I spend approximately an hour working out every morning.
- Physical fitness is a priority in my life.
One of my favorites workouts is to run. Because of the weather extremes in my area, I rarely have the opportunity to run outside. During the winter, there’s typically feet of snow accumulated on the ground and temperatures well below zero. In the summer, the heat and humidity are problem. In-between we get a lot of rain and high winds. By necessity, I’ve set up a workout area in my home. I cleared out a guest bedroom that wasn’t getting used and invested in a bunch of workout gear. I started with a good quality treadmill and added some dumbbells, kettlebells, weight bench, yoga mat, jump rope and an elliptical. I realized pretty quickly that I prefer to keep my workout room cooler than the rest of the house. However, lowering the thermostat to my comfort level causes some complaints from the rest of my family and can add up to very high energy bills in the summer. So along with all of the exercise equipment, I needed to invest some money into zone control. We now have a thermostat in each of the rooms that connect to wifi and allow access through our smartphones. A series of valves was installed into the ductwork to regulate airflow. I can adjust the temperature in my workout area without affecting the rest of the house. Plus, we’re no longer paying to heat or cool empty rooms. We can conserve energy by not maintaining the bedroom as the ideal temperature during the day. Since upgrading to zoned temperature control, we’ve saved quite a bit of money on our monthly energy bills.