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90 Percent Project - Weeks 44, 45, &46
Here’s another three weeks worth of my 90 Percent Project values. There are only six weeks left in the project and, at this point, most of what I’m doing is either fine tuning or recognizing that a 90% reduction isn’t going to happen in certain areas this year. The project’s group is not planning on disappearing after the end of the year’s experiment. Taking what we’ve learned to build on, so to speak. So the process (and progress) will continue, although I might elect to not torture you with the weekly accountings. Maybe monthly or quarterly instead. 
Electricity
Week 44: 22 kWh
Week 45: 16 kWh
Week 46: 17 kWh
Could be worse, could be better. The furnace does eat a little extra electricity.
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Gasoline purchased
Week 44: 0
Week 45: 0
Week 46: 0
No complaints here. One more week and I’ll have made up for last month’s extravaganza. I’ll let you in on a secret...the lad is getting a bike when he comes home next month. That’s how he will get to work. He doesn’ t know it yet. ;)
I want a bike, too.
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Water
Week 44: 89.772 gallons
Week 45: 1167.78 gallons
Week 46: 87.04 gallons
Oh my word. Week 45 shocked my socks off. That was the week I suffered through the UTI and, I’m pretty sure, all of that extra water was from the excessive toilet flushing that went on. Something like 10 times an hour for a few days. It adds up REALLY fast. Holy moly. Makes an outhouse look tempting.
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Natural Gas
Week 44: 21 CCF
Week 45: 19 CCF
Week 46: 12 CCF
Most of this was furnace use. Subtracting 3-4 CCF per week for hot water and cooking, the rest is all furnace. My latest gas bill came in showing 58 CCF for the month with a total due of $106. Compared to the previous month’s use of 11 CCF and $26, that’s a pretty hefty jump. And this month didn’t involve keeping my house toasty warm, either. I’ve been pretty stingy with the heat and there were a few days in there where I kept the furnace off altogether. I can easily see, now, how the average monthly heating bill in this neighborhood reached $300-$400 over the winter.
I’m about ready to call my wood guy and get an order of green wood to season for the summer and autumn—before the price of diesel fuel takes another leap upward. I expect the cost of diesel to be included in wood prices this year.
In any case, the annual goal of using only 100 therms of natural gas for the year has been left in the dust. Not that I would have made it without the furnace use this month anyway. My total, since the 90% project started last June, stands at 234 CCF, with one month left to go in the project’s year. That should bring me in around 250 CCF for the year. Then I have to add another 20 for each cord of wood that I used this winter—3 cords. So, that brings my natural gas values up to around 310 CCF for the year—about a 70% reduction of the national average. If I’d had to exclusively depend on natural gas for heat, I think even a 30% reduction would have been remarkable.
Most of my conservation measures this year were wood heat specific. And they worked very well. They’re probably helping even with furnace use. It’s hard to measure, though, because I’m now heating the upstairs whether I want to or not. If I had to depend completely on gas heat, about the first thing I’d do would be to install zone heating and keep the upstairs mostly turned off.
I’ve also reached the conclusion that the attic is not adequately insulated. Have to look into that this summer.
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Trash
Week 44: 2.2 lbs
Week 45: 1.8 lbs
Week 46: 4.4 lbs
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Consumer Goods
Week 44: $0
Week 45: $48 ($36 - canning jars and lids, $12 - peat pots and “greenhouse” tray)
Week 46: $15 Klean Kanteen
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Food
Oh for a fresh home grown vegetable. I’m about ready to eat my seedlings. Eating locally through winter is not easy, but it’s mostly possible. I have been supplementing the locally produced organic meat and dairy products (with homemade butter from local cream) with some vegetables flown in from far away. Not my ideal, but one does what one has to do. Which is why I am growing a mess of seedlings. Next winter, I will have some vegetables preserved for those late winter-early spring months. This is tipping me in the direction of buying a small chest freezer this summer. I have lived without a freezer for over a year now, without missing it very much. But I haven’t really needed one for food preservation. Until now. If I purchase a freezer, then I’ll most likely unplug the fridge. Unlimited ice makes that an option. Even easier since I’ve grown accustomed to only having 1.7 cu ft of refrigeration space.