Some Big Energy Changes At Our House

When I talk about conserving energy, I'm usually thinking on a small scale.  I unplug the toaster when I'm not using it.  I line dry most of my clothes.  I wash our clothes on cold whenever possible.  I do the short cycle on the dishwasher and let the dishes air dry over night.  This, my friends, is not the case with the latest development at our house.  We're getting a new furnace and air conditioner and clothes dryer!  The biggest energy consumers in a home!

I've been getting these letters from AEP about how our home compares to our neighbors.  We, of course, seem to be using way more energy than anyone else in our neighborhood.  I attributed it to the fact that there are 6 of us in here and most of the other homes have only one or two.  Of course we're going to use more energy!  But I think it's more about the fact that our furnace remembers when JFK was shot and our air conditioner has a Nixon campaign sticker on it.  I'm saying they're old.  So we're modernizing.  And with that modernization will come efficiency.  Our new heating/cooling system will be 95% efficient.  The repair man suspects we're functioning on a 65% efficient system now.  I'm excited to see the change in my electric bill, which will be the only real way I can tell the difference (well, that and the house will finally cool off like it's supposed to!)

After the Christine Challenge I started in the winter, I'm starting to wonder if it would have made such a big difference in my electric bill had I not been using the dryer that Evan and I got for free when we signed a two year lease with our apartment..in 2001.  I'm going to continue to line dry (I'd like to do it outside if it would ever stop raining!!!)  but when I DO put clothes in the dryer (like my towels) I feel better knowing that I'll be using a more efficient machine.