"1. Alex Jan 17, 4:42 pm

If my electric bill runs $200-$300 with NO A/C or Heat, what're folks
supposed to do? "

You didn't tell us what your electric rate is or how big your house is,
but this sounds very high for a typical house
without using electric for AC or heat. I second the idea previously
suggested of finding out exactly how much
power you are really using, where it's going and figuring out if the
meter is correct.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the great advice and feedback! Someone said I didn't give
much info on my home, electric rate, etc. My home was built around
1982 and is 1600 sqft. It's on a concrete slab with an attic spanning
the entire length of the house. It's also all electric with central
air and heat.

The house was built with small 35"x35" windows in the bedrooms and a
35"x70" window in the living room -- all about 4 feet off the ground.
I was told this house was built during the early 80's 'energy crunch',
so I'd think this would help. We have curtains and blinds in every
window though.

The biggest thing I think that's pinging us is the french doors I put
in our dining room/kitchen (pretty much the same room). They're all
glass doors, but we have drapes over them. I also didn't finish out
the doors, so though there's no gaping huge hole, it's not sealed all
that well. I'm sealing and finishing this next paycheck.

I'm not sure how insulation is rated, but I'll get into my attic and
measure the thickness of the insulation. Also we have a three bedroom
house, but one bedroom is a guest room we rarely use. Would it be
practical to close the air vent in this room and keep the door closed?
I'd say that room is about 300 sqft, so that'd mean we're
heating/cooling only 1300 sqft instead of 1600.

As for the dishwasher, I do have a new one (about one year old), and it
does have the option to turn off heated drying. I'll start using that
instead. Also the clothes dryer is in a utility room, so I'll close
the vent in there and keep that door shut when being used. That might
help alittle too.

I think the key is getting the house better insulated. I'm not sure if
there's anyway to better insulate the walls and windows (short of
replacing the windows which is $$$), but I do plan on getting more
insulation for the attic.

Thanks again for all the feedback...

Sam

"Alex" wrote in message
Thanks for the great advice and feedback! Someone said I didn't give
much info on my home, electric rate, etc. My home was built around
1982 and is 1600 sqft. It's on a concrete slab with an attic spanning
the entire length of the house. It's also all electric with central
air and heat.

My house is the same size and built in 1978. My electric rate was .15 kWh
and my last bill was $159 for December, no heat (except running the burner)
I have two refrigerators, freezer, wine fridge, electric dryer. Last month
the consumption was 1080 kWh. December required more lighting and since my
grandson moved in with us the bill jumped about $30 for dryer use more than
anything. (not to mention the food bill)

Hi Everyone,

I just called my electric coop, and they're charging 13.75 cents per
kWh. I'll check my next bill, which comes out on the 19th, and see
what my useage is for the last 30 days. I sure hope it's not too crazy
because I can see the costs inching up.

I found this site that is great:
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/howmuch.html

I'll be keeping a spreadsheet of our used kilowatt hours per month and
seeing what I can do to shave the price. I'm also looking into further
insulation for the attic and plugging the places where hot and cool air
leave the house.

It still doesn't help that my central air and heating system is almost
22 years old... I'm sure that thing SUCKS the power.

Oh hum -- one more worry in life I didn't need :-/

Sam

One other thing not mentioned yet is thermostatically-controlled attic
ventilation. Works great for me in SW CT, so I don't know how you
survive without one from June to October in TX.

You can get a fan and t-stat pkg for $100. Took me a couple hours to
make up a transition from plywood to attach it at gable. Effect is
clearly noticeable in mid-pm temps on floor below in Aug., and shingles
should roast much more slowly. Just be sure you have adequate inlet
area. (Insulation is below attic floor in my case- you want to vent
above the insulation.)

HTH,
J

"One other thing not mentioned yet is thermostatically-controlled attic

ventilation. Works great for me in SW CT, so I don't know how you
survive without one from June to October in TX. "

Since his prime concern is energy usage, a ridge vent will do the same
thing
without using any energy.

wrote:

One other thing not mentioned yet is thermostatically-controlled attic
ventilation. Works great for me in SW CT, so I don't know how you
survive without one from June to October in TX.

Anything you can do with a fan can be done with soffit and gable vents,
with no electrical energy. With A ft^2 of vent area at top and bottom
and an H' height diff and dT (F) temp diff, cfm = 16.6Asqrt(HdT).

