Living Better through Home
Energy Management
ENERGY STAR®
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
University of Kentucky
College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
• This online home energy
self-assessment tool will provide you
with a simple assessment of your
home’s annual energy use
compared to similar homes.
• Those with an assessment score of 5
or less should seek further
assistance in assessing the causes
of their high energy use.
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
• The Home Energy Yardstick is an
easy to use online home energy selfassessment tool
• The self-assessment requires that
you answer a few basic questions
about your home
• This tutorial will help you complete
the self-assessment
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
• The online home energy
self-assessment will provide you with
the following information about your
home:
– A Home Energy Yardstick score (scale of 1
to 10)
– Insights into how much energy your home
uses for heating, cooling and base loads
– An estimate of your home’s annual carbon
emissions
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
• To calculate your home’s Yardstick
score, you will need the following
information:
–
–
–
–
Your ZIP code
Number of full time home occupants
Your home’s square footage
A list of all fuels used in your home
(Electricity, Natural Gas, Fuel Oil, Propane,
Kerosene, On-site Coal, On-site Wood)
– Your home’s last 12 months of utility bills
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
• Access the online tool home
energy self-assessment at:
www.energystar.gov
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
CLICK IT!
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
CLICK
IT!
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Data Input – page 1
Enter the following data:
1) Zip Code
2) Number of people living full-time in your
household
3) Conditioned square footage of your
home (Note the calculate button – click
the button to learn how to calculate the
square footage of your home.)
CLICK CONTINUE
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Data Input – page 2
Select all Fuel Types used
in your home.
CLICK CONTINUE
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Data Input – page 3
You will see this page as you enter
your home’s data. Currently, no
Kentucky utility providers participate
in the Green Button program.
CLICK CONTINUE
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Data Input – page 4
You will need 12 months of consecutive
utility bills.
Select the date range for which you will
enter data. Use the same 12 month period
for all fuel types used in your home.
Use the arrows to select the Start Date
month and year and the End Date month
and year.
CLICK CONTINUE
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Data Input – page 5
My Electricity Use:
Enter your electric usage for the twelve
month period you selected
OR
Use the Change button, and select a
different twelve month period
CLICK CONTINUE
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Data Input – page 6
You will only see this page if you selected natural
gas as a fuel type for your home.
My Natural Gas Use:
Select either Therms or CCF as a unit of measure
Enter your natural gas usage for the twelve month
period you selected
OR
Use the Change button, and select a different
twelve month period
CLICK CONTINUE
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Data Input – page 7
After you have entered all of the utility information
for your home, you will have an opportunity to
review the data input.
If the data is correct,
CLICK
CALCULATE MY SCORE
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Home Energy Yardstick report –
page 8
The Yardstick shows Your Score. This is
your energy use rating as compared to
similar homes across the U.S., with
adjustments made based on square
footage, number of occupants and
climate.
The graph illustrates monthly energy use.
From the graph you can interpret your
heating, cooling and base load energy
use.
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Home Energy Yardstick report
continued – page 9
A score of 7.5 or higher indicates an energy
efficient home.
A score of 5 indicates an average home.
A home with a score of less than 5
indicates that there are substantial
opportunities to improve the home’s
comfort and energy efficiency.
To learn more about the graph, CLICK
WHAT DOES THIS GRAPH TELL ME?
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
Local weather and climate patterns are a major factor in
determining the shape of the Monthly Energy Use Graph.
This graph represents cooling load dominated energy use,
found in hot and humid climates.
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
This graph represents heating load dominated energy use,
found in cold climates.
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
This graph represents base load dominated energy use,
found in moderate climates.
A graph for an energy efficient Kentucky home should
look more like this graph than the cold or hot and humid
climate graphs.
ENERGY STAR
Home Energy Yardstick Tutorial
For more information on home energy use
and efficiency, visit the University of
Kentucky’s Department of Biosystems and
Agricultural Engineering’s website:
www.bae.uky.edu/energy/residential
References:
ENERGY STAR®. [05/20/2014]. U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.
WWW.ENERGYSTAR.GOV/INDEX.CFM?FUSEACTION=HOME_ENERGY_
YARDSTICK. SHOWGETSTARTED
Image Credits:
ENERGY STAR Yardstick: www.energystar.gov
Cloud image: Matt Barton, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment,
University of Kentucky
Man with list: Microsoft Clip Art
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
University of Kentucky
College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Beverly K. Miller, MArch, Architect
Agriculture Extension Associate Senior
May 2014
141006
Copyright © 2014 for materials developed by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. This
publication may be reproduced in portions or its entirety for educational or nonprofit purposes only.
Permitted users shall give credit to the author(s) and include this copyright notice.
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
University of Kentucky
College of Agriculture, Food and Environment