I have a problem, I have about 250 budgeted for repairs to my house this month and need to replace two things - both for the purposes of making my bills less. No, this isn't my homework and I'm not interested in intergroup warfare - I'm curious what you all think.
I have an opinion on the matter, but lack of experience tells me to get a second opinion.
So I have two things in mind, both approximately 200 bucks. I could replace my circa 1970's toilet with a nice new efficient 1.6gal flusher (fully glazed, 2 1/8" opening, made in the US) or I could replace the 96x48" window in my living room with an off the shelf Lowe's Pella to replace the single pane aluminum sliding window made in 1960 and leaking like the Titanic.
The way I figure it the toilet has a couple things going for it - it will reduce my water bill, improve the flushing performance, and it will reduce the load on my drain field (always a concern where 30 consecutive days of rain is not unheard of). The window has a few things going for it in that it will reduce the heat loss in the winter, it will allow me to open the windows in the summer and cool off the room, and it will improve the exterior look of the house.
Now I suspect I spend far far more in heating bills than water- in fact I know I do - about 20 bucks a month for water and about 200 bucks a month in the winter on heating. So the way I figure it, replace the window and save about 50 bucks a month in heating costs, assuming a very substantial improvement in heating costs and insulation (there's some rough calcs that I've already done to arrive at 50 bucks saving).
I don't know really. I kind of want to replace the toilet so that I can see how its done, but then I have 3 windows left to replace in the house, the big living room one, a bedroom window I can't get to easily, and a small basement window I don't really care about. The way I figure it, replace the windows and be done with that project for another 5 to 10 years.