Bill - I love your idea. Until I get some PV on the roof, I can't come close to $100 per month even with all the I've accomplished with my build. With a family of 5 people and 5 dogs, we probably spend nearly that doing laundry.  I've already got R40 walls, triple pane krypton filled glass, geo, solar hot water, 100% CFL, and 100% Energy Star appliances.  We have only just now been in the house 1 year.  If competing against myself, I won't make it.  If competing against my neighbor, I'm in.  In any case, here is my info:

State: Massachusetts (6990 HDD)

House Size: ~3,800 sqft

Occupants: 2 adults, 3 children, 5 dogs, 4 cats

Baseline: (2009) $3847 (electricity) + $996 (propane) = $4843 total ($403/mo)

Utility Cost: Electricity = $0.175/kWh / Propane = $3.699/gallon

Now: See Above

Reduction Amount: ?  (HERS Score estimates 70% reduction versus code)

What I Accomplished: Built what is likely the world's first super-insulated modular home (R40+ walls).  Installed two Climate Master Tranquility 27 units at an almost unheard of (low) price.  Hot water is heated with desuperheaters in the geo units, 40 evacuated tubes, and finally by a 94% efficient Noritz on-demand unit.  ERV, 100% CFL, occupant sensing bath fans, Energy Star appliances, Alpen (now Serious) "super" windows, closed cell spray foam, south facing passive solar design. 

What's Next to Consider: Monitoring equipment to see where the energy is actually going (heat, laundry, plugs loads?) and "prove" efficiency. Build an "air lock" for the front door.  We have one for the garage entry, but it is very rarely used because of the orientation of the house (the front door is more convenient).  Insulating window treatments and/or external insulating shutters (even with triple pane glass, windows still account for ~60% of our heat loss).  The next obvious move is on-site electric generation, but it has to make economic sense.

Ed

Bill, 'The Half Way Club' may not be as fun as 'The Mile High Club' but I'll still give it a try! More in May 2010 when we reach 1 year with our geothermal system. Maybe a 2/3 club?

Bill,

Have you considered spray foam in your attic? I have been looking at your WEL web site and the pictures of your GSHP install.

We are currently building an ICF home with GSHP, priority DHW, spray foam on the roof deck, all Energy Star appliances, low e argon windows, and all CFL. My goal is to move to a home that is triple the size of my current one with total utility bills that are the same or less.

Gary

A cold snap in FL presented me with an outlandish light bill of $164. About $25 of that was for 40 hours of operating my nascent snowgun, consisting of a 5 hp air compressor and sundry auxiliaries during a few days of the cold snap.

Watching the kids sled and throw snowballs in a place where the last snow was <1" in 1989 is priceless.

Our average bill is around $100 at 11 cents per kwh. 3400 SF, 5 occupants. ICF and sprayfoam and all that stuff.

LOL!!!
That is an awesome application of cleverness for the good of the community kids! If you did not recieve an award for that I will give you one.

Useful to snowmaking was the ability of my open loop geo to produce hundreds of gallons of chilled water.

Home snowmaking isn't really hard, there are internet sites dedicated to it. I wish I'd done it years ago. Trouble is, here in north FL we only get suitable weather a few times per year, if that.

I have no alternative benchmark to compare my heating figures with.  I believe my energy bills are lower then a similar sized 3000 sq. ft. house in Zoo Jersey using Oil or Propane, but I have no hard figures to base my numbers on.  I can tell you my electric bill for January was a disappointment, $464 (3013 Kwh, Average Temp 33) this year vs. $403 (2810 Kwh, Average Temp 37) last year.  I guess I can't complain since A. it's been noticeably colder this year and B. I have a tropical Parrot now downstairs so i can't utilize setbacks like started to do at the end of last winter.

Anyone know a Heating Calc online that takes into account Sq Footage, heating region, BTU's of heating system and compares those numbers to various heating methods?


 
   

Good job Bill,

Since I added to geo to my house when building it, I am out of the running here. Glad to see how well you have done.

