Just finished up my home efficiency upgrade project. Added / upgraded as follows: New 95% efficiency gas furnace. New garage door (R12) Sealed doors, outlets, etc. Insulated crawlspace concrete stub-walls and footings. Also the rim-joist cavities w/xps foam. Replaced 8 wood windows with high efficiency vinyl. The house went from a 3+ to 5 star rating. Total cost was about 11K but with the blessing of the Alaska Home Energy Rebate program we will be getting back 7K. We had to forgo our planned holiday last year but we couldn't pass up this opportunity. The estimated reduction in CO2 went from 33,946 to 22,864 lbs/year. The estimated savings per year is $970. Just looking at the last 3 months while we have had the new furnace it appears our gas consumption has dropped by about 25-30%. Of course there are many variables there. The house is certainly a lot less drafty. So, do we get any green points?
For 15k miles per year, that is the same as replacing a 17.5 mpg land barge with a Prius, so it should carry a similar number of green points.
Cool, or maybe I should say not cool Nice thing about getting rid of drafts and cold walls is that you can lower the air temperature a couple of degrees and save even more.
