Alex wrote:

Hi all,

I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but here in Central Texas
(specially out in the country) the energy prices are doubling if not
more.
snip

I'm in Central Texas, too (Austin), and my house is about 25 years old,
so about the same era as yours.

I think you're doing many of the right things. But I can tell you
from experience that if you have ductwork in your attic, the number
one thing to do is to check its integrity and patch any leaks. By
doing that (and some other things, most of which you listed), I cut
my electricity use in the summer by about 40%. You'd be amazed at
how much duct tape (and other materials used in ductwork) can
deteriorate in 25 years.

I have gas heat; I can imagine that electric heat could be as bad in
the winter as AC is in the summer.

A programmable thermostat can help, and not only because it can be used
to set back temperatures during part of the day -- some (many?) of them
also have sufficient "smarts" to keep the system from short-cycling,
which is wasteful and potentially harmful to your system.

The other thing I should mention is that you'd probably be surprised
at how much electricity your computer uses, especially if you have a
large CRT monitor.

Good luck, and let us know if you come up with any great ideas, because
many of us are in this boat.

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