runninmommy Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 This is more about heating/cooling than going "green". I would just like some advice. First off, did you have a HVAC guy come out or is there an official title I could look up for someone who does this sort of thing? What we need is someone to come and inspect our house (we have already had a home inspector come out, that is not what I want) and tell us what we need to do to be more energy efficient and in the end, save money. We know we need more insulation and ceiling fans but really want the systems checked, the house looked over to catch where we are wasting money. We'd like to have someone do this that is not out to make money on us. We have a two story house. The biggest issue right now is that our living room is really open. The ceiling is about 25 feet high and most of the heat rises and the room stays cold! Like 55. We are spending an arm/leg on gas to heat. We average about $260. every 3 weeks. Ouch! Any suggestions or advice?? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I'm not sure you need to spend the money to have someone come to your house. Most of the info should be available online. What type of windows do you have? How much insulation in the walls and attic? How old is your house? How old is your furnace? Answers to these questions will help you. Since you said your ceiling is 25 feet high, I'm guessing that you probably have a somewhat new house, since that's been the trend in the past 10 years. If you know when your house was built, you can find out what the requirements were for insulation, etc. Likewise, you should be able to look up your furnace and see what specs it had new. You could have a furnace guy come out to inspect it and let you know how efficient it is. Ceiling fans will help, but probably not as much as you'd hope, given the height of the ceiling. What might help a lot, though, is building a room above the living room (thus lowering the ceiling). Another option is a fireplace insert (wood, pellet, or coal stove, depending on where you live). We live in PA, and thus have an ample supply of coal. Our coal stove is what provides the majority of our heat, saving us thousands of dollars each year on oil (our furnace is oil/hot air). Some simple things...make sure your water heater is insulated; you might look into a timer for it, too (ours is on a timer system with the power company). Lower the thermostat at night. Wear wool sweaters (really, wearing layers, especially wool, makes a huge difference in comfort!). Good luck! Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Look on the website of your current energy provider, and they usually have ideas to make your house more energy efficient. We did have some guys come from a county agency to help, but they just gave us some energy efficient light bulbs (which did help) and caulked some things around windows and the a/c unit. This sounds crazy I know, but unplug anything that you are not using. We saved $60 the first month that we started doing this, and that was only sporadically as we remembered. It is amazing how much those things use in power each month. We save around $90-$110 a month we estimate based on previous year's bills. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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