Colonial - 40s house, 80s windows, 2500 sq ft electriciry usage

[Anonymous]

Our 40s colonial has new appliances like HVAC and such, but windows are from 80s, and the house has been expanded to probably 2500 sq ft of conditioned space.

Our average annual electricity is 1800 kWH which seems REALLY high. Average for VA is 1000.

Any ideas where we could be losing energy? Heat is 2 zone, so downstairs is gas upstairs is heat pump; 2 zone AC in winter. Gas water heater and stove. 1 fridge.

We do have sump pumps, which aren’t listed in high energy using appliances but maybe we need to consider?

Is it just bad thermal envelope — we keep house at 66 in winter and 73 in summer.

[Anonymous]

What level of insulation is in the attic ? Is the house drafty ? Do the doors seal tightly ?

[Anonymous]

Attic is just some spray in insulation, but not particularly drafty anywhere.

We do have high humidity in summers which makes me wonder if we don’t have a good seal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our 40s colonial has new appliances like HVAC and such, but windows are from 80s, and the house has been expanded to probably 2500 sq ft of conditioned space.

Our average annual electricity is 1800 kWH which seems REALLY high. Average for VA is 1000.

Any ideas where we could be losing energy? Heat is 2 zone, so downstairs is gas upstairs is heat pump; 2 zone AC in winter. Gas water heater and stove. 1 fridge.

We do have sump pumps, which aren’t listed in high energy using appliances but maybe we need to consider?

Is it just bad thermal envelope — we keep house at 66 in winter and 73 in summer.

1800 kWH doesn't seem like a lot for an annual average! Or do you mean monthly average over the year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 40s colonial has new appliances like HVAC and such, but windows are from 80s, and the house has been expanded to probably 2500 sq ft of conditioned space.

Our average annual electricity is 1800 kWH which seems REALLY high. Average for VA is 1000.

Any ideas where we could be losing energy? Heat is 2 zone, so downstairs is gas upstairs is heat pump; 2 zone AC in winter. Gas water heater and stove. 1 fridge.

We do have sump pumps, which aren’t listed in high energy using appliances but maybe we need to consider?

Is it just bad thermal envelope — we keep house at 66 in winter and 73 in summer.

1800 kWH doesn't seem like a lot for an annual average! Or do you mean monthly average over the year?

1800/monthly.

[Anonymous]

Swap the windows! Our house was built in 1993 and windows were in good condition. But after we bought it in 2000, we noticed that the north side windows just seemed colder in the winter. No drafts, but the wall and panes were colder to the touch. We had new, very high thermal quality windows installed on the north side and the difference was amazing. Huge drop in electricity bill and noticeable improvement in room comfort. We upgraded the rest of the house the following year.

[Anonymous]

We live in a 2200 sq foot brick colonial in northern Virginia.

Our monthly average electricity usage is about 350 kwh, which is about 20% of your average.

We have both a heat pump that provides heating/cooling for a rear extension of the house, and an HVAC system that serves the main section of the house, use gas for heat and electricity for cooling.

Do you also have a gas furnace? Or is your heat provided solely by a heat pump(s)?

If I convert our gas usage (measured in "therms") to the equivalent energy expressed in kwh, it works out to a monthly average of 1500 kwh. So, the gas usage, expressed in kwh, is far greater than the electricity usage.

Summing together the electricity (350 kwh) and the gas (1500 kwh) brings us to a total of 1850 kwh per month -- almost exactly equal to the average for your home.

BTW, we keep our thermostats at 78F in the summer and 68F in the winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 40s colonial has new appliances like HVAC and such, but windows are from 80s, and the house has been expanded to probably 2500 sq ft of conditioned space.

Our average annual electricity is 1800 kWH which seems REALLY high. Average for VA is 1000.

Any ideas where we could be losing energy? Heat is 2 zone, so downstairs is gas upstairs is heat pump; 2 zone AC in winter. Gas water heater and stove. 1 fridge.

We do have sump pumps, which aren’t listed in high energy using appliances but maybe we need to consider?

Is it just bad thermal envelope — we keep house at 66 in winter and 73 in summer.

1800 kWH doesn't seem like a lot for an annual average! Or do you mean monthly average over the year?

Idk offhand, but I don't think sump pumps would be high energy. Cooling and heating are what make for high kWH. Moving air (fans) or water (pumps) is not that big a deal.

[Anonymous]

Could be worse - you could be Al Gore. 10,500 sq/ft home and 19,000+ kw/hrs a month. His house is 5 times larger than the average American SFH, but uses 12 times as much energy! How’s that even possible?!?

So yeah, it could be worse.