Hot Summer

Boy has it been hot! Asheville, as well as many other places in the country, has experienced a much warmer than normal summer. This has led to an increase in the cooling demand and my prototype home is no exception, well except for the energy bills. I wrote in my last blog entry that my home was experiencing an issue with trapped humidity and that I was going to start running the A/C to remove this moisture. Running the A/C obviously helped to alleviate the situation, but because of the hot and humid weather over the last month, I just kept the A/C on indefinitely. My June utility bill, which did not involve running the A/C much was only $34.15, but since the A/C has been turned on for the entire last month, I was very curious how much this would increase my energy costs. Well, the most recent utility bill was $51.51 with the thermostat set at 74-75 degrees. I was hoping it would be lower, but this total utility bill is still 70.5% less than the code based model home.
I decided to ask my neighbor, whose home was built just 3 months prior to my prototype, what his energy bill was for the last month. His home is 300 square feet smaller and his bill was about $140 total. Although they have a nice home, it was only built to meet the minimum code requirements and is a good example for comparison sake. It is just another example of how a quality built home/shelter actually pays for itself immediately.
My organic gardens are still taking shape as I continue to develop and change the plans as I move forward.
I do have some really good news on the work front. Eco-Panels was selected to be used to build the Blue Ridge Parkway's new Communications Center in conjunction with the National Park Service. I will post some photos on this blog as the building is being erected.