Big Blog Problems………
Sunday, September 30th, 2007Originally posted September 12th, 2007
Because of a whole lot of irritating spam and porn sites setting up on our blog system at Rune Registry, we’ve deleted most of the blogs with the purpose of installing new filters to keep all the gobbbly gook out. (You would not believe the garbage we’ve been getting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Unfortunately, we accidentally deleted most of this blog as well and I’ve forgotten most of the entries that were here.
With our redesign of Duelin’ Deals, we’ve decided that our blog system needed a new look as well. Once Rune Registry Blog system is back on line, it will be more secure – and easier to use – than ever.
Rather than recreate the posts that were in this blog, I think I will just start anew. (As other posts say, my wonderful Mother-In-Law saved the previous posts and I’ve been adding them – Smiling!)
Here is a little introduction……..
We are Brad and Marlaine. I can’t say we are an every day sort of couple because he is from
One of the biggest differences is that we know how to make the most of money. We did our mortgage and energy bill yesterday. I have to admit to holding off looking at that darn energy bill until I have to write the check for it. Since there is no interest on it, I am in no danger of a huge additional fee because the payment is late.
But…..
…… when I opened it (holding my breath) I was so pleasantly surprised that I almost cried! After all, we had near record breaking heat this year – hotter for longer, as well!
Our costs compared to last year were down by MORE than a third!!!!!! Our bill includes our electric and gas bill. During the summer, the gas is only used to heat our water, yet compared to last year at this time, our usage dropped tremendously there as well.
One thing we did to drop the electric cost was to run only one of our two window air conditioners. By closing the doors to the rooms we don’t use much, we only cooled our computer/entertainment center room and the bedroom we installed the ac unit in, which is directly across the hall from each other. We put up a simple 6′ folding screen in the hallway to block the rest of the house – and it works much better than one would think since a couple of feet are open at the top. (The coolness stays at the bottom and heat rises.) At night, we shut the bedroom door and only cooled that room.
One point to consider is the humidity. When it’s humid, it seems much hotter. Even when it cooled down at night, the humidity was so heavy sometimes that we did not open windows. It stayed much cooler in our un-air conditioned areas of the house because of the dryer air. We also kept the shades down on the east and west sides of the house to reduce the heat in the morning and afternoon. I also bought sheets of white foam art boards – only about $1 a sheet (3′ x 2′ x 1/4″) and put them in the sun-side windows during the hot hours to cut the radiant heat even more. During the winter, using these sheets in the non-sun sides actually help keep the heat in! Also, adding humidity to the air during the winter helps the house stay warmer.
When it was warm and muggy at night, we ran the air conditioner on low with the a/c fan running on low, making sure air wasn’t being brought in from outdoors.
Since we are in the mid-west, houses have half or full basements by law. Basement foundations are made of concrete and basement walls are brick. Since basements go below ground level, they also go below the heat level. Hot air rises and when the house has a naturally cooler basement, the cooler air (which is still warmer than the basement) rises through the vents too. Basements often get more humid as well. Running one fan a couple of hours here and there forces the cooler air up the vents and takes care of the humidity problems in the basement that might create mold.
Closing and shading the sun side windows at night before you go to bed helps. When it was cooler at night, we put a fan in a shade side window to draw in that lovely cool night air.