For example, an attic with 2 2'x2' gable vents and equal soffit vent area
and H = 8' and dT = 10 F would have 16.6x2x2x2sqrt(8x10) = 1188 cfm of
airflow. I'd close the gable vents in wintertime with plywood doors
hinged at the top.

Nick

wrote:
wrote:


One other thing not mentioned yet is thermostatically-controlled attic
ventilation. Works great for me in SW CT, so I don't know how you
survive without one from June to October in TX.


Anything you can do with a fan can be done with soffit and gable vents,

I think that's an overstatement.

with no electrical energy. With A ft^2 of vent area at top and bottom
and an H' height diff and dT (F) temp diff, cfm = 16.6Asqrt(HdT).

Please point us to a derivation of your equation so we can consider
its assumptions.

For example, an attic with 2 2'x2' gable vents and equal soffit vent area
and H = 8' and dT = 10 F would have 16.6x2x2x2sqrt(8x10) = 1188 cfm of
airflow. I'd close the gable vents in wintertime with plywood doors
hinged at the top.

I know that my attic has vents similar to your example, and that its
temperature was well in excess of 120 degrees before adding a fan.
With an outdoor temperature of 90 degrees, I should have had a near
hurricane going on up there according to your calculation, but didn't.


Nick



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Whoa there on the dryer.
Here are a couple of things to be aware of:
1. If your clothes take longer that 30-45 minutes to dry, your vent is
clogged.
See www.CleanYourOwnDryerVent.com and

2. DO NOT close the utility room door while the dryer is running.
It needs at least 100 sq inches of open space to draw in relacement air
- air to replace what is being blown out the back of the dryer.
By closing the utility room door, your dryer will work harder, use more
electricity and wear out sooner.

Hi --

Thanks for the input and the link, but though the website you linked to
has some great info, why do they want $24.95 to get their PDF? Also is
there such a thing as a "Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician"? Sounds
like a scam to me...

I agree with you that possibly leaving the laundry room door closed
might not be such a good idea, but in no place I've lived have I ever
had a full load of clothes dry in 30-45 minutes. Maybe a pair of jeans
and a few shirts or some towels, but never an entire load. My dryer is
about 5 years old and takes about 60 minutes for a full load (4-5 pairs
of jeans, 4-5 shirts, and maybe some shorts mixed in).

I'll check my dryer vent this weekend, but with the amount of lent it
throws out into my back yard plus the steamy air that comes out on cold
days I doubt it's clogged to much if any.

Thanks for the info --

Sam

Alex wrote:

snip

I'll check my dryer vent this weekend, but with the amount of lent

haha -- sounds like you're resurrecting an old argument ...

it
throws out into my back yard plus the steamy air that comes out on cold
days I doubt it's clogged to much if any.

Thanks for the info --

Sam



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minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

On 19 Jan 2006 08:45:19 -0800, "Alex" wrote:

Hi --

Thanks for the input and the link, but though the website you linked to
has some great info, why do they want $24.95 to get their PDF? Also is
there such a thing as a "Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician"? Sounds
like a scam to me...

I agree with you that possibly leaving the laundry room door closed
might not be such a good idea, but in no place I've lived have I ever
had a full load of clothes dry in 30-45 minutes. Maybe a pair of jeans
and a few shirts or some towels, but never an entire load. My dryer is
about 5 years old and takes about 60 minutes for a full load (4-5 pairs
of jeans, 4-5 shirts, and maybe some shorts mixed in).

I'll check my dryer vent this weekend, but with the amount of lent it
throws out into my back yard plus the steamy air that comes out on cold
days I doubt it's clogged to much if any.

Thanks for the info --

Sam

I have a Roper dryer that's almost 14 years old. It always takes
longer than 45 minutes to dry a load.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

It is the Chimney Safety Institute of America that runs the Certified
Dryer Exhaust Technician program.

Sam wrote:

"As for the dishwasher, I do have a new one (about one year old), and
it
does have the option to turn off heated drying. I'll start using that
instead. Also the clothes dryer is in a utility room, so I'll close
the vent in there and keep that door shut when being used. That might
help alittle too. "


Sam, closing off all air inlets to the laundry room could be a bad
idea. In order to dry clothes efficiently, air is blown through the
wet clothes, then exhausted outside. Where is the air for your dryer
coming from? If you use outside air, the cool drying temperatures may
not work very well.

Stretch