doorbell.
Windows and curtains are used to regulate temperatures according to the seasons. We enjoy having the windows open to catch a refreshing breeze, but the tradeoff is that a considerable amount of dust and pollen ends up coating everything indoors. My solution is swallowing an allergy pill and taking comfort in the knowledge that a vacuum cleaner uses less electricity than an air conditioner. I have applied a reflective vinyl film to most of the windows to help reduce heat from the sun, but it also seems to insulate from the cold. That’s a plus, because I wouldn’t want to go through the cost or effort to remove and replace it every few months. The patio cover we added a few years ago has probably paid for itself by now by shading a critical south-east corner of the house.
Pages: 1 · 2