SEER

Although unknown to his neighbors, my brother-in-law Marc has unbridled access to his condominium rooftop. Although I don't know, and am unsure about his personal habits...one would think that in his San Diego sun he could grow quite the killer homegrown stash.

But I digress. I was thinking about his and my sister's air conditioning unit. It's likely mounted on the rooftop, with the refrigerant line running from the roof down to his first story unit. I was wondering about the efficiency.

My house is on the precipice of a new cooling/heating system. Built in 1991, I have a few observations about my existing environmental "system". For years, we've dealt with summers of high temps upstairs, and a cool downstairs, and winters of hotter than hell upstairs, and freezing downstairs. And although I haven't calculated it, the largest portion of our home's energy usage is directly attributable to the heating/cooling needs. This is likely the same for any home in America.

I am blessed to work for SMUD. Last Thursday, I attended a presentation by a co-worker who detailed the specifics of his own home's energy usage before and after a massive investment in both energy efficient and comfort based improvements. A total EYE OPENER. EVERY issue that I have today, he had, and was able to rectify.

First -- the disparate temperature difference between rooms, as mentioned.
Second -- the long delay in getting hot water to the extremities of the house; the kitchen, and the upstairs.
Third -- Uneven room pressures when interior doors are closed.
Fourth -- High energy draw from the furnace fan.
Fifth -- Air infiltration.
Sixth -- Higher energy draw during the cooling season.

His was a 1998 SMUD advantage home (an example at the time of good efficiency) and was still able to justify $20,000 in improvements to make it both more comfortable and efficient. I am more than willing to do the same.

My 1991 home, built here in the tract-home wasteland of Elk Grove, was one of the first during the 18-year housing boom. It is closer to SACTOWN than most zip codes, where most jobs exist. But, the tract-home mentality of offering low home prices and not giving a shit about the long-term operating costs of a house were readily apparent. Several neighbors suffer from both leaking windows and leaking roofs, and I'm sure ALL of us suffer from the one-size-fits-all approach to HVAC. I personally had issue with an undersized electrical service panel, but outside of this, the issues I have are mainly creature comforts. And energy bills.

Such things might be commonplace. But I have a distinct feeling they don't have to be. Consider $20,000 on top of a $350,000 mortgage, for complete satisfaction and reduced energy bills. I am willing to try this. I spent a lot of money on solar panels to make a difference, and I thought I made decent improvements in personal energy consumption but I have a long way to go. And now I am armed with new information.

At 17 years old, and having sacrificed home improvements to pay off my mortgage, a shitload of replacements are needed in the next few years. A rundown of my home's infrastructure:

Fences -- all replaced last month. Good for the next 20 years.
Carpet -- original! And man, does it look like shit.
Water heater -- original.
HVAC -- all original.
Kitchen cabinets and countertops -- original, but likely we'll want better in 3-5 years.
Roof -- likely OK for the next 15 years.
Windows -- some mold, but overall acceptable.
Siding -- OK, I've kept up with caulking and painting maintenance.
Stucco -- just fine.

The big ticket items are the water heater and HVAC systems. And, while replacing them, I will spent the incremental difference and get a whole house evaluation and will fix all the things that need fixing to get our house to near zero energy usage from the grid. Mark my words...I will have a house that draws in the bottom 10% of all SMUD customers. I will achieve this both through personal consumption changes and through home efficiency measures.