Trying to cut down electricity use and save money

Quote from calnbs : This is what I'm planning to do to further cut down on energy use and put money in my pocket. This is what I've done so far, I usually leave my thermostat at around 80 degree. I installed ceiling fans to every room in my house. This is what my wife and I are planning to do next but does it make sense and worth the hassle and expense? Any experience? 1) Buy a portable air conditioner or Window A/C for our bedroom. We have no kids so no point of turning on the Central Air to cool down the whole house. Make sense? Any experience? - I do the same and it works like a charm 2.) Tint all the windows facing sun when it is setting with reflective Window Films. I can buy the window films at Home Depot for a fair price. Looked at a few DIY videos, doesn't seem too difficult. Does this thing really works? Is it worth the hassle of DIY, I got lots of windows....any one have experience? Previous owner did it and i swear it keeps it cooler. Just be careful as a crappy tint job will look horrible 3.) Whole House Fan. It's suppose to suck in all the cool air into your house and get rid of all the hot air in your house. Will have to pay someone to put it in. Is it work? Worth the expense? Experiences? There are attic based systems that you will need to install or there are smaller window models. Personally I love these things. They can warm your house up in winter during the day or cool it down in the evening in the summer. Check out the Lasko fan. It's clearly smaller than your normal whose house fan but a couple placed in a window should do the trick. Where we live we don't need to use them much so we just put them in at that time of year and then take them out when we don't need them anymore - http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-Elect...628&sr=8-1 I figure if it works, spend the money now and it will save me money in the long term? Your thoughts? Thanks.

See above

Sounds a lot like the ROI on your "improvement" jobs is going to be negative.

1) Buy a portable air conditioner or Window A/C for our bedroom. We have no kids so no point of turning on the Central Air to cool down the whole house. Make sense? Any experience?

Might be ok. Will be noisy at night. Also depends on how long it takes your house to get back down to 80 in the morning. If it gets really hot at night, net gain could be zero.

2.) Tint all the windows facing sun when it is setting with reflective Window Films. I can buy the window films at Home Depot for a fair price. Looked at a few DIY videos, doesn't seem too difficult. Does this thing really works? Is it worth the hassle of DIY, I got lots of windows....any one have experience?

Not sure this will help much. Might be better to just put in blinds.

3.) Whole House Fan. It's suppose to suck in all the cool air into your house and get rid of all the hot air in your house. Will have to pay someone to put it in. Is it work? Worth the expense? Experiences?

"suck in all the cool air" - uhhh..... where does this cool air come from? Whole house fans do provide good circulation, but it isn't going to change the actual temperature. Ceiling fans and fans in general make it feel a bit cooler when they are moving the air where you can feel it move. They allow you to keep the temp higher (like your 80). But they do nothing if you are not in their flow line. So turn them off when you are not in the room.

have you considered thermal curtains?

paint house white reflects heat,buy cfl bulbs,get 20-23 watts for good lightng.get plug strips turn off tvs phone chargers when not in use,dry clothes outside,have you 2 Refrigerators,get rid of one,


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Quote from dealgate : "suck in all the cool air" - uhhh..... where does this cool air come from? Whole house fans do provide good circulation, but it isn't going to change the actual temperature. Ceiling fans and fans in general make it feel a bit cooler when they are moving the air where you can feel it move. They allow you to keep the temp higher (like your 80). But they do nothing if you are not in their flow line. So turn them off when you are not in the room.

They do change the temp. I do not have one but should. My house is always about 10* warmer than the outside temp in the summer with the windows open. If i could suck out the hot air what will fill its place? colder air from the outside of course. Ceiling fans do not do this they just push the hot air around.

Quote from dealgate : "suck in all the cool air" - uhhh..... where does this cool air come from? Whole house fans do provide good circulation, but it isn't going to change the actual temperature. Ceiling fans and fans in general make it feel a bit cooler when they are moving the air where you can feel it move. They allow you to keep the temp higher (like your 80). But they do nothing if you are not in their flow line. So turn them off when you are not in the room.

So if it's 60 outside and 75 in your house sucking in the 60 degree air through other windows and pushing out the 75 degree air in your house isn't going to make it cooler. Clearly an expert in thermal dynamics you are not

Another big help for many is an attic fan. Ever wonder why the inside of your house is so much hotter than the outside when you've got all your windows open? It's because your house has a huge blanket on top of it! Putting in an attic fan can keep your attic much cooler and as a result keep the inside of your house cooler. Don't believe me? Go in to your attic on a hot summer day and you'll likely begin sweating within about 30 seconds! I almost never go to the 2nd story of my home so I don't really care if it's hotter so as a result never bothered to put one in. They make solar attic fans (about $200 if I recall) but way easier to install as no wiring is needed. Can't say how well they work but it's an idea.

At the same time in winter it'll be 65 outside but my house will be say 55 (left over from the night). Great way to warm it up a bit is by sucking in the outdoor air and expelling the cooler indoor air out.

Air Conditioning pretty much obsoleted whole house fans. Yes, they are still sold and a few people use them, but there is a very small window where they are useful between spring and summer/summer fall (in hot areas). And yes if it is colder outside and your house is not well insulated (lots of air holes) and/or you open windows, you could draw in some of that outside air. I SERIOUSLY doubt any of the prognosticators of wisdom here have any practical experience with a whole house fan. I do. So you are mainly talking out of your limited knowledge that you read on the Internet (sales pitches) or just making it up altogether because "it just sounds like it will work".

