I can’t believe that we have been living in our home for over a year. We have been so busy that this year has really gone quickly.
Energy use:
I want to show the amount of energy we use consumed and compared to the energy we use today.
Month
April 2010 1925 house we use to live in on the same property
102.1 Therms of natural gas
502kWh of electricity
Total cost 188.68$
April. 2011 PH house without solar - everything runs on electricity
No natural gas = no Therms
We paid 0$ for pellets for heating this month
1083kWH of electricity
Total cost 116.00
April. 2012 PH house with solar – again everything in our home runs on electricity
No natural gas = no Therms
We paid 0$ for pellets for heating this month
815kWh of electricity
Total cost 90.16
We had a total of 9 sunny or partly sunny days in April. This means that our solar system should produce more in the days to come.
We had a total of 9 sunny or partly sunny days in April. This means that our solar system should produce more in the days to come.
The last two winter, in our new home, we paid 15.00$ for wood pellets to heat our home. Three bags for each year!
What would we change in our home?
We I love our home! So it is very hard to examine anything I would change it seems to come down to money and the budget. That said here are a couple of small things:
When we had our kitchen made I had a lift up spring cabinet for a mixer. The professional mixer is a little too tall for the standard opening and now I have to pull the mixer forward to operate the spring lift. I would have also had the island move a little further back for clearance. Below is the picture.
I would have had the deck bigger like in our plans but the budget wouldn’t allow it.
I would have had the eves on the south at 4’ or 61cm. We will be putting up a pergola this summer with sun cloth to shade our house and deck this spring.
I wish we would have place a doublewide driveway into our garage, again the budget was a factor. One car sits on the street so we can put the car in and out of the garage. We do have two cars but my husband rides his bike to work and I work at home doing art, so the cars are resting for the most part.
We have had some problems with our air system. There was a bad batch of motors that went out and a computer board. We are hoping that all of this is solved! Perfect Climate is so great! We wouldn’t have anyone else! If you live in the Portland Oregon area, I highly recommend Perfect Climate; they are in the building contact list. Ultimate Air has been good about sending new parts and standing behind their product, I just wish it they could have all the bugs out before sending the system to clients.
I hope that this information updates what has been happening around here. I have some more information on remolding home into passive home for the next blog.
Be Blue – Protect the sky - Start growing plants today.
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I'm surprised that your electric bill is so high in April, and dropped by only $25 with solar. If you don't need it for ambient or water heat, what is all the electricity doing, besides the refrigerator? Do you have an electric clothes dryer?
ReplyDeleteThe first months are expected to be like that. Adjusting periods starts there.
ReplyDelete