Since we’ve been in the house for several months now, we just wanted to add a comment about our energy bills. We went with ICF construction and splurged on a white metal roof, all in hopes of keeping our energy bills down. And were we ever right!
Our highest bill was the one for our first month, when our builder was using it for part of the month and running the air conditioner a good deal lower than we actually run it (we keep it around 78 degrees when it’s hot out). So the highest bill was $63, with the air conditioner running pretty constantly. Our bills since then have run around $48/month, which is pretty amazing for a 2100 sq. foot house. We spent more than this every single month in our tiny 760 sq. foot apartment in Kissimmee, so we are thrilled with the savings!
We also pay a good deal less than expected for our homeowner’s insurance because of a few wise design decisions that added up. Our roof is hipped, with no gables, so we got a discount for that. We also got a discount for having a metal roof, instead of a shingled roof. Finally, we got a partial discount for the ICF construction. I say partial, because if we’d gone with the ICF roof, that would have shaved another $220/year off our insurance costs. Because our roof is wood frame, we don’t get the ICF discount for that. Our homeowner’s insurance is still far less than we’d expected, so those decisions made in the design process definitely add up.
We have a propane-powered whole-house generator now, which I will post about at a later date. And now I must get back to relaxing in my hammock outside. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and it’s a balmy 78 degrees outside today: December 29. Lovely…
Building a house in Central Florida 