Month of May and no A/C

This is the first time I can remember going the month of May and not air conditioning. I turned the heat off and the A/C hasn't come on in my brick house all month. Inside temp is 70 or less.

First time the house furnace and the shop stove have had to run in May........

I've not used heat either, saving on electricity. This place was natural gas, now total electric.

Congratulations George, fortunately, we had a relatively mild month of May, not too darn HOT, yayyyyyyyyyyyyy

Mines been on very little also, maybe briefly for a cool down before sleeping in a naturally hotter upstairs. You can't beat good insulation and energy efficiency and alternative energy sources given todays high rising utility costs. I'm too old now but had I known what I know now I would have built utilizing, for example, things such as (maybe some, maybe not others, depends on cost and payback period calculations and my age etc) super insulation,,,,,,,,,earth sheltering,,,,,,,,passive solar heat,,,,,,,,,,geothermal,,,,,,,,,,,,,wind energy,,,,,,,,solar energy,,,,,,,,,,

Todays modern "Smart Home" and energy efficient and alternate energy technology just isn't what it was way back when.

Take care Neighbor

John T

Whatever you do, George, don't eat any pinto beans. As tight as your house is, the least bit of flatulence will cause the A/C to kick on.

We used to try to make it to July before using the AC, now its usually mid June in NE Kansas.

Never had AC ever !!! Heat has been off since May 1. Just go with the seasons,warm days come warm days go. But when the cold comes back, I will light the stove.

JohnT,
That's where I'm different. No alternative heat sources, it's work cutting fire wood and it would add to my home owners insurance. No Geo's, too expensive and from a finical stand point no dividens, no reward. No solar collectors, no wind.

I like the tried, proven, Keep it simple, KISS, insulation, good casement window, no air leaks, Insulation, Aluminum to stop radiant heat gains and losses, and like the American Indians discovered using Specific heat, mud huts.

I put over 20,000 brick on this place. I built new house around an old house starting in 1991-96, doubling the size, 2000 ft+ and a 1000 ft basement, including the attached garage. I keep the garage at 50 so it drys out when I pull a car or truck in with snow or rain on it. I did 90% of the work myself, even the brick, which I've never bricked before and will never brick again.

The house has a natural gas furnace, I changed over to the simple, cheap it install, electric baseboard heaters. Thermostats in every room. I still use furnace as an air handler for A/C, 15 year Rudd, seer 12.

BTW, My fixed electric bill went from $135/mo to 132/mo. I also have two detached garages wired in. One is my old workshop, where I do my welding and wood working. Don't use them all the time, I've been retire for 11 years, but neighbors keep me busy, along with boss and Kids. Daughter is getting a new place. She wants to make a dinning table out of the tulip popular I had cut up from a yard tree. Some of the boards are 1.25 inches and 19.5 wide. She wants a ruff cut table top. Crazy kid with an art degree makes things difficult for dad. I tell her the impossible takes a little longer to do.

John, I have investments in Real estate trusts. One is making 6% is FDIC insured. Another the last 12 months made me 8.8%. Lets say I put $15K in a geo that lasts 20 years, how much will it save me on my electric bill of $132/mo? Lets use a compound interest calculator, how much will I make putting $15k in a 6% compound interest for 20 years? $48,107.03 I don't think my energy bill in a life time will be that much and after 20 years or sooner, you will be paying for repair bills and replacing the Geo. Yes, it's your money and you can do what you want. I like to use the tried and proven ways to conserve energy and are one time investments that pay dividends every month and require no maintenance, repairs and everything will last forever.
George
Compound interest calculator

Congratulations George, hey its a free country and if you aren't into alternate energy or passive solar heat or solar or wind power and happy paying gas or electric or oil companies or other utilities for energy THATS FINE BY ME they need your revenue to survive. Similar, if I were younger and starting over Id sure consider all available options including but not limited to earth sheltering and super insulation and smart energy efficient homes and perhaps passive solar heat and solar and wind power and geothermal and all opportunities even if totally off the grid. To me energy efficiency and smart homes and alternative energy other then gas and electric and oil utilities is the wave of the future UNFORTUNATELY WERE BOTH TOO DARN OLD LOL and are stuck with paying the gas and electric and oil companies grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Take care neighbor and keep warm with that electric heating system, how you choose to purchase energy is certainly your right.

