, AC doesn't even cool my place much. Well insulated, no direct sunlight through the windows. I can save $10 by turning the AC off, but it might be 80 inside instead of 70. Before I installed AC, I would open the windows at night and close them in the morning. The insulation and blocking the direct sunlight took care of the rest.
Really... Awnings make a big difference. You don't want to solar heat your house through the windows in the summer.
From wiki: Awning:Benefits
Retractable awnings let owners control the weather on their own terms. When passing showers threaten, or when the sun gets hot, they or the home automation system unroll the awning for near-instant protection and shade. Lab test measurements show that it can be as much as 20 degrees cooler under an awning’s canopy. Because awnings prevent the sun from shining through windows and sliding glass doors, they can keep temperatures inside cooler as well, which saves on air-conditioning costs. They can help prevent carpets and furniture from fading in sunlight. Awnings also provide a sheltered place for children and pets to play, shielded from direct sun.
Perhaps it has something to do with San Antonio's average high temperature being 18 degrees higher than Portland's this month.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/recre...opnav_outdoors
http://www.weather.com/outlook/recre...opnav_outdoors
Wow, Portland has had 7 whole days in the 90s this month with 5 days the temperature didn't even reach 75, while San Antonio has had 5 in the 90s with the other 18 in the 100s. Quite the brain teaser that increased electric usage is.
Actually, I should have used June instead of July for the comparison, since that's what the bills people are complaining about are from. Wow, Portland avg high = 74 (= SA avg low), SA avg high = 98. I guess it's all those awnings and that let you keep your place at 70 so effortlessly last month.
You forget, the official temperature is taken at the Portland Airport, at 18 ft. above sea level, right next to the Columbia river, where it is nearly a mile wide. It gets a bit warmer where I live, in SE Portland.
Google map, Portland International Airport
Trust me. It was much warmer than those reports make it sound where I live.
Baseline, you don't know .
The site you linked has Portland being 75 F for a high yesterday. It was 89 F where I live. If the pattern carries, with the predicted 86 F, it will be 97 F!
You know what, it just might be. A local radio station that does their own predictions has it at 100+ F for Saturday and Sunday. Your link has it at 90 and 92.
I grew up in SA in air-conditioned comfort.
Now I live in Thailand where it's as hot, or maybe even hotter than Texas all year round.
No aircon.
My monthly utility bills are around 25-30 bucks a month. You can adjust if you try and are motivated with different priorities. It's not always pleasant, but you can adjust.
Multiple showers, fans and cooling powder is how it's done over here.
Last time I went visited home in Texas, my mom had the AC set to 75 and I was freezing and miserable!
We keep our AC on 78, Got great windows that block sunlight, good shielding roof, good fans in each room, and our bill is at 85 dollars,
Always have 1 PC turned on thru the day aswell.
House was build 5 years ago
I try to keep my AC off all the time, but when I'm not home my mom turns it down to 75.
lol man.. that bill's steep..
$22.30
just got my new one yesterday. $390.
Highest bill ever, in the 13 years I've been in this house. It has been set on 79 all summer, but after this bill... I changed it to 80.
If you have any direct sunlight coming into any windows, invest in awnings, as necessary. They will save you more than you may think. Possible pay for themselves before the years end.
The sun above the atmosphere has more than 1365 watts per meter of energy. About 1000 watts of that makes it through the atmosphere, and most of that through glass windows. If you have 4 square meters of area (perpendicular to the sun) of sunlight coming in, then the heat generated is like running a 3000 watt space heater.
Cool, back to rocking $400 bills until winter.
Its 101 in the shade right now. This summer has been so brutal. The lowest it gets is 80 from around 11 PM to 7 AM, then it hits 95-103 really quick for the whole time the sun is out.
$400 bills with new energy-efficient A/C unit and all windows covered with solar screens. Makes me throw up a bit inside.
The solar screens are nice though. The master bathroom has a huge cheap skylight positioned to receive maximum solar output. Past summers the air temp in there would get up to 90. With the screens though its the same temp as the rest of the house.
The heat still puts a huge dent in energy costs. A/C is set to 84 for most of the day and 79 at night. Any lower and it runs all day, never shutting off. During winter it can actually be normal.
