11 Ways To Achieve Home Energy Savings
by Todd Riley & Robert Stewart of Sherlock Home Inspections
106 Hancock Bridge Pkwy D-15, Cape Coral, FL 33991 (239) 292-0756
You may be surprised to learn how easy it is to make your home more energy efficient. Drastic reductions in
electricity costs can be accomplished through very simple changes, most of which you can do yourself. Why
bother? Here are a few good reasons:
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It saves money.
It reduces your impact on the environment, pollution & climate change.
Federal, state, utility and local jurisdictions all offer financial incentives.
So now that we’ve covered the WHY, here’s the HOW:
1. Use Your Energy Responsibly
Appliances and electronics account for about 20% of household energy
bills in a typical U.S. home. The following tips will reduce the amount of
energy that your electronics and appliances will require:
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Put lamps in corners - the light reflects off the adjoining walls,
which makes the room lighter and brighter, even with lower watt
bulbs, or dimmer settings.
If you’re not in the room, turn off the light!
Turn fans on when you enter and off when you leave.
You heard it as a kid and now say it to your kids, “Don’t stand
there with the refrigerator door open.” Take containers out of the
fridge to nibble and pour drinks on the counter.
Use a power strip or the “All Power” button. Don’t just turn off
the TV, but also the cable or satellite box, the surround sound, the
DVD player, the gaming console, etc. (you shouldn’t cut power to
TV’s 100% & doing so to a satellite box means reacquiring a
signal).
Use the dishwasher – studies have shown that newer model
dishwashers use about 1/3 less hot water than the average hand
washer.
Use efficient “Energy Star”-rated appliances and electronics. These devices are approved by the
Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Refrigerators and freezers should not be near heat sources. A stove, dishwasher, heat vents, direct
sunlight, etc. will all force you fridge or freezer use more energy to remain cool.
Computers should be shut off when not in use. Some studies report that computers account for as much
as 3% of all energy consumption in the United States.
Laptop and cell phone chargers consume energy whenever they are plugged in, even if they are not
charging. So, if they are not connected to your electronics, chargers should be unplugged.
2. Use Alternative Ways to Cool Your Home
Here in SW Florida, as much as half of the energy used in your home
probably goes toward cooling. The following are a few ways that
your energy bill can be reduced through adjustments to the cooling of
your home:
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Use ceiling fans and floor units in place of (or in conjunction
with) air conditioners. You’re A/C unit requires a large
amount of energy, but that can be reduced by adding fans.
Moving air feels cooler than it actually is, so you can turn
you’re A/C up or off while using fans (just be sure to turn the
fans off when you’re not in the room).
Replace air conditioner filters every month. Clogged filters
strain your system.
Consider using 5 inch thick filters (you may have to retro-fit the filter housings).
Set thermostats to an appropriate temperature. Specifically, they should be adjusted at night and when
no one is home. About 2% of your bill can be saved for each degree that the thermostat is raised for at
least eight hours each day. A programmable thermostat can make these adjustments automatically.
At night, curtains drawn over windows will better insulate the
room.
3. Wrap Your Old, or Install a New Water Heater
Fiberglass Insulation Blanket – this is a simple addition that can cut
heat loss during colder months and save you 4% to 9% on your waterheating bill.
Air Source Heat Pump Water Heater - The efficiency and
performance of today's air-source heat pumps is one-and-a-half to two
times greater than those available 30 years ago. Unlike conversion
from a fuel, an air source heat pump water heater moves heat from
one place to another, rather than converting it. They pull heat indoors
from the outdoor air.
Tank-less Water Heaters - On-demand (tank-less or instantaneous)
water heaters provide hot water only as it is needed. When a hot
water tap is turned on, cold water travels through a pipe into the unit.
Either a gas burner or an electric element heats the water. As a result,
demand water heaters deliver a constant supply of hot water. Unlike
storage water heaters, tank-less heaters heat water directly without the use
of a storage tank, and therefore don't produce the standby energy losses,
which will save on energy costs. PLUS You won’t ever run out of hot
water, and will never have to wait for your storage tank to fill up. To help
determine if this is a good option, check out Is a Tankless Water Heater
Right for You? from House Logic.
4. Replace Incandescent Lights
Your household probably dedicates about 11% of your energy budget to lighting.
Traditional incandescent lights convert approximately only 10% of the energy they
consume into light, while the rest becomes heat. New lighting technologies have
greatly improved emergency consumption. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and
compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), can reduce energy use required by lighting by
50% to 75%. Advances in lighting controls offer further energy savings. Dimmers
can reduce the amount of emergency lights use, while motion sensors controls can
shorten the time that lights are on while not being used. Dimmers are more common
in high-traffic areas, while motion sensors work best in small spaces such as your
laundry room or closets. However, consider motion sensors in kids’ playrooms and
bedrooms as well, since most kids aren’t so conscience about hitting the switch.
