See the sun peeking through
Yes you can see the sun peeking through my curtains in the family room.
Every morning when the sun starts hitting the windows of the house, I go through the house and lower the mini blinds and pull the curtains.
Yes it makes my house dark inside during the day, and it also means I don't have to set my ac so low.
I turn on the fans I have placed throughout the house.
It does feel like 'the olden days' growing up when we didn't have ac, or the 'olden days' in the 80's when my kids were babies and we lived in a farmhouse and we didn't have ac.
We've had ac the past 19 years, and up until recently I used it and all the time.
Then last month our town raised the rates from .12 per kilowatt hour to .23 per kilowatt hr.
That is crazy. My electric bill doubled although I used less kilowatts.
So I am trying my attempt at keeping the house cool, and the sun out.
And my dog likes to look out, so when I'm not here I keep several curtains pulled a bit to give him his people and dogs outside to watch.
What is everyone out there doing to keep cool and keep your costs down?
Happy hot summer day to all of you!
Labels: house and home, seasons
posted by Mim @ 4:24 PM
12 Comments
12 Comments:
We keep the thermostat set at 80. Since the house it made of cinderblock, it really doesn't feel like 80...so it's not as uncomfortable as it sounds. Our electric bill has been around $130 a month. Is that good?
Layla
The Lettered Cottage
Interesting about the electric rates, Mim. We're still waiting for our new bill that reflects Dominion Power's new rate structure. We pay on a monthly budget plan (highly recommended if you don't do that: they average your use over a year's time and then charge you a flat rate based on that. Same amount every month so you don't have regular sticker shock. You make up any difference at the end of the billing year.) so we may not see the difference until the end of the year, but the charge per kwh will be interesting to look at.
Stay cool!
Layla
Thanks for stopping by. 130 a mo sounds reasonable. I bet your house stays cool being made of cinderblock.
Mim
Ralph,
My son has Dominion Power too and they are slated to up their rates.
We don't have DP.
I might just do the mo. thing as you are suggesting. I may also do it for our furnace which is oil and we all know about those prices right now.It's the sticker shock when the bill comes, not being forewarned.
Have you given thought to your new house what kind of heating system you'd put in?
Mim
Our heating system here will no doubt be electric-based, a heat pump, heating and a/c combo. At least that's what all the new houses around here have....hard to say in the coming years which will be worse, electric power or fossile fuel....they'll probably both drive us to the poorhouse so it might not make much difference. We'd like to look into solar power, maybe at least partial, but the cost may be prohibitive.
Ralph
"They'll probably both drive us to the poorhouse" is exactly how it feels.
It's something we don't really have control over, unlike our food choices, or other discretionary spending.
Yes new houses here are with electric, and heat pump combos.
How are your house plans coming by the way?Are you still designing the floor plan or is that completed?
Mim
We're closing in on a plan, Mim. As much open space as possible, with a second floor that looks down onto the first. Kitchen, preferably raised a step, that opens without a wall to a great room w/wood burning fireplace. Master suite on the main floor and another upstairs, plus a third bedroom and office space up there. As much deck as possible to take advantage of the water view--we will have to let that screened porch go, though, because of space limitations. Too bad, but it should be nice anyway. present house.
Ralph,
It sounds like a great house plan.. too bad about no screened porch,eh? I had one in our PA house and we just loved it.
Will it be on the site where you vacation now with those beautiful water views? If so you are both lucky. No wait not lucky, you have had this planned for a good while now!So glad it's going to happen for you.
Mim
Yep, Mim, right here where I'm writing from now. It's an ancient (1967 vintage) trailer that will be demolished. And frankly, the way things are going, between the real etate market and jobs, luck may play a very large part!
Ralph
So will your trailer have to be demolished before or after the building... after I am guessing?
Otherwise where will you live and watch the progress from?
How are building codes there? cumbersome or pretty easy to navigate?
Sounds fun and ok luck works too!
Mim
Our land is a virtual postage stamp--a quarter acre. So the trailer will have to come down to make room, literally, for the house. There are lots of old-growth trees in the middle of the lot that unfortunately will also have to come down. Ideally, timing would work so any buyers of the Arlington place would be able/willing to hold off on occupancy until this new place was finished, but if not, we'll just get a seasonal rental somewhere near here so we can supervise the construction. There are also some timing advantages with a construction loan as opposed to a mortgage, so we may be able to finagle that some way.
Building codes here seem to be pretty easy, but it being waterfront there are restrictions on how close to the water we can build. We already know that the deck we want would be too wide for code, but it's a no-brainer to just design for exactly what we want and let the chips fall where they may. The county will either let it ride, or we'll ask for a variance. The biggest thing about variances is neighbor comments, and at this point we have no reason to believe the people on either side of us would object.
So many details to be aware of!
Ralph,
Yes so many details, but could be fun and challenging at the same time. I like your idea of rental nearby, and hopefully the sale of the Arlington house will happen without a hitch.
Everything in the housing market is so touch and go right now, it would/could be anxiety producing.
Thanks for sharing the details. Fun to read about and a dream for you both it seems like. Waterfront and a dock, now who doesn't want that.
M.
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