With bills showing ~50% higher than the same time last year, I've decided it's time to review my house (I bought it in February 2012 and other than replacing lights with CFL and LED, I haven't done anything to increase efficiency).
I have three roommates now, so that explains part of the increased usage. However, I have a feeling my (older) electric/tank water heater is incredibly inefficient, and I know my pool pump is as well so I'm considering going to a new variable-speed pump. One of my roommates is an electrical engineer for our power company - he offered to take a look at my AC unit as well and see if we can have some improvements there too.
I'm posting this more to track my progress and motivate myself than for anything else, but if anybody has other ideas I'd love to see them!
First steps-
1) Energy audit ($99 through power company)
2) Look for parasitic draw (shut everything off and see how much power I'm still pulling)
3) Disconnect irrigation system (it's not in use but it must be pulling something)
4) Decide on a variable speed pool pump
5) Decide on an efficient hot water heater (we do not have natural gas/propane)
6) My front outside light is usually left on (LED), but I could kill it if need be (or put a motion light up instead - though I doubt the energy savings I'd get by turning off a small LED would overcome the cost of a motion sensor).
7) Place power strips in locations where I can reach them (e.g. desktop computer in my bedroom runs music/etc, and shutting off speakers/subwoofer/etc is a pain in the ass so I'd be more inclined to do it if I could hit one switch).
If the energy audit shows poorly insulated areas, I would like to resolve that. Does anyone in a hot climate have experience with AC use reduced by virtue of heavy/light-blocking curtains? They aren't cheap, but if I can reduce the greenhouse effect with those more than I can with regular window blinds, that's a consideration. Sunlight is nice, but not when it's 120f outside!
Roommates have mentioned that the wall(s) in their room get hot later in the day. I'm thinking my insulation is poor over there; I don't want to plant a tree because that'd be next to the pool and make pool maintenance (more) frustrating (there's already a tree that drops leaves onto my roof, that then end up in the pool). I also don't know what loose insulation in the attic should look like, but I could put a LOT more up there than what I have right now.
