1. Go through the entire house and see where we can insulate more. Insulation is the best money you can spend on your home in my opinion. Spend some up front but it pays dividends for a long, long time.
2. Programmable thermostat. I bought one and already have it programmed for the heating and cooling on the house. I need to change the settings a little more to make it more efficient for our needs but not to the point of huddling under blankets in the winter and sweating in the summer. Happy medium you would say. There are two bad parts to this house; the main living room and The Wife's bedroom have vaulted ceilings which are a pain to maintain a decent temperature in. This will hopefully change for one though but more on that another time.
3. Gutters. Why are gutters all of a sudden options on a house? Anyway I plan on installing a few sections of gutters so as to capture some rain water to use for the gardens. I can get some cheap barrels around town for next to nothing. Lowering the water bill.
4. Energy- efficient bulbs. These do help a lot and last a lot longer than the regular incandescent bulbs.
5. Greater variety on the garden and pay closer attention to it. I gets hard to watch it when I travel so much but I need to buckle down and stay on top of it. I am also going to try some direct planting in the ground to see if I can get anything to grow in this soil, maybe even by adding some dirt. I have a good idea on seed list but that's another post.
6. Tighter household budget. A big definite this coming year. Would like to stay more on top of this as well.
There are some more ideas and things I'd like to get accomplished next year. What brought this on? I picked up a copy of Mother Earth News today and did a brief skim through it it at lunch. Main headline- Guide to Self- Reliance and Country Skills, Winter 2012 issue. A lot of good ideas in it for sure. Plan on a good read this weekend.
Well, that's it for now. Exciting post coming up soon. Until then start planning!
"The Wife's bedroom". You have separate bedrooms? That's brilliant!! Unless, of course, you have to sleep outside or something. Although, that wouldn't be half bad either.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yea the thermostat is great. More so it pays for itself when I'm NOT home, meaning no one who is home is paying attention. Pays for itself in spades.
Yes, separate bedrooms. We started this many years ago and actually sleep better now. I do sleep outside sometimes too but only when I go camping. Neighbors would be a little suspicious otherwise.
ReplyDelete