I made two changes in the last 3 years – the impact became obvious only last month, when I compiled a table of our household gas and electricity use in the last 4 years.
The first thing I noticed was a significant drop from 2006 to 2007. This was noticeable throughout the year. In retrospect, I think it was when the whole house humidifier stopped working and we just put off repairs until we realized we did not need it. We had initially bought it because we were told that our new bamboo floors would be destroyed without it. The humidity level in Colorado is normally below the 30-60% range ideal for bamboo floors. We discovered that our floors are fine without the humidifier.
Then I noticed a bump for 2 months in 2008, then a decrease to levels below 2007. I think that is when we got the advice to turn on the furnace fan to equalize the air temperature between the different floors of our house. After I realized this had increased our electricity use by about 30%, I turned off the fan, with no noticeable effect on the air temperature. The reason the overall 2008 level is lower than 2007 is that I dropped the thermostat 2 degrees. I am assuming electricity use comes from having the furnace turn on and off – and it does less of that if the thermostat is set lower. Of course, in winter, our refrigerator works less if the house temperature is lower.
Finally, in 2009, there is a further drop, to the point where our electricity use is now 1/3 of what it was in 2006. This corresponds to a thermostat setting 2 more degrees lower. This is despite having acquired a new chest freezer in summer 2008.
I’m amazed at how energy intensive central heating and cooling can be, and how we are running some of these gizmos with no noticeable benefit.
This post was submitted by Myrto Ashe.
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