Last month I
thought I was going to have a panic attack.
Why, you ask? Because I got my
gas/electric bill. I’ve lived in the
desert southwest all of my life, so I’ve never been overly concerned with my
gas usage. I didn't use much, since I didn't need to heat the house a great deal. My bill from the energy company
in my new state of residence, however, told me that perhaps I need to pay close
attention to weatherproofing.
I’m living in
a rental property at present, and therefore can’t make all the changes that I’d
like, but judging by my household use of 5.2 therms per day, I had to do
something. I was using far too much energy. How can I be eco friendly if my gas usage is through the roof, after all?
Bit by bit
this month, I made changes to the pre-1900s home that I’m renting.
Because the
floors are uneven I had to add a weather strip to the bottom of the back
door. While one side of the door was
perfectly flush with the floor, the side near the hinge had an air leak that
let cold air in (and therefore warm air out) at a staggeringly large rate.
I also
discovered huge air leaks along various window frames. I caulked those up with a vengeance.
Next came the
thermostat. It was set to sixty-eight
degrees, 24 hours a day, every day. Neither
my husband nor I had taken the time to change that, but our gas bill made me
re-think my lack of foresight. It got
changed to 65 degrees during sleep times.
These were
small changes, but any change is better than no change at all.
Part of the
problem is the age of the house. At the
time it was built people only used a very thin layer of insulation on the outer
walls. This is something that I, as a
renter, do not have the ability to change. I’ll have to work around it.
In the meantime, I'll be researching methods to conserve energy in snow country, while continuing to make small fixes.
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