Energy efficient home is badass

[Goldy]

Its currently over 100 degrees by the heat index but my house is sitting at 75 degrees and I have not turned on the AC unit the entire year!

We recently bought a new house and I had never really put much thought into energy efficiency but the old owners of this house have put tens of thousands of dollars into making the house efficient and wow is it nice.  They put in HE appliances, off peak heat in the basement, a heat pump and AC unit, and on demand hot water.  Our electric bill covers water (pump), heat, AC, septic, and general usage and my last bill was 95 bucks but over half of that is the stupid line management fee, so my actual usage in high summer is just under 45 bucks for a 2800sq ft house.  My old house used to cost me about 300/mo for all utilities in the summer so this is quite the improvement.

[Kaydedid]

Excellent!  It's really nice to see those lower energy bills! 

Do you feel like you paid more for the house because of these improvements?  If so, what percentage of the installation costs would you estimate was recouped by the seller?

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[Fudge102]

I'm more curious about the "it's over 100 degrees and I haven't turned on the AC yet" part.  Energy efficient appliances are one thing, but they must have done some nice construction to keep it that cool!

[SeaEhm]

Must be a good facing house as well so that you don't get much direct sunlight.

I have a similar house and always shock the door to door solar salesman when they hear how much I pay for electricity, haha.

However, my house gets to about 81-82 when it is 100 outside.  I don't have a screen door on the front door so that kind of hinders an airflow to help bring it down to high 70s as I cannot open the front door.

[Goldy]

Excellent!  It's really nice to see those lower energy bills! 

Do you feel like you paid more for the house because of these improvements?  If so, what percentage of the installation costs would you estimate was recouped by the seller?

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They didn't recoup any money at all except for the lower energy bills.

The sellers bought the house in 2003 and lived here for 13 years.  They bought the place for 330k and sunk 70-110k in improvements and energy efficient upgrades for a total expenditure of 400-440.  We bought the house for 270k and it is in MINT condition.  Its a lake home in a pretty depressed part of the state so it sat on the market for about 9 months before we bought it.

[Goldy]

I'm more curious about the "it's over 100 degrees and I haven't turned on the AC yet" part.  Energy efficient appliances are one thing, but they must have done some nice construction to keep it that cool!

Well its 100 degrees heat index so actual temp is in the 90's with high humidity so its not THAT impressive.  The house faces south but it has a walkout basement that really helps to keep the temps down in the rest of the house.  Ceiling fans are amazing too, I never knew how much those helped.

[Lyngi]

I'm really envious.  It's 95 degrees outside (low humidity), sun is down,  AC has been running all friggin' day.  In my house it's 85 degrees upstairs and 65 degrees in the basement.  I HATE multi-level houses and vaulted ceilings.  HATE.  Oh, well.  It's (practically) paid off.