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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?

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Chi,
I had "sunscreens" installed on my home about 8 years ago. All south and west facing window screens were replaced. At the time the company told me that the darker the tint on the screen the greater the savings, he said the darker absorbs and bounces back more heat. Long story short, the temp in the bedrooms dropped by about 10 Deg F
without AC. I opted for a lighter color because of the color of my home.
They were not very expensive as I recall about $800.00 installed with alum frame.
Another good thing, you can't see in the windows unless there are lights on inside and pretty bright.
So I guess I am saving approx 20% on my electric bill during summer, I also take them off during winter to get ambient or sunlight in to help warm in the winter.
Regards, 911 Driver

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The happy hour is a device either for getting rid of social obligations hurriedly en masse or for making overtures toward more serious social relationships, as in the etiquette of whoring.- Brooks Atkinson

how about a roof ridge vent? and soffit vents to allow air to flow up into the soffit vents and out the roof ridge vent?

Does CR have a solar panel industry/manufacturing base?

great topic!

hope some of the guys like Redman, with his decades in the electrical industry and energy saving, chime in.

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The difference between a Sea Story and a Fairy Tale is that a Fairy Tale starts out 'Once Upon a Time..' and a Sea Story starts out 'This is no Shit...'

(export version only, some restrictions may apply, some assembly required, not valid where the sun don't shine...

if you live in the states of Poverty, Darkness or anywhere outside of The Blessings of Civilization Trust, Inc...other rules may apply)

The reflecting films really do work well. There have been problems in my town with homes that are closely spaced. The reflected heat is so intense that it melts the adjoining home's vinyl siding.

I am currently living in CT while returning from overseas and we have a ceiling exhaust fan at the top of the stairs in the ceiling and it seems to cool the house rather well by basically both expelling the hot air that tends to rise and creating an increased airflow from low to high (based on my experience; I am sure we have an engineer that can better explain it) It is cheap and you get decent bang for the buck. Good luck.

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“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

Hot water is very expensive. Turn the temperatue down on the water heaters. The ideal temp is when you are showering the hot water tap is full on with out adding cold water to cool it down. Tankless units are the way to go if you have gas. They are sized by gallons per minite. 5 gpm should be big enough. they are expensive. I agree with timbones, an attic fan is the way to go. There are solar powered roof fans as well. Window tinting will make a huge difference. I coming to CR in Sept to help a friend tint some windows.

Where do you buy the tinting in CR? I assume most auto ships have this. But, isn't there something special for home windows versus auto windows? I'm clueless on the topic. However, think it will make a huge difference.

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Its the same as they use in cars. We are planinning on shipping ours down. Any advice on shipping to CR would be appreciated. The tint comes in cardboard tubes, various lengths.

Quickest and easiest no cost way is to change your electric service with CNFL. You most likely have "resindencial" service where the rate is constant all day. Go to CNFL and ask them to change you to "residencial horaria" service where your rate changes based on time of use. They will change your meter to one that records usage during different time periods. Highest is from 10:00 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. and 5:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Lowest is from 8:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M. and all others hours are a middle rate.

This past billing period I used 296 KWH and my neighbor used 295. I am on the RH plan he is on the R plan. His bill is 29% higher then mine. You have to change your usage pattern a bit to get maximum benefit.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

ID - we did this over a year ago and it is an excellent idea for anyone. We save about 30% on our bill and only run the drier and hot water tanks at night. It is also free to apply.

Unfortunately, there are four in my house and we use a lot of power. We are over 900 KWH per month. From cooking with an electric stove and my wife running the damn washer and dryer all night. I don't know how to change this beyond pulling out the hot water tanks and using instant hot water.

At one point, I thought a neighbor was tapping into my electric line. However, I have cut my power off and waited to see if the meter still ticks. It stops, so don't think so... However, my neighbors turned out to be car thieves and larcenists. So, anything goes in CR...

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

dibs on the empty tubes!






Did they relocate from beautiful, downtown SoFla.....?.....cause my neighbors are missing...

_________________
The difference between a Sea Story and a Fairy Tale is that a Fairy Tale starts out 'Once Upon a Time..' and a Sea Story starts out 'This is no Shit...'

(export version only, some restrictions may apply, some assembly required, not valid where the sun don't shine...

if you live in the states of Poverty, Darkness or anywhere outside of The Blessings of Civilization Trust, Inc...other rules may apply)