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I am not sure how much I will be able to add to the conversation at this point.
I can tell you I live in the North Dallas/Ft. Worth area, where it is very hot most of the year. I have a 3200+ sq/ft. house, and a decent amount of electronics which are on much of the time, but would still consider my electricity use as average when it comes to household items, etc. Obviously the biggest use of electricity would be with the A/C.
When we had the house built about 5 years ago, we spent the extra $'s on a few things to help with the long term energy usage:
1) Solar-board decking
2) Spray in foam insulation in all of the external walls, in between the first and second floor for sound dampening, and the attic walls. (put in during construction)
3) Higher seer A/C unit
Otherwise, the house is a pretty standard brick home.
My average electric bill @ $.09/kwh is about $150 a month, never exceeds $200, and sometimes is as low as $60 or so during the "winter" months.
I have neighbors who spend in excess of $500+ a month in the summer with similar size homes.
So, my vote would be to look at the information on the above items and how quickly they may pay for themselves. Otherwise, it sounds like you have a lot of good information and input on this thread already.
Good luck!
Gary
As consistently profitable traders.. "We get paid to wait, and we wait to get paid."
I am most familiar with the structall panels. R values go by the thickness of the panel. Here is a link for the spec page of structall panels; https://structall.com/pdf/snapnlock_panel.pdf
It says that you get a 4.0 R value per sq inch of thickness. I have seen the 6" panel used most in residential construction. So it would be a R 24 value. It may not sound like much but it is. With conventional construction, if a home required a 3 ton ac unit, you would only need half that for a steel sip home.
Another energy saving device you could add is a ductless mini split ac unit. This is one of my favorite energy saving tips I reccomend to people.
@Gary Outstanding. Thank you for the input and yes your input does provide personal experience that I am looking for not some marketing claims. The only thing I'm unsure of is if the construction is steel or wood.
With ductless air conditioners, all the noises that you may be used to from central air conditioners firing up and blowing air through your house are eliminated! The noisy parts of a ductless air conditioner, the compressor and the condenser, are housed as a single unit that is located outside in the backyard. This leaves the all but silent fan and evaporator units inside.
Mini splits are quieter than say a heat pump or a more conventional unit. But if you built a steel sip home, it doesn't really apply since the thing is so insulated. You won't hear much of what is going on outside.