I will say in colder climates where a/c is not used at all or sparingly, they will make a difference if the house is properly designed for a whole house fan. But again, you need to open windows and/or have a badly leaking house to really draw in and out through the fan. In warmer climates, they are little more than useless. In any location where humidity is an issue, A/C removes a lot of humidity from the air, as soon as you run these fans and draw outside air in, you lose that benefit, as well as removing the cooled air from the house. You should not run A/C and the whole house fan at the same time.

Also I don't think you (LivninSC) know anything at all about attics. Your house either has an attic fan and is properly vented for one or it has a gable vent and shouldn't use an attic fan. If you add a fan to a house with a gable vent, you typically short circuit the proper circulation and your attic may suffer physical damage. Attics are engineered spaces and not just an empty voids on top of your house. So I would suggest not to tell people to add attic fans where the attic was not designed for one.

Quote from LivninSC : See above

This is fantastic advice.

Quote from calnbs : This is what I'm planning to do to further cut down on energy use and put money in my pocket. This is what I've done so far, I usually leave my thermostat at around 80 degree. I installed ceiling fans to every room in my house. This is what my wife and I are planning to do next but does it make sense and worth the hassle and expense? Any experience? 1) Buy a portable air conditioner or Window A/C for our bedroom. We have no kids so no point of turning on the Central Air to cool down the whole house. Make sense? Any experience? 2.) Tint all the windows facing sun when it is setting with reflective Window Films. I can buy the window films at Home Depot for a fair price. Looked at a few DIY videos, doesn't seem too difficult. Does this thing really works? Is it worth the hassle of DIY, I got lots of windows....any one have experience? 3.) Whole House Fan. It's suppose to suck in all the cool air into your house and get rid of all the hot air in your house. Will have to pay someone to put it in. Is it work? Worth the expense? Experiences? I figure if it works, spend the money now and it will save me money in the long term? Your thoughts? Thanks.

The window tint works well, I put it on some windows and you can tell the difference just by the temperature as your installing it. I put in the GILA Heat-Control Window Film from Lowe's.

Quote from cavan : paint house white reflects heat,buy cfl bulbs,get 20-23 watts for good lightng.get plug strips turn off tvs phone chargers when not in use,dry clothes outside,have you 2 Refrigerators,get rid of one, http://michaelbluejay.com/electri...oling.html http://financialplan.about.com/od...gCosts.htm

The CFL is good advice. In general it sounds like you are going for low cost items? You can check the caulk on the windows to make sure you don't have air leaks. The best bang might be to had a home energy audit done with a door blower test.....it will let you know if you have any air leaks or might have some A/C ducts that are loose.

If you can spend more you can do Energy star appliances, Radiant Barrier on your roof decking (think the shiny thing you put in your car window), upgrade insulation (add extra in the attic) are other ways to lower your energy bill.

Thank you everyone for all your great input. After reading up one the window a/c vs portable a/c, looks like the window a/c have the edge unfortunately, I have a horizontal sliding window which only leaves me with the portable a/c as a choice. I figure, it's better than nothing. Now, just gotta find one that is good and reliable.

I'm go forward with the window tint. Definately, going to be a pain with all the windows I got but looks like it might be worth it.

I will look at the other options suggested as well. Also, thanks for the links.

Thanks again.

Quote from calnbs : After reading up one the window a/c vs portable a/c, looks like the window a/c have the edge unfortunately, I have a horizontal sliding window which only leaves me with the portable a/c as a choice.

https://www.google.com/webhp?comp...66&bih=685

A whole house fan sucks the air from the house and forces it into the attic, forcing the hot attic air out through the vents. New air is drawn from outside into the house. Thus, if the outside is cooler than inside, it will cool the house, and rather quickly too. Proper attic ventilation is a must, or it won't work.

I recently got a whole house fan and I love it, but I admit I have only used it in the springtime so far. I can cool off the house in 15 minutes where it used to take hours with the windows open in the evening. Those days when it gets warm but cools down in the evening are perfect for a whole house fan. Some climates work better for these fans than others. If it doesn't cool off much at night, or there is a lot of humidity, it might not be a great option.

Unfortunately, turning on the the fan isn't going to make your home cooler than it is outside. It will, however, keep your home from being hotter than outside. It will create a breeze through the home, but other fans can do that. If you or any of your family has outdoor allergies, the fan will bring it all inside. These fans are large and need to be centrally located in the ceiling. Do you have a place you can do that? They will also need to be insulated when not being used for a while (like during the hottest part of the summer, or during the winter) because otherwise you will lose all your savings. Whole house fans make noise. Not a ton of noise, but they sound like large fans, because they are.

How often do you find that it is cooler outside your home than inside, but opening the windows just doesn't cool it off enough?

- CFL - I bought a ton of CFL's a year ago when the state had massive rebates on them making them comparable to incandescents. Although I don't have direct metrics, the "budget" amount (electricity) for the house was $170 before we bought it and is now down to $116. Granted there may be some usage differences (same # of people in household).

- We use thermal curtains in a couple rooms and I originally had these in our old place which had aluminum windows/sliding doors where we would get TERRIBLE drafts.

- I have AC but don't like to use it.... I want to install a whole house fan sometime. don't forget that the whole house fan will cool down the interior of the house (assuming it's used in the evening) while also cooling down the attic. Note that in the summer or when it's humid, a WHF won't do much to help.

- Limiting heat/cooling to sections of the house where you actually LIVE is a good idea and can be done in moderation with central systems - note that the efficiency of central systems can suffer if you block off too many outlets. We had electric heat in our old place and kept 1 unused bedroom at 50 in the winter, and let it swelter in the summer.

- Our house is newer (2006) but in the basement there were still a few places (esp around the bulkhead door) where there were gaps to the outside. I went down there during the day with the lights off with a can of EPS (expandable polystyrene - "great stuff") and sealed all these openings.