I stood at the end of our driveway this morning, after picking up the newspaper which I usually do in the dark now, but since it’s Saturday, I’m up later, and looked around the neighborhood. I realized I am surrounded by big, tall trees. When we moved to this house 28 years ago, the neighborhood was pretty new with young landscaping. I remember a friend of mine saying that it looked kind of naked because there weren’t any trees. I looked around and thought, “yes there are trees, they’re just small.” Well, those trees grew up.
Even though our temperatures this summer have been over 100 on many days, my power bill (courtesy of PG&E) has remained reasonable. I cringe every month when the bill arrives, and then I am pleasantly surprised when I see how low the cost is. As I stood there this morning, looking at all those trees, up and down my street, I realized that there was my cost savings. Those trees are keeping the air cooler, thus keeping my house cooler. Now, how do I keep the heating costs down in the winter?
We close doors and only heat rooms we are using. Plus, an electric blanket goes a long way. I also love trees and plants and appreciate them for their beauty and also for helping keep things cool.
I know what you mean about “growing up” with your house! I was especially noticing the size of the trees, since Hurricane Hanna was supposed to hit. And it did, too. Right now it’s raining so hard my street is turning into a veritable lake. So glad we’re on a tiny hill above the street! BTW, if you have some time tomorrow, drop on by my place. We’re playing the Silly Sunday Sweepstakes, and Sharing All That Caption Love!
I’ve always found that a blanket and a lap cat go a far way to keeping me warm when I’m sitting on the couch!
If they’re deciduous trees, they’ll help by losing their leaves in the fall, thus allowing your house to soak up more sunlight in the winter.