The Year of Efficiency

A well-intentioned "Spring cleaning" of our antique air conditioning unit accidentally hastened it's demise and turned our unconditioned house into an oven.  To avoid the heat we spent the night at the uncles' apartment listening to music and playing cards as the kids watched movies.  Justin had everyone laughing when he walked into the apartment and announced, "Uncles, guess where we're sleeping!  Your house!!"  Phillip and Russell's friend referred us to a handyman who kindly gave us "friend prices" on the installation of a high efficiency replacement.

On the upside, our house should be cooler and we should see at least a 25% decrease in electricity bills after years of outrageous bills. In past years we endured 85 degree temperatures inside the house despite the a/c unit continually running.  Last summer we resorted to covering the southern and western windows with flattened cardboard boxes to reduce heat gain.  To improve upon that we've finally decided to take the plunge and replace our home's original single paned windows that allow penetration of 61% of all solar radiation with new argon filled windows that allow only 20%.  The Texas summer should be much more comfortable, tolerable, and affordable this year.

This year has unintentionally become "The Year of Energy Efficiency".  Our washing machine died earlier this year and was replaced with a high efficiency unit that saves water.  Additionally we've replaced both commodes with high efficiency types.  Jeff is currently replacing many of our plants with more drought tolerant species, fixing our gutters, and is assembling a series of rain barrels to collect rainwater for irrigation.  Justin has taken water conservation to heart and regularly yells at our neighbors to "Stop wasting water" when they water their lawns in the daytime, which makes Jeff cringe and laugh simultaneously.

We've done an admirable job conserving our resources in the past, but some of these purchases should take it to another level.