Author Topic: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question  (Read 6706 times)

Dicey

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 22322
  • Age: 66
  • Location: NorCal
To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« on: June 02, 2012, 11:06:23 AM »
So, as I posted elsewhere, we're having a heat wave here in NorCal. It's been forecast to last all weekend. Last night, when my neighbor and I set out for an evening stroll, we expected it to be blasting hot. We were happily surprised to discover that a cool breeze had begun and the air was cooling rapidly. This is not completely unheard of in these parts, but was unexpected, based on the dire news predictions. As we strolled through the neighborhood, we could hear a number of a/c's still droning away. I wanted to knock on people's doors and tell them it wasn't hot anymore. (Free air conditioning for everyone!) My neighbor, who is my frugal idol, felt that this would be too weird and discouraged me from doing so. I was viewing it from a number of different angles: preserving cash and resources plus minimizing noise pollution. She felt it was too intrusive.

Most of these neighbors (and their a/c units) are elderly and these folks tend not to go outside in the evening, so they wouldn't know that the heat wave had temporarily broken. I should mention that ours is a townhome community and we are both long-time residents, so we wouldn't exactly be strangers knocking on random doors, but these were not the homes of close friends, either. Our happy compromise was to knock on the door of a friend whose home is always warm due to its western exposure. She was thrilled and we all stood outside chatting, enjoying the refreshingly cool air.

Final notes: All of these homes are large two-story units with relatively inaccessible (externally) upstairs windows designed for good cross ventilation. Opening a window at night is a very low-risk option. It was about 7:30, so not yet dark, but daylight was waning. Also, everyone pays their own electric bills, so it wasn't about saving the HOA's money.

In your opinion, would knocking on doors have been crossing a line? Would it have been viewed as helpful or intrusive? You already know how it turned out, but what would have been the most badass way to share this unexpected gift from Mother Nature?

kudy

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 945
  • Age: 41
  • Location: RV Traveling the U.S.
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2012, 11:10:39 AM »
I think a majority of people would at the very least think it was weird that you were concerned with their business.  Others may be openly unhappy or hostile, and feel that you were lecturing or telling them what to do.  If you can stand a lot of awkwardness with your neighbors, you may end up finding a few who appreciate the notice, but you want to avoid the nosy/invasive neighbor label, I imagine.

kolorado

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 368
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2012, 12:00:24 PM »
I'd immediately suspect someone like that was "casing the joint" and was trying to find someone dumb enough to lower their security measures under the ruse of energy savings. I totally agree with your stance but if I heard it from a person in the neighborhood, I would be creeped out that someone was watching our habits.
Now you might be able to get some energy saving ideas flyers from a utility company and hang them on people's doors. They always seem to insert such flyers in paper bills so maybe they'd have extra for such a purpose. You may even be able to print small cards with a couple tips and a trusted website listed for more information.

jbhernandez

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 45
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2012, 12:12:04 PM »
Since this is North Carolina and not NY, or some other highly dense urban area and as someone who knocks on a lot of doors, I think most people would have welcomed the news, some would have been apprehensive, and others would have acted as if they weren't home. :)

Zoot Allures

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 203
  • Age: 53
  • Location: Western Massachusetts
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2012, 06:16:24 PM »
I understand and share the frustration of hearing air conditioners needlessly whirring away, but knocking on people's doors to tell them the heat wave is over smacks of the "green police" to me. I wouldn't assume that people don't know the heat wave is over.

jpo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 518
  • Age: 37
  • Location: North Carolina
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2012, 10:08:30 AM »
Weird, unless you know who lives there and want to visit with them.

velocistar237

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1424
  • Location: Metro Boston
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2012, 10:53:45 AM »
You could just blast ice-cream-truck music over a loudspeaker. Or maybe sing "Baby It's Cold Outside" at the top of your lungs.

James

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1678
  • Age: 51
  • Location: Rice Lake, WI
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2012, 01:11:18 PM »
Firecrackers are cheap, just set off a pack each time and duck inside.  As everyone comes out to see what's going on join them and casually remark how cool it's become...  :D

Dicey

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 22322
  • Age: 66
  • Location: NorCal
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2012, 11:03:28 PM »
Velocistar 237 and James - Thanks for your great comments. Both of them made me laugh. I think if I had known these folks better, I might have knocked. There was no "big brother" (or "sister") issue here. Our houses are hard to cool and I think folks were trying to stay ahead of the big heat wave that the talking heads were forecasting. It was just strange that it had cooled down enough to need a light jacket, but unless someone stepped outside, they'd never know. Another point for the "Kill the TV and Go Play Outside" approach. I'm definitely not the energy police and I'm not going to distribute any sanctimonious flyers about energy conservation. A common question on frugality blogs is "Where you draw the line?" This was a very unusual situation and i just wondered how the wider frugal/money savvy community would have handled it. There is no right answer, but there are some funny ones. Thanks for the laughs, guys and let's close out this thread.

Grigory

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 228
  • Location: Seattle, WA
  • (rhymes with "story")
    • my attempt at blogging
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #9 on: June 08, 2012, 12:42:44 AM »
knocking on people's doors to tell them the heat wave is over smacks of the "green police" to me.
LOL at "green police"! I'm stealing it for future use. :)

And as for the original question - regardless of your intentions, that's just way, way too weird. Your motivation might be good, but it still comes off creepy and a little bit patronizing. If somebody aside from my mailman knocks on my door, it usually gets slammed in their face, unless they're here to tell me my house and/or car caught on fire.

catalana

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 119
  • Location: UK
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2012, 11:04:17 AM »
Do AC units not have thermostats?  Perhaps they would shut off automatically themselves eventually?

p.s.  Yes, it would have been weird to knock.  It's like me knocking on my neighbours door and telling him his car gets less than 15MPG and perhaps he might consider swapping it  :-)

grantmeaname

  • CM*MW 2023 Attendees
  • Walrus Stache
  • *
  • Posts: 5961
  • Age: 31
  • Location: Middle West
  • Cast me away from yesterday's things
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #11 on: June 08, 2012, 11:35:28 AM »
If the day is hot enough and the night is cool enough, the house can hold its hot thermal mass into the night, and so the house will cool slower with windows closed and AC on than it would with windows open. Yes, they would eventually come down in temperature left to their own devices, but why wouldn't you want it to get colder, quicker, for free?

KittyWrestler

  • Guest
Re: To Knock or Not To Knock? A Frugal Question
« Reply #12 on: June 08, 2012, 11:55:17 AM »
I think knocking on the door to help them get some cool breeze is a nice way to get to know some neighbors..I fortunately enough to find a neighborhood that everybody knocks on everybody's door just to chat, borrow sugar, get some free plants, etc.. I think it's really cool if the neighbors can connect more.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!