Duke Progress energy report

kaiser715

kaiser715

Doing hard time
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Location
7, Pocket, NC
About 8 times a year, we get an energy report in the mail that graphs our electricity consumption against an average for similar homes nearby.

We were in a group of 633 houses from 1000 to 1300 sqft built between 1997 and 2006. Our place is 1200sf built in 2002. Some months we came in well below average usage, some months were over, maybe 10-15pct. Not too bad, but I tried to build a very efficient house for that time, and the money we had. Our worst energy sin is setting the thermostat higher than we should.

I finally took a minute last night and carefully read over the whole report. Only to discover that we were being compared to houses with "non electric" heat.

You can change that on Dukes website. So....if you are on Duke/Progress and get these reports, it might be worth checking it over.

It will be interesting to see how the reports look going forward.
 
I get those to and mine changes with the seasons. I look more at my yearly usage broke down by the months and try to stay the same or better compared to the same month one year previous
 
I noticed the exact same thing about ours a couple weeks ago. Still seems too high.
 
changed mine a couple years back.

says I use 70% more energy than comparable...
I think my house was built by idiots or something. The windows are drafty as hell. Would like to change them all but $35k for a window job isn't in the budget or make any damn $$$ sense.

maybe ill just move first
 
How do yall change it? Link to the page?
 
link is on the report.... duke-energy.com/homereport

create a login....all you need is your address, zip, and your acct number (from your bill, or printed on the energy report back page)
 
NC_IslandRunner said:
$35k for windows! You must have a over 100 of them. We had 16 plus a picture window done for $5k, and these were not cheap windows.
Click to expand...

The math says they're cheap or tiny. A vinyl frame double hung is $150-200 per unit before labor.

Two 5x5' wood frame Pella assemblies at the old house were $1900/ea after the A/E discount back in 2010.
 
I haven't gotten the report in a while. I'm getting slaughtered with my new house though. 203 dollar bill last month and I set the damn thermostat at 63 degrees! I mean, I was prepared for it because I knew the mechanical system had issues (shitty flex, uninsulated unsealed metal duct in the crawlspace, 12 year old heat pump) but it's somewhat soul crushing to see it. And that is just for me. No one else freaking lives here.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
I haven't gotten the report in a while. I'm getting slaughtered with my new house though. 203 dollar bill last month and I set the damn thermostat at 63 degrees! I mean, I was prepared for it because I knew the mechanical system had issues (shitty flex, uninsulated unsealed metal duct in the crawlspace, 12 year old heat pump) but it's somewhat soul crushing to see it. And that is just for me. No one else freaking lives here.
Click to expand...

Duct seal and duct wrap will go a long way...
 
Few things to keep in mind: There's nothing inherently wrong with flex, so long as it's in one piece and installed well. The main trunk might be insulated internally, but that wouldn't stop me from sealing it and wrapping the trunk. If nothing else, it should help keep the air that's in the duct from getting cold between cycles. And don't put too much faith in the numbers shown on the thermostat. Unless it's been calibrated, it could be several degrees off. There was four degrees of difference between the thermostats at our new house vs our old one.

I wouldn't worry much about the age of the unit. So long as it's less than 20 or so, it's going to be fairly efficient. Start with the easy stuff. Make sure the attic is well insulated. Build a cover for the scuttle out of rigid insulation and make sure to put weather stripping on it to prevent air loss into the attic. Thoroughly check the HVAC system to be sure you know where all the filters are, and that they're in good shape. If there are filters at the return grilles, confirm there isn't a filter somewhere downstream in the return. Make sure all your doors have good weather stripping and that it's doing its job (adjustable thresholds are properly set, etc). If you have old drafty single pane windows, get storms (at least for the rooms you use the most). Etc.
 
$35K is Mister Rogers, Asking price. But Gee, they'll come down $5K. After a year of their solicitations, I called & asked to be taken off their mail list. I also told them I had the same windows installed for less than 1/2, their Lowest offer!:flipoff:
 
We have 32 windows. Plus 2 triple pictures.
The back of our house is glass, essentially.

If I'm going to change them im not going back with vinyl.

If anyone wants to install high quality wood windows for $500/ea including the window get in touch I'll hire you.
 
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