Advice Wanted!
We are using up to 3,000 kWh per month in the winter and up to 1500 kWh in the summer -- YIKES! What should be some next steps?
~Family of 5, 1890 sq ft single family home with no basement. 1974 house w/a thin layer of batting insulation under housewrap and plywood siding. Attached garage is totally uninsulated/no HVAC. Attic has quite a lot of batting.
~We live in Virginia, USA. Swampy summers and cold winters.
~All electric utilities. Baseboard heaters and central a/c. We had a propane fireplace that heated 2 rooms, but it was costing $300+ to fill twice per winter so we've turned it off.
~We don't have the right wiring for programmable thermostats. So we turn them all down/up daily.
~10 loads of laundry washed and dried per week. I've tried to reduce this, but we exercise, have multiple kids in sports, school uniforms come home muddy every day, and DH is VERY picky about cleanliness (and clean sheets, towels, etc.). Washer and dryer are HE bought in 2012.
~Our house and yard are HEAVILY shaded with oaks and hickory -- I have tried hanging laundry out and it is filthy after a few hours with all of the dirt, pollen, insects, and other debris that falls from our 100+ year old trees, plus there isn't much sunlight.
~Lots of lights on all day because with our heavy shade, it is DARK inside of our house during the day. Can't see to cook, read, play, clean etc. without lights on.
~Youngest child and I are home all day, older 2 kids are home all summer, and DH often works from home too. He runs a server with an uninterruptible power supply, we keep a Disney Circle on for filtering, we have frequent use of 2 laptops, 2 phones, 1 ipad, 1 kindle, and Amazon echo and some TV and Playstation. Kids also run in/out often which means doors are opened frequently.
~Hot water heater and fridge/oven were new in 2005, dishwasher was new in 2012. I cook/bake all of meals from scratch so use the kitchen appliances daily. Dishwasher runs 2 full loads per day. No second fridge or freezer.
~1 outdoor light (porch light) on a motion sensor.
~Solar seems like it isn't an option with the limited sunlight that reaches us.
Heat pump and new siding seemed like obvious steps to us, but 2 different neighbors who have the exact same model house upgraded to these and tell us they had no measurable difference in utilities. It's possible they don't pay close enough attention, but that was discouraging.