Hi all,
I'm looking to reduce my electric bill.
Details
Electricity Usage
On average, I use about 1900kWh a month, with summer months being almost 3000kWh. Here's my usage graph:
![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/4a91412f-6a8b-4128-9932-2ff24706c6f5.png)
Most of this appears to be HVAC usage. I understand an HVAC should be running only about 15 minutes an hour on average, but I'm looking at closer to 30-45 minutes with my HVAC running for about 12-14 hours total a day.
House Info
(Some info from original buying inspection)
My house has 2 above ground floors and 1 below ground floor, with a total sqft between them of 2500 sqft. It is a cape cod wood-framed structure with a Bedford stone and brick veneer. The exterior walls do not seem to have insulation based on spot checks but I haven't checked every room.
The roof is a gable design covered with asphalt/fiberglass shingles in the first half of their useful life. The attic above the living space is insulated with fiberglass batted insulation, approximately six to eight-inches in depth. Additionally, the knee walls of the attic are missing insulation.
The current HVAC system is a Trane 4TTR4036L1000AA AC Unit and TUH1B080A9421CB Furnace. There is 1 vent in the basement, 2 vents upstairs, and the rest of the vents on the main floor. The 3 return vents are on the main floor as well. Notable is that the upstairs vents are metal ducting until they hit the basement in which there's a 8-10ft section on each that is insulated flex duct.
Previous attempts
First thing I bought was a Nest Learning Thermostat and an additional temp sensor for upstairs so I could have usage statistics.
In 2022, I started Supercooling the house. This might have reduced the electric bill more if I was on a time of day rate, but I'm on a flat rate.
This year, I patched a vent sized hole in the ductwork that was dumping all the cool air downstairs that I didn't previously know existed and have stopped Supercooling.
Advice needed
I want to do more to reduce my HVAC and electricity usage. Currently, I'm considering the following 3 things:
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Vinyl Siding - I don't think the exterior bricks were helpful when I was trying to supercool the house previously. I've been told they radiate captured heat after the sun goes down which likely wasn't making it as easy on the HVAC.
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Insulation - An obvious choice. Although, I'd have to tear off all the existing drywall (and trim? I've never done this before). This will be a lot of work as I'll have to move a ton of furniture and likely have whatever room being down unusable during that time. On the plus side, I could some of the ungrounded outlets grounded and ethernet run while in there.
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Mini-split upstairs - Between upstairs missing some insulation, not having a return vent, and well... being upstairs where heat rises to, the upstairs usually has a 10F or higher temperature difference. I've heard that doing this has halved some people's electricity bills but I'm skeptical
Any tips are appreciated. Thank you!
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