We are in the process of building a new home and are installing the geothermal. You indicated in "whats next to consider" is to redo hot water deSuper Heater. What are you going to redo? Do you not like it. We are debating on the DeSuper Heater or installing a Tankless hot water heater.

Thanks for any information

Janet

Posted By a0128958 on 29 Jan 2010 05:15 PM

What counts is 12 month's worth of utility bills - are they half of what you used to pay before putting in geothermal, etc.?

Bill

I'm glad Janet resurrected this thread.  Add us to the list.

1st year figures:

Pre-geothermal heating & cooling expenses:  $1,920/year
Post-geothermal heating & cooling expenses: $720/year

62.5% savings. 

Posted By jan on 19 Jan 2011 02:34 PM
... redo hot water deSuper Heater. What are you going to redo? Do you not like it. We are debating on the DeSuper Heater or installing a Tankless hot water heater.

At the time of my GSHP installation (3Q07), I connected my 3 ton unit's DSH directly to my gas fired HWH, not knowing it wouldn't work without an intermediate (holding) tank.  I say 'wouldn't work' in the sense that I wasted money, not saved it, running the DSH because the HWH was in effect transferring heat to, not from, the GSHP's refrigerant lines.

I have a monitoring system that gives me a lot of information about the details of my GSHP operation, including the DSH (when I had it connected).  I posted a good amount of material and charts back in late '07 / early '08, quantifying and and showing how indeed my (incorrect) implementation of DSH capability was wasteful, not money saving.

In the past couple of years, the subject of whether or not DSH capability must utilize 2 tanks to be cost effective has been discussed at this forum considerably.  It's not difficult to look through the archives to find lots (and lots) of commentary on this subject.

To be fair, not everyone here is of similar conclusion.  In my case, particularly with the capability I have to 'look at the numbers,' I remain firmly in the 'camp' of those who
state that 2 tanks are needed for cost effective implementation of a DSH circuit.

Parenthetically, with respect to tankless hot water heaters, I didn't put one in (to replace my gas-fired HWHs) because natural gas here in TX is so inexpensive and it's available to my residence.  I only spent $500 total last year for natural gas to cover not just heating water, but also to cook with, grill with, and dry clothes (and occasionally fire up the pool's hot tub).  The installation cost for a tankless hot water heater is not insignificant, and the savings I'd receive from elimination of HWH standby-losses just can't offset the tankless' cost in a reasonable period of time (ever?).

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Bill

Posted By geome on 19 Jan 2011 02:55 PM
 
... Add us to the list.

1st year figures:

Pre-geothermal heating & cooling expenses:  $1,920/year
Post-geothermal heating & cooling expenses: $720/year

62.5% savings. 

Nice job!  Welcome to the 'half way club.'  Now you can join me and others on the journey to become members of the 'one quarter club' (in my case I have a ways to go).

Last week I updated my annual summary for 2010 numbers - see http://www.welserver.com/WEL0043/ (table is in between beginning live system status and later charts/graphs.

Summary on electricity for me is I modestly reduced my average monthly electricity expenditure from $248 to $222/mo. in 2010, a little more than a 10% reduction.  My actual kWh consumption only went down by about 3%.  2010's cost reduction came primarily from putting in a solar PV system on a lease basis, enabling me to stay cash flow positive from day 1.  This substantially contributed to reducing my average for the year per kWh rate from 10.3 to 9.5¢.

Key next action to reduce electricity consumption remains to change out pool pumps, which cost 1/4 of the total electric bill to run.  Unfortunately variable speed pumps are very expensive, so I'm waiting until one or more pumps break and need replacement.  Then the investment in variable speed pumps becomes based on the incremental cost of variable speed versus old technology pumps.

For natural gas consumption, I didn't make any progress in 2010.  Monthly cost in '10 was the same as '09 ($43/mo.) due to consumption staying flat (46 MCF) and pricing also staying flat ($12/MCF).

I use gas for cooking, hot water, clothes drying, outdoor grilling and spa heating.  The monthly cost is low enough such that I don't have any planned next action here.

