We'll miss you . . .

Sadly, we are selling our house. Career developments mean we're moving away from Asheville. There's not much else to say here except that it was a great experience, and hard to walk away from a house that we enjoyed living in so much.

You can see the listing, or take the virtual tour.

Energy Savings Impact of our Green Rehab

Recently, I calculated the impact of our green rehab in terms of cost savings, reduced energy use, and reduced CO2 emissions. As you can see from the graph below, we cut everything roughly in half from our previous house, which was a rental of similar size, layout, and type of energy use (electric/gas).

I also charted the average Southeast household.

• Asheville is a bit cooler than the rest of the Southeast, so it makes sense that we would use a bit more heat than, say, Atlanta. But as you can see, we cut our heat use dramatically from the rental property. It was probably worse than average for Asheville, but I'd guess that we are substantially more efficient than the average Asheville home.
  
  Also, we have chosen to use wood for a large portion of our heat, so that reduces our carbon footprint. (Another technical point is that the "heat" portion of this estimate might include more energy for hot water since the water coming into the pipes is significantly colder in winter than summer.)
  
  
• Our energy use for appliances and lighting is far lower than the average Southeast household. Energy star and CFLs really do work.
  
  
• With respect to hot water, our average energy use is only a bit less than average, but keep in mind that with two adults and 3 kids, we have twice as many people (and thus laundry, dishes, and showers/baths) than the average household.
  

All of these figures are a bit rough, but I'm sure I am pretty close. I do this for a living, but I didn't want to put the time into this to increase the precision. My data come from utility bills and personal financial records, but otherwise I just used some standard factors, etc. to calculate approximate numbers.

Converting Intermediate Base to Candelabra Base Bulb Socket

I think the post on the intermediate base bulb socket debacle has gradually become the most popular "googled" article on my blog. I thought I'd provide a quick update on a new product that has finally appeared on the market: a converter to allow me to use candelabra CFL bulbs in our ceiling fans.

Frankly, I think Home Depot should give these away. But I found them for about $2 here and this seems like the best price going. Assuming that this company allows returns, I'm going to count up my sockets and put in a "bulk" order and try them out.

As I mentioned, the best 60 watt equivalent CFL bulbs I've found with a candelabra base are Bright Effects at Lowe's. This bright bulb is hard to find and I only found two brands that I thought were worth trying. I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who's found an alternative.

Update: I bought the converter illustrated above and so far I am generally satisfied. I was able to convert all but 2 of my ceiling fans to use a candelabra base CFL bulb. The remaining two fans each use a single 60 watt intermediate base bulb that points downward from the fixture and is enclosed by a globe. Using the converter makes the CFL extend out too far and the globe can't be attached to the fixture by about 1/2 inch (maybe a bit less). So if you want to try this solution, I suggest you verify that your CFL will fit in the fixture even if it is positioned a bit further out of the socket than would normally be the case.

I've got a few spare converters as a result, anyone in Asheville want some?