Heat
This January was the hottest ever for Los Angeles. Average temperature was 74 degrees. It was also one of the driest ever, with no measureable rainfall. Yesterday, while other parts of the country were chilly, it was 85 here. For those of you who were chipping the ice off your windshields, I can only say “A HA HA HA” … oops … of course I meant to say “I feel your pain”.
I spent the afternoon putting heat resistant film screen on the south facing windows, which reduces heat coming in the windows by 66%. This will make things decidely more liveable when it’s 105 outside, not to mention saving $$$ on air conditioning. Lemme tell you, if it’s hitting 85 in January, I’m NOT optimistic about this being a cool summer! Plus most areas of the West aren’t getting even their normal precipitation, so the drought is still with us.
Using heat resistant film is also a Green thing to do. Why waste energy? That’s why I use compact flourescent light bulbs (CFL’s) rather than regular incandescent light bulbs. CFL’s cost more, however they last vastly longer and use 1/10 the energy to produce the same light. They also burn way cooler. You can turn off a CFL by twisting the bulb. Try doing that with a 100w incandescent and you’ll burn your fingers. And of course, cooler burning bulbs mean the air conditioning doesn’t work as hard in the summer. You can get them most anywhere now, including Home Depot.
Yes, it can be a shock paying $6-15 for one light bulb. However, they last 10,000 hours, and if you factor in the electricity savings they can pay for themselves quickly.