The big eye opener, something that I hadn't been looking at before, was water consumption.  So much of an eye opener such that I added it to the annual summary table, even though it's not an energy expenditure.  Last year I consumed on avg each month 48,000 gals, and spent $216/mo on average for it.  Ouch.  At the rate I'm going the water bill is going to exceed our electricity bill, soon, on a monthly average.

I'll tackle this subject by first installing some means to measure and monitor water usage such that it can be integrated into my monitoring system.  I'll need to get knowledgeable on water meters that have a pulse output, which will easily connect to my monitoring system.

Hope this 'half way club' thread is motivating to others!

Best regards,

Bill

A fundamental flaw in the model here is denominating it in USD rather than MMBTU or kwh or something. There is nearly a 4:1 ratio in pricing between highest/lowest priced electricity markets, so a $1200/annum benchmark doesn't mean much. In some higher priced New England markets half the annual limit of $1200 would be eaten up by the lighting bill even with all high-efficiency fluorescent fixtures, unless daylight harvesting ballasts and occupancy sensors were used everywhere, leaving scant budget for heating/cooling/dehumidification.

There are also dramatically different climates to contend with, even after leveling the cents per kwh field. It's pretty easy to hit the $100/month number in low-price low-load temperate climates, not so much in 8000+ heating degree-day climates with electricity pricing north of $0.15/kwh.

That said, I'm at about $1200/year in space & water heating fuel (~1100 therms of natural gas at a bit over a buck a therm), to which I'd add ~$120-150/year for the power to run the pumps & air handlers, and another $50-100 for dehumidification & AC at $0.16/kwh- call it $1500/year for all heating & cooling. Lighting & other power use is on top of that. The fuel use per heating-degree-day on this 1920s house has been cut ~35% since 2005, primarily with air sealing and insulation upgrades (roughly half of which was from foundation insulation & basement air-sealing). With further air sealing & insulation projects already in the planning queue I'm anticipating it'll be in the 900-950therms/year range by 2015. Drainwater heat recovery and Energy Star washer/dishwasher are in there too, but they make up a small fraction of the overall drop in fuel use.

Both hot water & space heating for this place are served from a central buffer tank/heat exchanger (Ergomax), heated by a sealed-combustion standard-efficiency tankless HW heater (plumbed as a boiler- no potable water goes through the tankless or the heating radiation.) Swapping for a condensing boiler would save at most 150therms/year, and the difference in money is/was better spent on further retrofit insulation & air-sealing. Moving from an atmospheric-drafted oversized boiler and atmospheric-drafted tankless to the current system (drainwater heat recovery included) was about an 8-10% improvement. The average raw combustion efficiency was bumped slightly, maybe 3%, as was the reduced air infiltration by being able to seal up the flues, and the scavenged heat from the shower is also part of it. Without careful metering before & after it's difficult to place exact numbers on each aspect- call it 3% here, 3% there, it all adds up.

If I used 1995 as a baseline rather than 2005, fuel use has been cut by ~45%, while increasing the square footage by 15%. Again, it's mostly air-sealing & insulation, but add in some exterior storm windows on the antique double-hungs too.

Overall annual kwh has been cut 25-30% using baselin=2005), mostly from extensive implementation of dimmable T8 fluorescent technology as the primary ambient lighting , self-ballasted edison-base CFL & cold cathode bulbs in most sockets, and spot-implementation of occupancy sensor switches. (The only incandescents left are in the refrigerator, microwave, and on motion-sensor controlled security lighting on the driveway.) Air sealing cut the summertime dehumidification power roughly in half, but it's hard to tell with any accuracy since year to year the outdoor dew point averages can be quite different here. The place came with a central air conditioning system, but it runs fewer than 50 hours/year (fewer than 25 hours most years), an imperceptible blip on any monthly bill. By the time I get through retrofitting radiant floor over 3/4 of the space (and hydronic radiators in the rest) the power use for the heating system should drop by half or more, to $50-75/year.

