The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[Apoc]

In addition to somehow tripling the amount of laundry we do, my kid also sleeps better when his bedroom is 78-80°. 

I'm just curious as to how to how you determined this. I'm imagining a science fair-esque tri-fold board of sleeping times and room temperature on a line graph.

There's this weird parenting ability that kicks in when you're trying to find out why someone who cannot speak isn't doing what you want them to. You collect all available information and distill them, in your brain, into correlations that you then test. So, yeah, basically what you said without the posterboard. I'd like to say it's because I'm an analyst by trade, but my wife gets all the credit for this one.

[Jewels]

I have to say, I don't think our laundry increased dramatically when Hannah was a baby. That being said, from 6 weeks old until now she has stayed with Rex's parents during the day while we worked, aside from 1/2 day preschool last year, and this year. So their laundry probably went up a good bit when she was little, but they dry everything on the clothesline outside, so I doubt they even noticed the increase energy wise.

Perhaps Rex remembers clearer, as its all still a little blurry for me.

I know that currently, I am generating 3 times the amount of laundry I had during the summer just by myself because I go to the gym in the mornings, change clothes for work, then at least 2 times a week I run, so I change clothes again. Plus the fact that I'm in at least and extra layer because my office is cold, and of course extra layers cause its cold outside to run.

[Sully]

I just talked to a family friend who lived in the same complex last year and the 4 years before that. Same style unit as us but different building. He said it's was never usually over $140. He was second floor. We are third so we should be getting some help with the heat but 3rd floor also gets you like 13 from ceilings in the living room which probably even out getting any residual heat from below.

I'll call power company on Monday probably

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Steve85]

Past house I think was around 3800 sq ft built in 1982 with wood windows and two heat pumps. I'm not sure the heat pumps were working right towards the end but we would get $600 - $700 bills in the heart of winter. 3000+kwh. Windows were about to be replaced, we sold the house instead.

New house, same size, built in 2015 with gas heat, two units again, one for basement / 1st floor and smaller unit for upstairs. We are on a budget plan with gas that was $125/mo in the first year and dropped to $104/mo for current year. Electric usage has only exceeded 1500 once (1536). So total energy expenditure is definitely down while keeping the thermostat a couple degrees higher in winter. 

I WFH full time, have two kids that light up everything in sight including one that turns on the hallway, bathroom, laundry and closet lights to sleep with a radio and fan (all lights get turned off when we go to bed). Need to start charging his ass rent. Most lights are CFL, replaced with LED as needed.

Bit of an eye chart below but Dec 16 to Jan 17 is interesting with very similar temps. Merry Christmas!

Month
Usage (kWh)
Avg. High (°F)
Avg. Low (°F)
April 2016
302
64
41
May 2016
356
71
52
June 2016
994
83
61
July 2016
1375
88
68
August 2016
1412
88
67
September 2016
976
81
61
October 2016
708
68
47
November 2016
763
59
37
December 2016
1068
43
28
January 2017
897
44
31
February 2017
740
48
31
March 2017
809
51
34
April 2017
806
69
49
May 2017
802
71
52
June 2017
1265
83
61
July 2017
1536
86
66
August 2017
1078
81
62
September 2017
967
77
56
October 2017
821
70
48
November 2017
895
53
35
December 2017
1242
41
27
January 2018
661
31
17
Total
20473






© 2017 Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative. All Rights Reserved | Powered by Daffron & Assoc

[BLINGMW]

I would suggest replacing the door seal yourself, tell your landlord you'll be shortpaying your next check by the 30 bucks you might spend. 

Are you sure your heat pump is even working? If the reversing valve is broken, your landlord and/or shady HVAC tech might have it set to run aux heat all the time. Go find which is your unit outside and make sure you can hear the compressor running, buy a cheap digital kitchen meat thermometer, and see what the temp is coming out of a vent closest to the air handler. It should only be 20 deg higher than the indoor temp, lower if it's freezing out. If it's too high, the aux heat is probably on. You may even be able to switch it off from a breaker on the air handler or elec panel. Proving that it's not set up correctly would help your case. 

In the meantime, learn to live with a lower setpoint and turn it down even further if it's below 20 deg. My house is at 65, and I have the compressor set to lockout at 10 deg outdoor temp, so if it's 10 out, I turn it down to 62. Do this when you get up, at the coldest part of a typical day, and gradually raise it back as it warms up outside. Bleed as much heat off your neighbor as you can and put some socks on! 

To all: it's the American way to run silly setpoints, like 70 in the winter and 68 in the summer, but using 64-65 winter and 75-78 summer will help your body adjust so you'll feel more comfortable when you do go outside, and you'll get used to the indoor Temps. It's 64 in here right now and not even my kids are wearing socks.

Scotty: if you cannot keep it above 66 with the aux heat on, your shit is broken.

[WRXtranceformed]

To all: it's the American way to run silly setpoints, like 70 in the winter and 68 in the summer, but using 64-65 winter and 75-78 summer will help your body adjust so you'll feel more comfortable when you do go outside, and you'll get used to the indoor Temps. It's 64 in here right now and not even my kids are wearing socks.

All good advice.  It's 65 in my bedroom right now as i type this and i love it.  But 75-78 when you're at home in the summer?  No way man, that is sweltering inside as far as I'm concerned.  Especially with the humidity we get down here.  At night I can't sleep unless it's 68 degrees or below.

