Are smaller homes better for the environment? How big is yours?

In Houston, we have a 3/2/2 tract house with about 1680 sf built in 1951. The attic is well insulated, but it looks pretty old (none of the newer pink stuff). The walls seem to be pretty insulated, too. Since this house was built at the end of the pre-A/C era, I guess they were concerned about keeping houses cool back then the old fashioned way! Also, the eaves protrude about 20 inches, which keeps the sun out during the summer. Not so efficient features: the original single pane aluminum windows, and a big sliding glass door facing south. Also, I passed up on an $1100 upgrade to put in radiant barrier roof decking when the roof was replaced 5 years ago... still kicking myself for that one! :frusty:

I set the programmable thermostat to 67 during the winter, and run ceiling fans (installed when we bought the house in 1997) all summer with the temp set at 78. We have gas heat. Lights used most often are CFL's or are on dimmers. Do have an electric dryer in the garage though (3-5 loads a week).

Typically we use 375-425 kWH in the winter (about $65 at $0.13 per kW), and 900-1000 kWH in the summer (since keeping track the last two years, maxed out at 1100kW). Since the AVERAGE Texas house AVERAGES 1000 kWH/month, I think this is pretty darn good! I'd like to upgrade the windows, but I doubt any further cost savings would justify the $7000 expense.

I think the ceiling fans, keeping the temp at 78, and using the CFL's are what contribute the most to our reasonable electric bills.

 

Hang your laundry out,,, We wait and do laundry on good days if we can. Even in the PNW winter we seldom have to use the dryer. ~2.5kw/1.5hours/5/week= 18.75kwh/week. Not an insignificant amount. Takes only a few minutes a load to hang and fold.

Icarus

 

Wow, didn't know dryers used that much juice! Unfortunately, there's no convenient place to hang a clothes line in our yard. But more to the point, since we both work, and time is tight on weekends, I doubt I could convince my better half to agree to this. Plus in Houston, you NEVER know when it will rain....

 

I've got a gas dryer. I don't like hanging clothes in the sun due to fading and deterioration of fibers. But I did buy a retractable line recently that will fit across a shady spot. I haven't installed it yet so I don't know if the dog will think I've created a new toy for him or not. I guess I'll know in a few weeks when I get around to installing it.

 

Pirus in Texas:
I've got a way cool retractable clothes line. Mounts on the wall, about 3 feet long. Spools out to ~50', five lines. Spools back in like a retractable extension cord. BTW I did a real calculation. Most driers burn more like 5kw rather than the 2.5 kw I mentioned.

5kwx1.5 hours x5 loads/week=37.5kwh/week or ~168kwh/month. In your case about 42% of your summer usage. As for you single pane windows; you may be right about changing them out. Check with your local utility and see if they have an energy audit/upgrade grant programs. Often the utility will pay for a lot of up grades because it is cheaper for them retrofit your house rather than build new generating capacity.

To Godiva: I suspect that hanging you wash out it probably easier on the fibers than the dryer, because the heat is not as high. Also they are not exposed to the sun very long depending on outside humidity. A clothes line works just fine even in the shade. If you have a bit of wind your golden.

We sometimes get lazy and I have to jab myself and realize the cost of using the dryer, both out of pocket and environmental.

Icarus

 

Electric dryers, even new ones, are terrible hogs. I use a clothes line when possible, look forward to getting a gas dryer for the winter.

 

Yes, the heat from the dryer isn't good. But the UV from the sun deteriorates the fibers faster. Most of my clothes and sheets are good quality cotton. I use low heat settings on the dryer.

Fabric sheets clog your lint filter. They leave a layer of film that clogs the screens. Wash your filters regularly so that the water goes through instead of beading up. That will cut drying time.

 

My clothes line is under a verandah which is in a court yard. I have a hills hoist clothes line in the back yard which I never use, only the retractable one under the verandah gets used now. I am also often tempted to use the electric dryer which uses about 1200w/h even on low. To reduce the temptation I am going to move the dryer out under the verandah also. Then there is no escape, I need to remove the clothes from the machine into a basket and carry them out so I may as well hang them.

I use a front loading machine and hang my clothes and they last so long it is an embarrassment. When I bought them they were fashionable I swear!

For example, the shirt I have on now is about 5 years old and is a favorite so I wear it a lot.

 

The best thing about T-shirts is they don't get dated.

Except maybe those Led Zeppelin T's. Grateful Dead. Knight Rider.

