quote:

Originally posted by GrumpyMCO:
I'm a fellow Florida man.
We used 1802 KWH last month.

Dukes energy audit was okay - didn't tell us anything we didn't know and sent us foam inserts for outlets and some led bulbs. You can also get a free HVAC duct inspection I believe to see if the ducting is leaking.

Yes that audit isn't worth the time it takes, got the same package after, the guy said we were good to go, windows good, insulation good, at that point I knew he was just a guy driving around for courtesy calls.

For the Blown in it's $0.95 per foot installed, Owens Corning or one other product, they will spray an R-30 level on top of the existing so it should be R-38. Our Zone falls into the R30 to R40 as optimum. Once that's done we'll let it go for a bit and see if it helps lower the costs.

Got the Radiant barrier quote, 4900 sq foot of material, normally $5500 but discounted to $3475 if we do the blown in as well.

Since the AC is good, probably have the ducts inspected, any leaks fixed and will do that before the insulation is sprayed into the attic of course, we're having a new 4 inch filter cabinet installed, the one on the main unit is a PIA to get to and the filters are not stocked anywhere like ACE, Home Depot, Lowes so I have to order them from Carrier shops or Amazon.

Once we get the window quotes we'll figure out the plan for that, probably do it in sections, Front, West, East... North side isn't needed really since it's shaded and no direct sun.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HRK,

Well update day

Had the UV Rod and a new 4 inch filter system installed on the AC, with my Asthma it was time to put in a filter that would allow good flow and provide better cleaner air than the old 1 inch filters. Interesting that the manufacturer recommends checking it every 6 months and changing annually. $525 installed, and they cleaned up the return ducting, resealed it all and checked the unit out for that.



The UV rod has a small window drilled into the unit that turns blue when it's on, not sure what it will do, but, it does look cool, the guys said the ones they install, when they come back in a year the internals on the handlers are cleaner. So we will see, $200 installed.



Tomorrow the insulation guys are here, they are going to check all the ducks, seal any cracks or open areas, then shoot an R-30 level on top of the existing insulation, expect to hit R-38ish with the new insulation. $2800 including sealing the AC ducts first, which saved me $500 having the AC company go in the attic to do it.

Window upgrade quotes are ongoing, Pella has shown up, quote is $36K for the windows and a new set of front doors, all double pain, gas filled, special coated windows.

Have a few other window companies to meet with.

SunRun solar they will install a full system, no up front costs, $400 a month, which is $100 a month below our current average, or, buy it for $122,000.

That's all based on current use, so the objective is to get the current average down, and then, look at Solar again, remember we are in FL, there are no government assistance or incentive programs, and the power companies have locked us into only reselling excess back to them.

And there is the current project update.

Wow! As said before that’s a huge bill. How big is your house?
A couple of points from an Energy Star Certified builder (or at least I used to be!)

1. Use a pool timer. When I bought our beach house our bill was running $800/mo in the summer. I bought a pool timer and set it to run from 6am to 10pm. That knocked off a couple of hundred each month and my pool guy said it had no effect on the water quality and made the pump last longer.

2. I’m assuming that your HVAC system is in your attic. If that’s the case you will benefit from enclosing your attic. I.e. spraying your roof joists. That way your AC unit is not trying to make conditioned air when the unit is 130 degrees. My advisor likened it to trying to make ice cream in an oven…

3. What kind of windows do you have? Are they double pained? How old are they? Quality windows like Andersen, Pella and Marvin all loose between 1% and 3% of their efficiency per year. Just a side note the three manufacturers listed above all have their glass panels made by the same company, Cardinal Glass, so don’t let one manufacturer tell you that their glass is better than the others…

Thanks, 3000 sq ft under air plus 1000 garage not under air. Built in 1991, we bought from the builder when we moved here.

To Answer your questions:

1) Pool pump is a variable speed, comes on at 10AM, running 1250 rpm, about the lowest to circulate, then runs 2 hours around 6PM at high speed to move the pool vacuum. We have a salt pool so the pump does need to run to generate chlorine from the salt, I'll look into reduced hours on it.

2) HVAC handler is in the garage, we just had all the ducting checked, only one break in the skin but not all the way though, that was fixed today. It is a 13 seer ac Carrier model running on Puron about 8 to 10 years old and in perfect running order.

3) Single pane windows, builder grade, 30 years old, Pella wants $38K to do three sides, South, West and East, the north has mostly pool sliders under cover and out of direct sunlight.

Have another company, local company coming by tomorrow, then a couple more to schedule.

Near much as I can tell we're double the average in the area and we're not running the AC lower than 76 at night, 79 during the day.

New Insulation is going in now, they said they found a few areas with zero insulation.

We're in South Jersey and had some energy efficiency upgrades done in partnership with our electric company. They added insulation to the attic and also insulated the crawl space, along with sealing where they could. A blower door test was done before and after and the change was pretty significant. As part of the deal, the electric company kicked in some money as a grant, and then finances the rest at 0% for 7 years. I'm sure it could have been done cheaper but $75/month at 0% interest added to the electric bill when it's a little lower anyway is not too noticeable. Something to check for in your area...

Edit: It was the gas company. This is the program:
https://sjgsaveenergy.com/home...ce-with-energy-star/