Here are a few facts about CFLs and LEDs:
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CFLs use 75% less energy and last about 10 times longer than incandescent
bulbs.
LEDs last even longer than CFLs and consume less energy.
LEDs have no moving parts and, unlike CFLs, they contain no mercury.
5. Seal and Insulate Your Home
Sealing and insulating your home is one of the easiest
and most cost-effective ways to make a home more
energy efficient. A tightly sealed home can improve
comfort and indoor air quality while reducing your utility
bills.
The following are some common places where leakage
may occur:
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electrical outlets
switch plates
mail slots
around pipes and wires
window-mounted air conditioners
attic hatches
weather stripping around doors
baseboards
window frames
6. Insulate Windows and Doors
About one-third of your home's total heat loss usually occurs through
windows and doors. The following are ways to reduce energy lost through
windows and doors:
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Your cheapest and simplest option is to seal all window edges and
cracks with rope caulk.
Windows can be weather stripped with a special lining that is
inserted between the window and the frame.
Doors should be weather striped around the whole perimeter to
ensure a tight seal when closed. Install quality door sweeps on the
bottom of the doors, if they aren't already in place.
Replace jalousie and single panes with storm windows.
Tint your windows with low E window film, which keeps solar
radiation (heat) out.
Existing windows with rotted or damaged wood, cracked glass, missing putty, poorly fitting sashes, or
locks that don't work, should be repaired or replaced.
7. Install Efficient Shower Heads and Toilets
The following systems can be installed to conserve water usage in
homes:
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Low-Flow Shower Heads - available in different flow rates,
some even have a pause button which shuts off the water
while you lather up.
Vacuum-Assist Toilets - these have a vacuum chamber
which uses a siphon action to suck air from the trap beneath
the bowl, allowing it to quickly fill with water to clear
waste.
Dual-Flush Toilets - used in Europe and Australia for years, and now gaining popularity in the U.S.
Dual-flush toilets let you choose between a 1-gallon (or less) flush for liquid waste, and a 1.6-gallon
flush for solid waste. They can reduce water consumption by an additional 30%.
8. Use Day Lighting
Day lighting is the practice of using natural light to illuminate the
home's interior. It can be achieved using the following approaches:
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Skylights – should be double-pane to ensure cost-effectiveness.
Flashing skylights correctly is the key to avoiding leaks.
Light shelves - passive interior or exterior devices designed to
bounce light deep into a building. Standard light shelves can
introduce light into a space up to 2½ times the distance from the
floor to the top of the window, and advanced versions may
introduce four times that amount.
Light Tubes - use a special lens designed to amplify low-level
light and reduce light intensity from the midday sun. Sunlight is channeled through a tube coated with a
highly reflective material, then enters the living space through a diffuser designed to distribute light
evenly.
9. Cook Energy Smart
An enormous amount of energy is often wasted while cooking. The
following recommendations and statistics will help you become a less
wasteful cook:
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Be sure to use pot and pan sizes that match your stove top heating
element or flame.
Lids help contain heat and cook food more quickly.
When using conventional ovens, food should be placed on the top rack.
The top rack is hotter and will cook food faster
(be sure to adjust temp &/or cooking time).
Convection ovens use approximately 20% less electricity than
conventional ovens. Fans force hot air to circulate more evenly, thereby
allowing food to be cooked at a lower temperature.
Microwave ovens consume approximately 80% less energy than
conventional ovens.
Pressure cookers reduce cooking time dramatically.
10. Alter the Way You Wash Your Clothes
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Never use the “half load” setting on your washer. Instead, wait until you have a full load of clothes.
Don’t use high-temperature settings when clothes are not that dirty. Hot water uses far more energy than
warm water, but it’s only slightly more effective for washing.
Spin-dry clothes or wring them out before putting
them into a dryer.
If possible, air-dry your clothes on lines and racks.
Clean the lint trap EVERY TIME you use the dryer.
Besides making your dryer more efficient, you’ll be
removing a fire hazard.
Front load washers are generally more efficient than
most top-load washers.
11. Install a Radiant Barrier
A radiant barrier acts in much the same way tin foil acts on a roast. It prevents
much of the heat from the sun from heating your ceiling while you are trying
to cool your house.
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The most effective radiant barriers are heavy gauge aluminum foil that
is perforated.
This aluminum foil is stapled on to the bottom of the top chord of your
attic truss.
Air gaps are left near the soffit and near the top of the attic to allow the
hot air to vent out of the roof.
Radiant barriers are often the perfect answer to upstairs rooms that will not cool down.
A properly installed radiant barrier can result in a 5 to 10 % reduction in home energy usage.
If you take the initiative to make these changes, you will discover that the energy savings are more than worth
the effort. Consider hiring Sherlock Home Inspections to conduct a Comprehensive Energy Assessment which
will make the process even easier.