John T

No natural gas or oil for me, I'm total electric.

MarkB_M,
Good advice. After a night of drinking beer and eating hard boiled eggs, I made the mistake and passed gas next to someone smoking. Good thing I was outside. When I landed, I ended up in another county with my pants burnt off. Gave up hard boiled eggs.
geo.

Nice, neat looking shack you built there George. How far away is your other house and what determines where your going to stay. At least I thought you had 2 houses, might be wrong.

I've had it on in the bedroom, sun just heats that end up, slope not too far away is now forest, was once pasture and or crop land, but given the depth, the trees shot up taller than they would elsewhere, but just not enough to shade early enough yet, does help some. We went from winter, to our first day above or at 50 sometime in April, then the summer like heat arrive, some slightly humid days, then like last week that cold dry air from the north which I prefer came in, then back to hot and humid, but not heatwave hot. When it cooled I did use the stove and had the heat on briefly. Somewhere in the mix they got 18" of snow out west, prior to they had summer temps, funny how it all works. In the end of May and June in '13 we had all the rain and systems line up the Hudson valley, innundated, did not dry out til mid to late August, this year it dried right up in April and May weeds stunted, hay grasses thin and not very tall, orchard grass is topped off, last season on June 20 or so, it could be tan and over ripe, it was close to 6' in some places, thick and very green still, that will not happen this year or so it seems. Funny how it all varies year to year.

Good for you George, at least you only have to pay the electric company for heat and hot water and AC, and NOT others.

John T

What are all the softies going to do when the crash comes?

My furnace is still running. Or at least it was a day or two ago. My May gas bill is going to be higher than Aprils was.

(quoted from post at 09:05:09 05/28/15) This is the first time I can remember going the month of May and not air conditioning. I turned the heat off and the A/C hasn't come on in my brick house all month. Inside temp is 70 or less.

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We haven't had the main A/C on yet. We have run a small unit in the bedroom just to bring the humidity down. It's been fairly cool for us. Usually we start having 90 degrees by the middle of May. This year it's hardly gotten out of the 80's but the dew point has hovered in the 70's.

Yes, I do have 2 places. The brick one I bought in 1977 and raised my family there. They only knew one house growing up. I have another place in southern part of the country, 22 acres, mostly an old gravel pit and 2 lakes, more country than my place up north. Guess you could say I sleep around, any place I want. I made the other place the same except for the brick. Brick really does work to stabilize the temp. I'm at both places, hard to say where I sleep. I do love the country more. Wish I could pick my Brick home up and move it to the country.

You guys keep rubbing it in with your no A/C yet.

My A/C has been on day and night for weeks and will not shut off till so time in the end of October.
While I will not go as far as to say I could run my A/C at least one day every month...
I can cut off the heat and run a fan in the window at least one day every month of the year.
On average we do get to 80 (or at least high 70's) one day a month every month of the year.


Average days per month the high temperature is at least

I have known more than one person that lost their home to foreclosure caused by total electric. Perhaps where you are it is affordable, but there are places that electric heat will quickly put you in bankruptcy court.

A point of information: A friend of mine has a total electric condo near me. His home is comfortable all year around and his electric bills are quite reasonable and affordable. The secret is that the house is practically airtight. Just about makes your ears pop just by closing the front door. BUT....if that same super insulation and airtight technology were applied to other heating methods, I'm sure that they would cost even less than the electric. My point is that for total electric to work and be affordable takes some rather drastic insulation and efficiency methods.