[JPolen01]

^ Agreed with Lee. I'll pay a higher bill to be comfortable. I'm not going to sweat in my own house.

[BLINGMW]

Yes, during shoulder months when it's not that hot out, forcing some runtime with a lower setpoint for humidity control may be necessary. I'm just making a general suggestion based on ashrae standards that works for a blend of energy efficiency and occupant comfort. It does work if you let yourself get used to it. If you want to be an outlier, I cannot stop you!

[JPolen01]

Outliers unite!

[Apoc]

File this one under reasons I got a college education.

[ViPER1313]

I would run it colder at night but I’m not comfortable doing that with my 1 y/o with no blankets in her crib, and I refuse to use space heaters indoors.

I used to keep the house at 69 and let it go down to 66 or 67 at night, and my thermostat has a programmable swing/offset, so I can tell the pump to not hit AUX unless it goes 5 below setpoint and not kick in during a deep recovery period. It was cheaper. It was also colder. I have found I like it warm.

[Ryan T]

We set ours at 69 when we bought our hour and, aside from when we go on vacation, have never touched it. Set it and forget it. We also do the budget billing.

[Sully]

I mean even at 69, it's usually cold in here if it's really cold out. I don't mind wearing a sweatshirt inside but the fiancé complains about being cold plus getting out of the shower in the morning sucks when it's too cold. That said, our bedroom gets so hot at night which sucks too. And like you guys are saying about sucking it up and lowering the temperature. Our temp is set at 69, it's not even that high and it's not even that enjoyable in here as it is.

That shorting the payment thing though, I don't think that's how my lease works. I could see doing that when renting from an individual but I don't think corporations play that game.

Wouldn't the thermostat indicate when aux heat kicks on? The couch is right under a living room vent and it doesn't feel excessively hot coming out.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Ryan T]

The thermostat will usually say aux or emergency heat on the display.

[JPolen01]

Yeah lol at short paying over $30. That's not going to end well.

[balactm]

Past house I think was around 3800 sq ft built in 1982 with wood windows and two heat pumps. I'm not sure the heat pumps were working right towards the end but we would get $600 - $700 bills in the heart of winter. 3000+kwh. Windows were about to be replaced, we sold the house instead.

New house, same size, built in 2015 with gas heat, two units again, one for basement / 1st floor and smaller unit for upstairs. We are on a budget plan with gas that was $125/mo in the first year and dropped to $104/mo for current year. Electric usage has only exceeded 1500 once (1536). So total energy expenditure is definitely down while keeping the thermostat a couple degrees higher in winter. 

I WFH full time, have two kids that light up everything in sight including one that turns on the hallway, bathroom, laundry and closet lights to sleep with a radio and fan (all lights get turned off when we go to bed). Need to start charging his ass rent. Most lights are CFL, replaced with LED as needed.

Bit of an eye chart below but Dec 16 to Jan 17 is interesting with very similar temps. Merry Christmas!

Month
Usage (kWh)
Avg. High (°F)
Avg. Low (°F)
April 2016
302
64
41
May 2016
356
71
52
June 2016
994
83
61
July 2016
1375
88
68
August 2016
1412
88
67
September 2016
976
81
61
October 2016
708
68
47
November 2016
763
59
37
December 2016
1068
43
28
January 2017
897
44
31
February 2017
740
48
31
March 2017
809
51
34
April 2017
806
69
49
May 2017
802
71
52
June 2017
1265
83
61
July 2017
1536
86
66
August 2017
1078
81
62
September 2017
967
77
56
October 2017
821
70
48
November 2017
895
53
35
December 2017
1242
41
27
January 2018
661
31
17
Total
20473






© 2017 Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative. All Rights Reserved | Powered by Daffron & Assoc

A 15-16kW PV solar system would cover all of that electricity, and pay for itself in ~10 years (less if you live in dc/md) EVEN WITH the new 30% tariff on imported solar panels. If you're not going to be at the house for that long, it probably doesn't make sense, unless the person buying your house is comparing one without solar to one with solar, in which case, it could be the "selling point."

I know a guy that does solar if you're interested...

[JPolen01]

I'm going to ask this here because I'm not sure which thread it pertains to most.

Any recommendations for a lawyer to draft a will & power of attorney (financial & medical)? How much should this cost? Got a quote from a lawyer recommended by my sister-in-law and he quoted $1,000. This seemed high to be in general, but I have no idea if this is the going rate for these types of services. It's time the wife and I get this stuff done as we own a house, 2 cars, and have a significant amount of savings/investments.

[JustinG]

Notarized cocktail napkin, "I want all my stuff to go to Justin Gallamore"

[WRXtranceformed]

^^ haha

I had this done at a local law office via an "attorney benefit" that was provided through my company...so the out of pocket was like maybe $80. $1,000 seems extremely high though, I'm thinking $400-600 is probably more realistic especially if you don't have children yet. Your will right now should be pretty straightforward.

---

Oh and as an update, I filed a BBB complaint with our builder and they are coming out tomorrow to look at our "12 month" punch list. It's kind of a shame it had to come to that but at least I found a way to drag their asses out here.

[Apoc]

Power of Attorney, Will, and Medical Directive at LegalZoom for $250.

I thought the site was gonna be a joke, but I was actually pretty impressed with the thoroughness and customization for our situation and state laws. That fee includes a consult from a lawyer, but we didn't use it because the process was so straightforward.