Energy usage updates

   I'm looking over last years propane fill ups. I decided to mark them out on a set of yearly calendars. Pink highlighter dots are indicating each of the refills.

   Last year on April 29 they filled it up, had to call them six weeks later to refill the tank which they did on June 12th. That length of time was 6 weeks 3 days and 86.1 gallons were delivered. He slightly overfilled it that time, it's a 100 gallon tank and you can by federal law put in 80 gallons. As I recall the tank was actually in the last couple of gallons and the pilots kept going out.

   This year the last spring fill up was May 5th. Tomorrow is 6 weeks 3 days and there is 15%, or 15 gallons in the tank. Basically we can go for at least one more week, or maybe slightly longer before the tank is pretty much empty. I will be shutting it down once it hits 5%, or 5 gallons on purpose. I'm usually paid far ahead on the propane but the high rates earlier in the year killed my balance forward.

   If you have not done so you need to do a water heater wrap and that's what has made the difference this year. We're looking at a difference of about 15% which is a big drop. Of course during this time of year the furnace isn't part of the energy usage equation except for I think four days total and it didn't run much then. I'm loving the ability to see the difference in such a manner. It really lets you know that you're doing things right and making some headway on your energy savings goals. I'm going for 30% in energy savings this year which is about $850. We'll see if we make it but it looks like we're well on my way.

   It might be a while yet until we're able to do some more energy efficiency upgrades. That's something that takes money we don't have right now. Among the coming upgrades next year are two tankless water heaters and siding the house with polystyrene insulation. I'm expecting a further usage drop of about 20-30% winter of 2015-2016.