 

Wow. Can you please expand on how you accomplished this? I assume it involved more than just insulation and weatherstripping to get an older 2300SF spec home to be so efficient.

 

His ceilings are R100. It sounds like an extensive remodel, SKruse, do tell.

BTW, the recent turn in this thread got me thinking... I've bought a few synthetic shirts lately and I really like them. Because it's dry here in CO, pretty much all of the time, I just lay them out on the bed or book shelf to dry. They dry quickly. So the question is, would it be better to buy all synthetic stuff and not use a dryer versus buying natural fibres and having to dry them? It probably uses considerably less fossil fuels over the lifetime of the garment to go that route.

I'd love to measure our dryer with my kill-o-watt but it uses 240AC and is drawing more than 15 amps so I can't. A clothesline wouldn't work well here in the winter because of the temps. In the summer it would do great, however.

 

That polyester shirt won't last as long as a good quality cotton shirt.

I'm a quilter. The reason quilters use good quality cotton is because the blends rot. The first quilt I ever made (30 years ago) is rotting. Not all of the fabrics. but two particular prints are. When I bought them I didn't know the fabric content and they were cheap. (I was a starving college student and didn't know much about quilting at the time.) Whereas there are quilts well over 100 years old in museums made of cotton, wool and silk. (They more they stay out of the light, the longer they last.)

Cotton will last longer. It is also recyclable. You can shred it and feed it to your earthworms. Not so the synthetics.

You'll have to decide if the convenience of a fast air dry is worth it.

 

Tripp,

You can do a quick calc on your dryer. Look at the rating plate, use those numbers and multiply by the time used. (Volt X amps = watts)

A kill-a-watt is a great too, but all it's functions can be replicated with calculatons (close enough anyway)

As for temp and drying. It is not the temp that really matters, but the humidity. In CO you have quite low humidity i the winter I believe and even below freezing the laundry will dry remarkably quickly.

Icarus

 

Unless they freeze and get crunchy. Also, there's a PITA factor. I know about the VxA=W but it's always nice to have an actual measurement. Our dryer has a moisture sensor so we don't run it for set periods of time. Yes I could time it, but I'd have to be paying attention.

I'll look around back and see what the specs are, I'm sure it has a large draw.

Godiva, my cotton t-shirts wear out pretty quickly, more so in a dryer. Also, from an athletic point of view cotton is a very inferior fabric. It holds water and its insulating ability goes to hell when it's wet. It's known as the "death fabric" in outdoors circles because of it. The natural fibre of choice there is wool, but it's got its own issues. The synthetic socks (under armor) that I wear are much more durable than the standard cotton athletic socks that I wear. Those last a year tops and then they're threadbear and full of holes. Can't speak to the longevity of the shirts though, haven't had them long enough.

 

Well, there are different fibers for different purposes. And whatever works for you.

Wool will keep you warm, even when wet.

Silk is one of the best fabrics for both keeping you cool and keeping you warm.

Cotton doesn't melt when it gets burned.

I'm not that hard on my clothes. And I rotate them. I have over a dozen pairs of socks so I don't wear the same pair that often. Same with shoes so my shoes last longer. I have several dozen T-shirts so they also don't get a lot of wear on rotation. (Some are seasons: Christmas, Halloween, Read Across America, Banned Books Week, etc.)

For me, I wear mostly cotton. But I do have some rayon. And a little bit of wool and silk.

 

Re: When Buildings Talk, People Listen

Pure horse s***. I have Shaw Cable internet at my home, and this clunky Xplornet satellite internet thing at my hobby farm. I use an APC Smart UPS as my master power switch. When I'm done, everything is powered down

Have been doing that forever and no issues. Of course, if you have a VOIP service from your cable co, then you will have to leave it on 24x7. With all those brick power converters running 24x7, it's far less energy for the phone co to provide service.

