I've been in CR for a good few years. I have owned a home for about three years. It has two floors and is American style. I have two hot water tanks, which are on timers. I also have a hourly meter which has three zones: Punta which is 1030-1330 and 1730-2000. Valle which is in between noche and punta. And noche which is 1600-600 in the morning. Rates go from 4x more expensive during Punta to little cheaper in Valle and to dirt cheap in noche. So, we only run the dryer at night, of course, as i have a 200 volt standard drier. (not the stupid spinomatic thing that just makes your clothes less damp).
I'm looking for ideas on two things
1. Ways to run the house more economically (lower electricity use chiefly) and
2. Ways to cool it down without installing central air. For those who don't know, electricity in CR is probably the most expensive utility, on a relative scale. The second floor gets very hot and humid during the day.
Central air or window air conditioning is out of the question. My electrical is already bad. Don't want to make it 5 times worse. Here are some ideas I have run across beyond spending extreme amounts of money on solar panels.... probably a 20k investment.
1. Selling the hot water tanks and using instant water heaters. Not the suicide shower heads, but the industrial kind for the whole house. My only concern here is I use my jacuzzi regularly for a sports injury. Not sure how well they will do on a jacuzzi. How do you size this thing? There are several models. The industrial kind at EPA costs like $300. Any recommendations on better places to buy?
1a) Solar hot water. Actually this is quite simple technology and not expensive like solar panels or backup power.
2. Buying rolls of reflective tinting for automobiles and apply to the outside of all large/square windows. This is supposed to have a huge effect on temperature in the casa. It certainly works in the car. How much does this shit cost anyway? Never bought it. I also don't intend to go overboard by "tricking my house out" with fancy blue neon lights and a oversized spoiler out back. But, seems like a practical way to keep the hot sun out.
3. Finding a way to put insulation in the attic. Insulation is an unknown concept in CR. Most people just have corrugated tin roofs!!!
Kind of like modified chicken coops. I asked several people and the folks at EPA about insulation and got nowhere. They never heard of it. Has anyone tried this??? The sun just beats directly down on my roof, collects in a small attic, and acts as a convection oven for the whole second floor.4. Poking a hole in the roof and installing vents with fans. I imagine they use almost no electricity and this should help un-convect the oven above me. Currently, its like the house is set to "broil" during the hot parts of the day. This gets me scare when I think about all the rain and potential leaks.
5. Planting trees around my house and waiting 55 years for them to grow to shade it. While I'm planting these, I'll dig myself a nice comfy hole, because by the time they provide shade, I should also be well-planted.
6. Hiring a pair of cheap Nicaraguan girls that come over regularly to fan my sweaty balls with palm fronds and serve me ice cold beverages. This might not go over well with the wife. Especially if we start playing Tarzan and Jane. Nice thought - but cross this one off this list.
7. Installing a swimming pool at back (with potentially option 6 above). Still won't go over well. Also - I just don't have space or funding to drop a large coin on a pool. Then, you have maintenance and all the other shit that comes along.
8. Go latino and move my furniture out to my front lawn... complete with TV. Put up a nice cheap toldo to block the sun. Wake up and kick back "shirtless" with my hairy flabby stomach fully exposed. For extra comfort.... open my boxers and hang my sweaty balls out to cool off, as I watch TV and drink a cold beer. This might not go over well with my neighbors.... who are mostly upper class ticos. On any given Sunday, I can drive around and find old-school latinos, chillin' in front watching TV with absolutely no shame. LOL...
What are your thoughts?
