Notes to Argie's Wife:
Flooring:
Keep in mind "R-value" when replacing the floor. Except for radiant heating, wood may be a better choice than tile at keeping heat inside. Wood overlaying a wood subfloor strengthens it, and tile laid on wood subflooring "has issues".
Seamless "linoleum" is a decent moisture barrier, stops much heat "migration", is easy to clean and keeps water leaks relatively contained.
Tightening up the house:
Consider a "hybrid" insulation installation in the attic. A lightweight aluminum-sided urethane board is made that can be moved into place to reduce radiant solar gain in the summer. More considerations...
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=6&gl=us
Or, as a more readable PDF file:
http://new.ahfc.state.ak.us/iceimage...insulating.pdf.
If you've fixed a window that also reduced road noise, you fixed one major leak right there!
Holy Moly!
Stretching one's income:
As a nation, our fossil fuel demands continue to grow every year by about 4%—
still! Electricity demand jumped 9% in 2006.
Everything we can do
as individuals to conserve within our dwellings and workplaces will make a real difference, whereas "collectivizing" only postpones inevitable increases.
Speaking of the "Collective", a news article appeared yesterday that showed Alaska seeking a "winner" among lowest bidders on a new North Slope pipeline. Among the six bids submitted for the four-foot diameter pipeline were
two bids from China!