You live in San Antonio? Is your house huge? I'm just wondering why you bill is astronomical compared to ours. Our house isn't energy efficient at all and timvp keeps the A/C on 65 (yes!) or less.... our bill has been around $300.
Homeowners association = no awnings
No major external changes at all actually. Everything has to get approved, even putting new shingles on the roof
Because of this did some revamping to the windows with solar shades (looks like black mesh, rooms will get really dark but a lot less heat, also very cheap cost). Attic was also ~130 ambient so replaced electric fan that never shuts off with some wind turbines and more soffit venting. Pretty much stays the same temperature as outdoors now. I was surprised how well the wind turbines work with there being little wind and tall oak trees everywhere, but they spin 24/7.
Also very cheap ways to keep cool are ceiling fans and floor fans. Their energy cost is magnitudes smaller than a running A/C at the cost of localized cooling and the air temp actually not changing. Running ceiling fans in each room keeps the temp equalized if your A/C vents are unbalanced in output.
If anyone has cheap cooling tips, post them
NW side of San Antonio. House is ~20 years old and pretty inefficient. 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath, 2 story. The A/C condenser is a trane from who knows how many years back. Each room has a large window about 3.5x4 feet. Bathroom has a 4x3 skylight. Kitchen has one entire wall covered by glass.
I don't know why, but the house just is very inefficient. Can't punch holes in the wall to see how its insulated, so just live with it. The attic has sprayed gray insulation on the floor and no insulation on the rafters.
The energy bill is ALL A/C too. In the winter the A/C and heater run 0 hours a week and the bill is around $120.
How long has it been hovering around 100 in SA? It feels like you guys were complaining about it for like 3 months now. That has to suck.
Very similar to us. We are far NW side of San Antonio, 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 story. The house is about 12-13 years old. We have big bedroom windows too, but not that much glass (just sliding door) in kitchen.
Well good luck. I was just curious because we keep our air conditioning so much lower and we don't usually get over $360.
We are moving soon (to a much bigger house) so it will be interesting to see the difference there.
I'm in a big 2-story, 2600sq ft. Ray Ellison house (yeah I know) from 1982. Since we have been here, we had a Trane XL-12 or 13 or whatever they are called installed. plus I have bought very expensive energy efficient windows for along the west facing side of the house (5 so far I think).
our bills now are as bad or worse than before I spent the above listed $8500+.
If they go on the inside, they won't be very effective. They have to be outside to work. The surface will collect the heat. It is radiated as infrared. The Glass reflects IR, i.e. greenhouse effect! You have to stop the light before it passes through the glass.
Well, I'm not sure how other window types respond, but if they are krypton filled acrylic, that's great as an insulator. Great for winters where I live, but not for summers where you live. Glass windows will keep the UV spectrum out, where plastic will allow even more solar heating because it passes the UV band!
Well, that skylight is probably like having a 2500 watt heater running at noon. A wall of glass? Letting direct sunlight in? If so, that's a large source of heat!
I have two gauges; one in a sun-lit area and another in the shade (New Braunfels, near San Antonio). The one catching sun has been up to 111 and has averaged 106 the past month. The shaded one generally hits 98-99. If you live in South Texas in an urban environment (with the concrete and all) and sleep at night with the windows open you are a sadistic nut. You could drown in your own sweat. The averaging people are quoting is based on a 24 hr clock which is how they are getting it down to the low 90's. The nighttime temperture has been in the low to mid-80's. In this part of the country air conditioning is not a luxury, it is a life-support system.
My water bill is through the roof even complying with Stage 3 water restrictions and the drought is killing off non-native plants. I have a large Maple (think Lost Maples Park, I am just zone-pushing a bit also being in the hills). It doesn't look like it is going to make it. The plants and animals are suffering.
I do remember as a kid sleeping with an attic fan on but it was generally cooler then and did not have so much of a heat-sink effect from urban development. Even then my parents had a window-shaker.
maybe not but at over or near 100 degrees everyday.....the heat on your roof/attic maybe get closer to 130-150. making it impossible for your AC unit to turn off to get and stay at 65.
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