When we first moved to Austin their environmentally friendly energy program was completely subscribed, mostly by the city itself, and there was no way to buy in. Now, they’ve extended their program considerably and have no waiting list to join. So we did. It isn’t cheap, but not terribly pricey either. With the normal program you have your cost per KWH which varies depending on how much energy you use, plus an additional fee on top of that which remains constant per KWH regardless of how much you use. With the GreenChoice program we swap out that second fee for another higher fee. They use the additional money to buy energy from renewable resources. According to the utility’s website these sources include wind, solar, and methane gas that is captured as it escapes landfills.
Our electricity usage varies considerably from month to month. If it is hot and we use the A/C we can use as much as 1819 KWH (like we did last August). In more temperate months we can use as little as 505 KWH (last November). So in month’s like August the plan will cost us $33.65 while in November-like months it will cost only $7.58. The interesting thing is that the GreenChoice fee is actually fixed until the end of 2022. So I suppose if we lived here long enough it might actually be cheaper (as the regular fee is bound to increase over time).
My goal is to see if we can break even for total cost, even with the 18% premium we are putting on ourselves for the eco-friendly energy. We have taken both large and tiny steps to help minimize our energy usage. These include:
- Replacing all of our attic ducting.
- Servicing the A/C unit to keep it clean and working as efficiently as possible.
- Regularly replacing air filters in the furnace.
- Replacing 10 incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (which I got for $.97 each by the way).
- Installing a programmable thermostat (and using it to turn off the system when we are away).
- Putting little foam thingies around all outlets and switches along the exterior walls to block airflow from outside (they go under the cover so you can’t see it).
- Making the computer and monitor sleep more quickly and turning them off when not using them.
We are seeing a difference already. In September we used $60 less electricity than we did in August. The weather was very similar. The reason? We replaced the ducting and cleaned the A/C coil at the beginning of September. Now the other changes we have made won’t have as dramatic an effect, but every little bit helps. We even have a few more things we’d like to try (time and money willing).
- Solar Panels for the house (Austin has a great rebate program, that when coupled with tax incentives almost make this worth while).
- Solar hot water heaters. (Similar incentives to the solar panels).
- An energy monitor like TED. You install these at your meter or breaker box and they wireless transmit your current energy usage to a small display. They have been shown to cut usage by about 15-20 percent.
- Installing more insulation in the attic.
- Sealing gaps in siding, around windows, and around doors.
- Installing an attic fan to help cool it down during the summers.
- Solar screens for the windows. They are basically big screens that go over the entire window and block out some of the light and add a bit of privacy. Not something you’d ever do in Washington, but light is something we have plenty of down here.
- Installing new energy efficient windows. Get this, I hear they have dual pane windows now. Two panes, what will they think of next?
Tags: Austin, Austin Energy, efficiency, Energy, energy efficiency, GreenChoice, solar, TED, The energy detective
Last night was the breaking point with regards to Jillian’s sleeping patterns. She has been spending increasing amounts of time in bed with us or in her swing. She has been eating more often at night and has been more difficult to get back to sleep. Amber hasn’t been sleeping much at all and I’ve been sleeping fitfully at best. So with Amber in tears I told her to get some rest in the guest room and we started the cry it out method we used with Wesley (who was no easy sleeper himself).
The method, which we first saw in a book by Dr. William Sears, go something like this:
- You put the kid down to sleep and wait 5 minutes before you go back in the room.
- If they are still crying at 5 minutes you go in, pat or rub them gently to let them know you are there and maybe “shush” them a bit. Preferably you don’t talk, but that is hard sometimes and you only stay in the room for about a minute. The idea is to let them know you are near and they aren’t abandoned, but not to rile them up or make them dependent on you to get back to sleep.
- Now you wait 10 minutes before you go back in and repeat the above step.
- You go in at the following intervals, 5 minutes, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, and 60 minutes.
Wesley could quite easily and often go through an entire 60 minute session of screaming. At the end of 60 minutes he had already been awake and yelling for 3 hours and 5 minutes (5+10+15+20+30+45+60=185 minutes). Last night Jillian fell asleep in the middle of the 30 minute crying period and slept for about 4 hours. The 65 minutes or so was an especially long time for me because I was actually in the room. It is never easy. It is always pretty brutal in fact. You feel like a terrible parent and every minute is excruciating. It is even worse if you are in the same room. You not only feel incredibly guilty, but it is extremely loud and unpleasant to boot.
When she woke up about 4 this morning it only took partway into the 10 minute session for her to fall asleep. Same goes for her naps today. Hopefully she’ll be a bit easier than Wesley was with the whole sleeping thing. Amber and I are probably going to start sleeping in the office/Jillian’s room/guest room until she sleeps through the night on a regular basis. We are afraid, especially during the very screamy beginning, that she’ll wake Wesley up as their rooms share a wall. The last thing we need is two screaming kids all night. Picture it: Wesley finally falls asleep, Jillian screams, wakes up Wesley. Jillian falls asleep, Wesley screams waking Jillian up. Repeat until dawn or total parental insanity occurs.
We are actually in the middle of a 10 minute session right now. She is down for a nap and I think she has gone to sleep. Nope, almost. Wish us luck…I’m going to need it tonight.
Tags: Cry it out, Dr. Sears, Jillian, sleep, Wesley
Well, my right calf is still sore. It doesn’t seem to be getting any better. It hurts at the top of the muscle, below the knee. It is most noticeable when I’m running, but also when I squat down (as to pick up Jillian from the floor). Stretching helps for a bit (maybe 10 minutes), but then it gets sore again. I haven’t noticed any real improvement since my 20 mile run.
I haven’t run at all since the 5 miles I did last Sunday and in general I’ve been laying off doing much of anything too physical. I’ll just keep stretching and keep doing nothing until the marathon if I have to. I’ll definitely run the race regardless of how it feels. I haven’t been doing this since October to have to quit. It hurt for 18 miles last time, I guess hurting for another 8 won’t be too bad. One bummer is that I bought a new pair of shoes to race in (and to have afterwards as mine are pretty much run out), but it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to put enough miles on them to break them in before the marathon. So I’ll probably stick with my old worn out ones. They may not have much cushion left, but they fit my feet and I know they don’t give me major blisters or rub in a bad spot.
We dropped Amber and Jillian off at the airport yesterday. And aside from a bumpy start it went pretty well. Wesley was sad and cried a bit, but we talked on the way home and he calmed down by the time we got off airport grounds. Five minutes later he was asleep.
I don’t really think he gets that Amber and Jillian are in Florida and that Florida is a long way off. Every time their is a noise outside he runs to the door and says “Mommy home?”. We’ve talked to her a few times on the phone, but still I don’t think he really understands. He isn’t too upset, but did ask a few times today when Amber would be home.
We have been having a pretty good time together. We went to the park, fed the geese and dug in the dirt. We’ve played soccer and filled up the bird feeder. Tomorrow we’ll go to Whataburger for dinner and get a milkshake then we’ll stop at the playground and play. I’m trying to keep him busy, but also keep him on a more or less normal routine.
I’ve really had a good time with him. I haven’t gotten to spend so much time with him in just about forever. It is amazing how much easier it is with just one kid. Somehow one kid and one parent is easier than two kids and two parents. I’m not sure why, but it is. And it is exponentially easier than one parent and two kids. I don’t know how Amber does it.