A New House for LBG

I don't think I've mentioned it, but The Father and I are in the process of buying a new house for LBG.  We've put in an offer on one that is pretty amazing, but the process is taking a bit longer than expected.  Nonetheless, I've started giving some thought into how be can make our new house as energy effecient as possible.  Even if we don't end up in the house we hope to, these plans will work in just about any abode!

Our most exciting plan is for an energy audit!  We would really like to know what repairs or improvements we could make in order for our new abode to be as energy efficient as possible.  I haven't done much research on how to go about getting one or how much they will cost, but I will be looking into both topics very soon.  Not only will it be beneficial to us, it will be super fun to learn some new techniques for saving energy!

In our last house, I spent a great deal of time replacing all the light bulbs from regular incandescent bulbs to the ultra-nifty compact florescent lightbulbs (CFLs.)  Of course, when selling the house we replaced our ceiling fans that the new light fixtures took a special size bulb.  So, we packed up our regular sized CFLs and brought them with us!  We fully intend to use them again!  Maybe if we can find them for a great price, we might try a LED lightbulb or two.  I saw them on "Living with Ed" and thought they seemed like something fun to try out.

Another plan we have will be a bit on the hard side for me.  I love natural lighting.  I'm known for having the front door open with the storm door locked, raising up all the blinds (or even removing them,) and leaving all the lights off in the house.  While it is a great idea for saving the light bulbs, it isn't a great idea for cooling the house in the summer.  We will be making some heavy curtains to hang across all the South facing windows.  Those windows are great for warming the house in the winter, but they also warm the house in the summer and that's not very productive!  I know our air conditioner will thank us for this minor change.

If our new house doesn't have a digital thermostat, one will be installed pronto!  The Grandfather installed one at our former residence and it was a life changing event!  I fell in love with in 24 hours.  I was able regulate exactly what temperature the house was at certain times of the day.  There was no guess work needed and our house didn't get super warm or crazy cold when we weren't expecting it.  These little gadgets aren't expensive and are will worth the money!

We've decided to install a few rain barrels around the perimeter of the house.  These attach to the gutter drains and catch the rain water.  You can then use it for watering the plants, washing the car, putting out the camp fire, etc.  We could even shovel all  the snow into one and save it for the summer!  There aren't very expensive to purchase, but if you are super crafty, you can make your own!

In addition to the rain barrels, we have a few other minor plans for our backyard.  We will have a clothes line for sunning LBG's diapers and drying our clothing in the great outdoors.  We'll also be raising the blade on our lawn mower.  I've been reading that by doing this, the soil and roots are more shaded which results in needing to be watered less.  We aren't big fans of watering our lawn to begin with and only do it during the hottest summer months.  This technique should make our watering a bit more effective.

No, we won't be installing a gray water system or solar panels- right away anyways ;)  They are expensive and a bit out of our league.  If we knew that we'd spend the rest of our years in the same house, those are investments we might be willing to take.  Just like the sweet little boy in our lives, we will be taking baby steps!