brick
11-21-2006, 07:01 AM
It's finally official: I'm moving south. I have been working on a transfer to a different part of the company and it came through last week. The only hitch is that I have to move to South Carolina in 18 months or less. It's not like I have anything in particular against the northeast but I'm ready for a change. I always enjoy my trips to the southeast, where the general idea of how to go through life is a little different. More relaxed maybe. You never know how I'll like it once I actually get down there but it's at least worth a shot. And I'm especially happy about it on mornings like this, when I spend five minutes scraping heavy frost off of every window on the car and then burn all kinds of gasoline just to heat up a couple hundred pounds of metal. Give me oppressive heat and humidity any day! Surviving the summer with A/C might not net me a total FE gain, but I have it on good authority that they make cars specifically designed to improve fuel economy and even stay cool while the nutcase behind the wheel coasts without engine power. Very interesting. ;) Those long country roads may never know what hit 'em.
Hi Tim:
___Should I congratulate you for the winter months w/ the warmer temps or should I console you in the summer when its 95 w/ 78% humidity? I do not know if I could make that trade myself being a northern latitude boy from birth as it would be a huge challenge. Given how hard you must be working to keep her above the EPA in the low to mid 20 degree temps (I read your daily grind post this morning :(), this move might turn out even better then expected. Warmer temps in the winter alleviate much of your demand for any number of fossil fuels to warm your home and the fuel savings is probably huge given 5 months of the year will now be in mid 40 - 70 degree temps vs. below freezing every morning. It is how to survive those 90 + degree blast furnace days that I would be most concerned about of course. I hope your new home has a basement and you can setup your entertainment down in it as that is just one way of many to keeping cool for a reasonable or no cost.
___Whenever your move date arrives, let us know where and how it progresses. It will be interesting to see if you purchase your new home in a location as hypermiler friendly as I suspect it will be? 10 miles of deserted country road with a 50’ elevation drive and large driveway to pull around into a face out every evening :)
___Good Luck
___Wayne
krousdb
11-21-2006, 09:46 AM
Where in SC? Maybe I can stop by for a visit and take some driving lessons from you?
brick
11-21-2006, 10:51 AM
Where in SC? Maybe I can stop by for a visit and take some driving lessons from you?
From me? :eek: I would think it to be the other way around. But I'll be in the Columbia area, right smack in the middle of the state. I'd certainly be up for meeting you or any other member if a good opportunity presents itself!
Hi Tim:
___Should I congratulate you for the winter months w/ the warmer temps or should I console you in the summer when its 95 w/ 78% humidity? I do not know if I could make that trade myself being a northern latitude boy from birth as it would be a huge challenge.
Personally, I'm a hot weather kind of guy. Driving around without air conditioning in the 90-100 degree heat waves this summer really didn't bother me. If my car weren't black with dark grey leather and no tint it would have been better (another excuse to trade up when the time comes). I guess that's just how I'm wired. It's the frigid weather that tortures me, and I have been in New England my entire life.
The overall energy consumption picture could be much better at that lattitude, as you point out. One of my dreams is to design and build a house with heavy integration of passive solar heating and cooling. (Yes, passive solar features can help keep a house cool!) Summers could be rough but there are active technologies such as ground loop heat pumps that can cool a house with impressive efficiency.
Fortunately there's plenty of time to research the area and get ready for the move. It's my first time making a decision of this magnitude so I'm pretty excited.
Hi Tim:
___Although this $5.5 Million dollar home is out of just about everybody’s budget here, it may give you some ideas in terms of energy efficiency and use as well as cool gadgets to equip her with ;)
Pop Sci’s house of the Future. (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/hotf/index.htm)
___Good Luck
___Wayne
