I admit it-I'm from New Jersey. As John Gorka so aptly put it,
"I'm from New Jersey,But.
I don't expect too much."
One thing I did come to think of as a given was a warm house. When I first moved to Texas I lived in houses with space heaters. Since it was incredibly dangerous to leave them burning when not at home I always came home to a COLD house.
Years later I moved into a house with central air and heat. I can't tell you how affluent I felt when I walked into the house and it was warm. MMMMM. Even more so that central air-having a warm house waiting makes me feel special.

Fast forward to penny pinching home ownership and I was back to walking into or waking up in a cold house. I would turn the thermostat nice and - energy - saving - low when I went out for the day or to bed at night. And then I'm stuck in the same boat-COLD!
Enter the programmable thermostat. As some of you might have read a while back. I've had two run ins with programmable thermostats. The first time I got one installed it bested me and I could never figure out how to program it.
Now I have another one and I'm a champ. I never wake up or come home to a cold house...ahhhh affluence!
So, if you don't have one I urge you to consider taking the plunge. Here's a video from the "This Old House" folks on installation. I understand that there might even be a rebate available from the City of Austin.
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Hi Shelly. Here's the link for Austin Energy's Power Partner Thermostat program.
ReplyDeleteAlso, information about Google's newly announced PowerMeter program to allow real-time monitoring of energy usage.