 

As far as homes, I have two. I recently sold the condo and purchased a home built in 2004 by a very picky HVAC company owner. Same fellow who sold and installed the HVAC at my hobby farm

The house faces SE and is around 1,300 sq ft. With a partially finished basement, it feels enormous. Presently, I work from the home 2-3 days a week, at the office the other day or two unless away on business

The house is shared with my dad, who no longer wants to live alone since my mom died. An aunt or two will usually hang around as well. Let's not forget the 2 cats. Plenty of room for everybody

The house is very well built but "conventional" for this climate. That means 2x6 walls with batt insulation, R60 roof, and good pvc tri-pane windows. The HVAC is a state of the art Bryant Evolution

In winter, the sun pours into the living room and kitchen, where the biggest windows are. The overhang is such that the sun is blocked in summer. No windows on the west to heat up the house in summer

The garage is 24x24, and has a Reznor gas heater. Even keeping the garage heated, my utility bills are 55-70% that of my neighbors. Proper siting alone can make a big difference in energy consumption

The hobby farm is 1,600 sq ft, and the exterior walls are insulated concrete form with a finished wall depth of 12 inches. Supposedly comparable to R-50. Ceilings are structural insulated panels with 12 inch Roxul mineral wool insulation on top, around R80

I really went overboard in construction. The footings have piling and underpining. The ICF has a lot of extra rebar, beyond code, that is tied and welded (I love playing with a stick welder). If you're careful, you can quickly stick weld rebar without damaging the ICF

Heat is a Bryant Evolution gas furnace. It's rated 60,000 btu and easily heats on low fire even at -40. Compared to my other house, which is very well built, the hobby farm uses 1/2 the energy to heat and cool. Both homes have HRV's that run constantly to provide fresh air

For backup heat I have an airtight Regency woodstove in the basement, and an airtight Regency fireplace insert in the living room. A small fire in the basement stove quickly overheats the house even at -30.

I have thought of pv solar, but this is a harsh northern climate and I'm not too convinced of the durability. I now wish I had put in geothermal heat, it's less bother than natural gas furnaces.

A neighbor who almost exactly copied my home plan - yes with my permission - has a geothermal system and his house is 35% cheaper to heat/cool. In summer he can use the desuperheater to heat his hot bath water

The ultimate in energy efficiency would be an earth sheltered home. Find a building site with a hill that faces SE, build into the hill.

 

"I have thought of pv solar, but this is a harsh northern climate and I'm not too convinced of the durability." Jayman

Jayman,

We live in the bush in Northwestern On, climate not unlike your own,,,perhaps a bit harsher. We have two PV solar systems that have been in for better than 10 years. They have suffered through mega-snow, hot muggy summers, lightning (big enemy of PV!) hail stones the size of golf balls. In all those years we have had one panel out of ~20 fail. Covered by warrantee however.

Don't think that PV is going to be cheap however. If you and DIY you can get your installed cost ~$5/watt, depending on if you are going to do grid tie inverter or battery bank charging or a hybrid system.

The payoff is not really there if you have grid power,,,BUT,,, if you consider the environmental payoff, AND assume that the price of Hydro grid power will go up over the live of the hardware it can get competitive. The crazy installations are those that haven't address good conservation practices FIRST. I've see people spend $30k on a system, to save $300, but if they had spent $10k on insulation, good lighting, good site design, they would save $30k. Only after doing EVERYTHING to conserve first, does PV make sense. As a matter of fact, PV should come at least third on any list of changes. A way faster payback can be made with solar hot water, even in your climate.

It sounds like you have gone a long way on the conservation front,

Icarus

 

That's right, you have a summer place near Atikokan, if I recall. My hobby farm is near Pinawa and Lac du Bonnet.

For a remote area, a small PV installation is a much better choice than lugging around diesel for a generator. If power is really expensive, like it is in Ontario, a partial PV might make sense

However, the power from Manitoba Hydro is dirt cheap compared to the rest of North America. I may in the future consider partial PV as it appears quality PV's are coming down in price

Right you are, some folks try to run an energy-hungry house with PV, which would be incredibly expensive. Had a neighbor once ask me how big a PV installation he would need to run an electric hot water heater

Um, zero, since you would *never* try to run an electric dryer or electric hot water heater off PV. Some folks even think of running electric heat off PV!!

Actually, with the hobby farm, I would have to give up very little to go off grid electricity. Proper construction, desgin, and installation up front pay off immediately.

Next house I will absolutely look at an earth sheltered design. Then off grid is very feasible.

 

On the topic of PV, or remote sites and lightning strikes, I highly recommend the Raycap Rayvoss for strike and surge protection. They have a long proven history with military, government, and commercial clients

Rayvoss - The Ultimate Overvoltage Protection

Grounding can be a problem with remote sites, especially if you have a tower for comms or PV. Most soil conditions aren't the greatest for good grounding, and the NEC standard ground rod is pretty lame

For most clients, I recommend drilling a 30-100 ft groundwell and using a carbon backfill product like Loresco's

L O R E S C O

An advantage of using a proper backfill is that you also seal and protect the aquifer.