Were I dropping $25-30K into a heating system, I'd get better bang per buck than geo going with a Marathon Ecopower gas-fired cogenerator. Net-metered at retail my annual electric bill would be about zero (all uses) and my annual gas use would go up ~10%. Going to geo for the same money would net only half as much (if that) in my market. Putting similar money into high-efficiency window retrofits and a few spot insulation upgrades would reap about the same $ return as a geo retrofit.

YMMV- retrofit on older building stock has a lot of variables- it's as variable as local utility rates. It's easy to get enamored of one technology (or approach) over another- it pays to model the peformance, get real quotes, and run better numbers. If I'd spent the money to buy geo suitable for my ca. 2005 loads rather than all that other stuff I would have slightly higher utility bills than I do now, and would be out more than twice the money. If the local electricity & gas rates return to their pre-crash 2008 levels geo would be only marginally more attractive (and still lower ROI than already slated insulation projects) but cogeneration still looks pretty good- maybe it'll be even cheaper when they're building 50,000 units/year rather than 5000. (If they'd unbundle the 1.2kw Honda from the Freewatt Hydronic boiler I'd already be there. I have no use for the boiler output at it's minimum 70MBH modulation rate- give me something 1/10 to 1/5 the size and maybe... My design-day heat load is less than 3x the thermal output of the Honda, but enough to get a decent duty cycle out of it.)

Posted By Dana1 on 19 Jan 2011 05:02 PM
A fundamental flaw in the model here is denominating it in USD rather than MMBTU or kwh or something.

... a $1200/annum benchmark doesn't mean much.
 
... occupancy sensors were used everywhere, ...

There are also dramatically different climates to contend with ...

(The only incandescents left are in the refrigerator, microwave, and on motion-sensor controlled security lighting on the driveway.)
 
... Marathon Ecopower gas-fired cogenerator. Net-metered at retail my annual electric bill would be about zero (all uses) and my annual gas use would go up ~10%.
 
... it pays to model the peformance, get real quotes ...

My design-day heat load is less than 3x the thermal output of the Honda, but enough to get a decent duty cycle out of it.)

Dana, I always read your postings with keen interest.  Many thanks for your comments here, particularly on what you've accomplished, and on the Marathon Cogeneration alternative.  Very interesting to read.

I agree 'entry conditions' to the 'half way club' are subjective.  It was meant to be a fun exercise, focused simply on stimulating 'conversation' amongst those who have made sizable progress reducing consumption, and amongst those who want to.  My definition of the 'half way club' is really pretty simple - those who have, on an annual basis, cut their costs in half.

I'm not so aligned that focus on entry to the 'half way club' should be based on something other than utility dollars (i.e. kWh).  I think cost is the bottom line, regardless of how much actual consumption has been reduced (or not, in the case of those who solely focus on managing the rate they pay when in deregulated energy markets).

Yep, the $100/mo or $1200/annum benchmark doesn't mean much - I didn't need to include it.  Instead, being a member of the 'half way club' should simply be based on reducing annual energy expenditure in half, like I said above.

I use occupancy sensors in all rooms.  I have been surprised at how much of a difference electricity consumption can be influenced.

I'm like you - a 'no incandescent bulb' residence, except for the microwave and refrigerator.  In my case, it's also the oven, as I've never run across a 40W equivalent CFL rated for a high temp environment like a utility incandescent bulb can be found for.  (Especially for an oven with a high temp self-cleaning option.)

I looked up details of the Marathon Ecopower gas-fired cogenerator that you mentioned.  Very fascinating.  Looks like a darn good alternative for those in cold climates.  Maybe it's 'very cold' climates and/or commercial structures where there's a long running need for continuous heat.

In addition to your comment that it pays to model performance, I think it also pays to simply monitor existing energy consumption and/or performance.  Especially when you factor in the opportunity to anticipate failure or expensive maintenance with the monitoring system, allowing for proactive action at a much lower cost.

Thanks for your contribution here!

Best regards,

Bill