Hello, all! The New Year has been good, and I have decided to reduce the heat in my house by a large amount. I have gotten used to 60 degrees F while active, but have now cut it to 52 degrees.
At night I used to live with 53, but now have decided that 48 is well enough. I want to save money, and reduce my carbon footprint. Here is what I am doing.
I added insulation over the waterbed, another comforter to help keep in the heat. If I get too hot, I can put a foot out from under the covers. Insulating the waterbed allows me to keep it warmer without wasting energy into the atmosphere, so that is a good deal.
In addition to my vest, which keeps me warm enough at a temperature of 60 degrees, I have added thermal underwear that is helps at 52 degrees. My hands get cold, so I bought two pair of womens' knit gloves, and will cut the fingers out of them tomorrow and seal the raw edges with seam sealer. Those will then cover my hands up to the second knuckle, and keep them warm. I need the use of my fingers to do day to day operations, so this is a good way to do it.
I bought the shrink wrap for the windows today, and will start installing it tomorrow. I believe that I can save quite a bit of heat by sealing the windowframes, and this material lets me look out to see how the birds are doing with the food that I give them. I replaced the screen window in the front storm door with the glass one tonight, and that will keep lots of cold air away.
I also got extra socks, and they will help keep my feet warm. Woolen ones are best, but inside cotton ones are just as warm, as long as you do not get them wet. Wet wool is OK, but wet cotton is deathly cold.
There is one part of the house that is just cold, and that was added before I moved here. It is a new bathroom, and the way that they put it in just reeks with cold air. I took a moving blanket and stapled it over the poorly insulated part, and can already see that at least ten degrees are the difference between the outside of it and the inside of it.
My goal is to reduce my electricity cost to under $50 per month, even when it is very cold. During the summer, I had a $28 one, and hope to come close to that now. I never ran the air conditioner during the summer, except for once every two weeks for a few minutes to keep it in condition. It is important to keep the fluids working, and a few minutes of operation does not cost very much, and keeps the repair technicians away.
I would be interested to know what each of you have been doing to reduce your energy consumption. Please let us all know.
Warmest (well, tonight, sort of cool ones) regards,
Doc
Crossposted at Docudharma.com