The driveway was installed and just in time for the last winter storm. The driveway was covered in blankets for 10 days to help it stay warm and dry while the concrete curred. I didn't drive on it for 2 weeks and outside of some remaining water stains it appears to be in good shape. I decided to add two features to the standard concrete driveway that most people in this area use. For an additional $100 I had the mix changed to 4000 psi from 3000 psi. Obviously this gives the concrete more strength and I felt is was worth the additional costs. I also asked for a concrete mixture with recycled fly ash content. This was provided at no additional costs from Carolina Ready Mix as a green option for us environmentally conscious people. I was told the mix was up to 30% recycled fly ash content. Fly ash is a waste byproduct of concrete plants that normally would just go into our landfills. I will be touring the concrete facility this coming July. I am told that it is a L.E.E.D certified facility--Wow--concrete plants are well known for being some of the worst polluters around.
Because I live in a gated community, there were restrictions on the type of driveway I could have. My preference was to use gravel and then pavers for the parking area. This was not approved. I then started pricing permeable pavers for the entire driveway. The only way to make the paver option affordable on my tight budget was to install the pavers myself. Considering I don't have any experience in this area and it's the middle of winter I thought it best to leave the paver option to my walkways and extra parking spot off to the side of the main driveway. By the way, asphalt was not an option. It would have only saved me a few hundred dollars and the longevity of asphalt is a serious weakness, not to mention less environmentally friendly.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
3rd Utility Bill
Happy Belated New Year to Everyone! My 3rd utility bill arrived today (via e-mail as I try to have all my mail sent electronically) and I was very curious as to what the total amount would be. It's been very cold here in Asheville over the entire last month and not much free heat from the sun as it's also been very cloudy. The Asheville area has been 10-15 degrees colder than normal, with a few good snow storms mixed in. Even an affordable high efficiency heat pump system (the only heating system for the house), like the one used in this prototype, typically starts to struggle on heat pump mode below 35-40 degrees. With the outside temperature below 35 degrees for the vast majority of the past month, the heat pump has shifted to Aux or Em heat, which is basically strip heating. This is when the heat pump is least efficient and strip heating in general is a very inefficient way to produce energy. I am happy to report that the total utility bill was only $73.01.
I was starting to get a little spoiled by having total energy bills that were less than $50 a month. I then decided to look up my utility bill for the 475 sq ft apartment I was renting at this time last year. That apartment was also all electric and using a heat pump, but didn't have laundry. I also spent time fixing the weatherstripping, inspecting the insulation in the attic and air sealing wherever I could in that apartment. The total bill for that apartment last year in January was $95.36. This prototype home is almost 4x the size of that apartment and my utility bill is $23 less. I know several people living in smaller homes than this prototype who paid $200-300+ over the last month--OUCH! Combining my 1st 3 months of utility bills while living in this prototype home, and according to the Energy Star software, I have saved an average of 68% compared to a newly constructed code based model home. Considering how affordable it was to build this prototype, it feels great to know that I am doing something that is not only smart for my wallet but is also smart for my community--68% reduction in total energy use is wonderful!
My old camera died last month, so I have a new one coming this week. I will take pictures and write a post about the newly installed driveway. I will also take some interior pictures and write a post about the water saving features of this prototype home.
I was starting to get a little spoiled by having total energy bills that were less than $50 a month. I then decided to look up my utility bill for the 475 sq ft apartment I was renting at this time last year. That apartment was also all electric and using a heat pump, but didn't have laundry. I also spent time fixing the weatherstripping, inspecting the insulation in the attic and air sealing wherever I could in that apartment. The total bill for that apartment last year in January was $95.36. This prototype home is almost 4x the size of that apartment and my utility bill is $23 less. I know several people living in smaller homes than this prototype who paid $200-300+ over the last month--OUCH! Combining my 1st 3 months of utility bills while living in this prototype home, and according to the Energy Star software, I have saved an average of 68% compared to a newly constructed code based model home. Considering how affordable it was to build this prototype, it feels great to know that I am doing something that is not only smart for my wallet but is also smart for my community--68% reduction in total energy use is wonderful!
My old camera died last month, so I have a new one coming this week. I will take pictures and write a post about the newly installed driveway. I will also take some interior pictures and write a post about the water saving features of this prototype home.
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