Money Spent = Money Saved?

Although it’s still cold and windy outside this week with unseasonably low temperatures, the warm weather is almost here and that means the end of the heating season. Last fall we replaced our 1987 oil burning furnace with a new 92%+ efficient gas burning furnace. Of course at the time I started collecting bids heating oil as nearing $5 a gallon and I was understandably concerned about the cost to run that oil burner al winter. Then the prices dropped. Well, oil prices fluctuate – or, they do now at least. I gave myself a conservative estimate on the return on the investment or 6 years back in September and well, we’re a little behind on that. The price of heating oil dropped back to $2.29 in February and that put a damper on my speedy ROI.

However, just because we’re not “saving” as much as I planned/hoped doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a good investment. We are saving money. In fact, our heating bill for the ‘08-’09 winter is around 50% of the estimated oil cost. And the price for natural gas is actually supposed to go down for next winter so maybe we’ll make up some of that momentum.

Estimated ’08-’09 cost of heating the house with oil: $896.35

Estimated ’08-‘09 final natural gas bill: $470.43

Dollars saved: $425.92!

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Paying to get it done

So…it snowed a lot this last month (90+ inches), I finished the one show, Paul opened another, and I started rehearsals for a third. Oh, and I hired someone for the first time to do work on the house. After the last trip to the laundry mat with the 10 loads of laundry I realized that I wasn’t making any progress on getting us our own laundry set up. It’s been over a year and I just don’t have the time (and I’m not making the time to do it either). I asked around for recommendations, called a plumber and just had him do it. Actually, I looked at the estimate and said, “That’s a lot of money, how much of that could I do myself?” I decided to have the plumber just do the drains (which involved things like busting up concrete and cutting out sections of 80+ year old cast iron pipe – I didn’t want to mess that up) and I could do the water supply myself and install the sink.

It was still a lot of money to get the drains done by the plumber. I keep having this fantasy that when I get the bill it will be lower than the estimate because they got it done so fast. Right. I bit the bullet and finally ordered a washer and dryer and before they’re delivered I have to
1) replace the water shutoffs for the washer and move them 24” to the right.
2) redo 110v outlet for the washer (currently it has exposed romex and is near the ceiling).
3) move the 220v outlet from behind the refrigerator to behind the dryer.
4) install dryer vent in wall.
Later I still need to install my $3 laundry sink w/no legs and at the minimum make sure water from the super old laundry shut offs goes into the sink and not on the floor (they’re several inches past the edge of the sink location.)



The dryer outlet is where the red star is and the washer hookups are at the blue star. I'm sorry but I can't have the washer on one side of the basement and the dryer on the other; that isn't right. The square under the blue star? That's a 18" cube of concrete just hanging out in the basement. The new utility sink will go there using the washer water supply above, and the washer will use the water supply from the old sink under the windows.

I took pictures while I tore down and busted up the old concrete sink that I’ll post later. I had this crazy idea that I’d be able to put the sink in the backyard until I figured out what to do with it. After I got it down from the stand, I couldn’t move it 3 feet. Now I have three cardboard boxes full of busted concrete in the basement waiting for incremental disposal in my trash can.

Last weekend my dad helped me install a deadbolt in the basement door for the plumbers to gain access when we weren’t home (without giving them access to the whole house) and the hardest part of the whole thing is always getting everything lined up exactly. Because if it isn’t you can’t get both screws screwed in and it is so frustrating! Trying to put it together, take it apart, find a flashlight, get one lined up but loosen it to get the other in, now you can’t get the first screw to thread – and over and over until finally, magically it works and 10 seconds later your deadbolt is installed. It isn’t like I have any sense of false security with deadbolts since we have 100+ panes of glass in the house. Really I just needed key access from the outside and a deadbolt is easier than replacing the original mortise knob/lockset. Or I could start carrying around skeleton keys.

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How to stay warm all winter with one log*

I've always been a bit of an energy control freak. Given total control of the thermostat has resulted in a 65F temp while at home and 55F while sleeping or at work. I know, that's cold. I don't heat the finished attic and closed the vents in the unused back bedroom and in the kitchen since we're in there infrequently. We have a friend who demands the heat turned up if she comes to our house. Despite my strict controls over the 7-day programmable, touch-screen thermostat We still paid $945 for heating oil last year.

When we bought the house last year I had mixed feelings over the oil fired furnace. I've never had oil heat and it's not that common here on the west coast. I did a little online research and heard a lot of people touting the comfort of oil heat, the competitive price of oil vs natural gas and yet we were already seeing rising gas prices so I knew it wouldn't be cheap. I planned on replacing it (it was 20 years old) but I thought I could hold out though, for a little while. Just a few years of oil might be okay and give me time to make a decision on the next type of furnace. I didn't want to jump to the default of natural gas (the most common choice) since we do have inexpensive electric on the west coast too. None of that mattered though when I saw No. 1 heating oil prices nearing $5/gallon this summer. The price has come down some since (to around $4/gallon) but that could still cost us an additional $430 this winter and believe me, the house is never really warm.

I had a sales rep from a local heating company come to the house to do a quote last week. I wanted to know what all my options were so I could compare the price breaks between the regular, efficient, and super-efficient options. I asked around to get a ball park idea of what it might cost but I was still scared it would be more than I thought, or that I might be required to replace duct work throughout the house. So 80% efficiency is considered normal or average for a furnace and then there's a jump up to 92% efficiency which is energy efficient and if you add a variable speed fan you get another 3%. The price break from 80% to 92% is $450 and then from 92% to 95% is $1100 + $212 for a new thermostat.

I want to be super efficient. I want that variable speed fan. However, that $1300 could be better spent on other things like weather stripping, new storm windows, insulation for the attic. It would take so long to see a return on that additional cost but just moving from the ~60-70% efficient oil furnace to a 92% gas furnace, we will recoup our money in less than 6 years (and I hope that is a conservative estimate). oh, and the local utility company offers a $400 rebate for any gas furnace over 90% AFU making the price difference between the 80% and 92% so small I don't see how anyone could choose the less efficient one. Now I have to call and schedule the installation I guess.

*Carry the log upstairs and throw it out a window. Retrieve the log and repeat.
-Farmers Almanac

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