Home Energy Assessment Techniques HeaT
You can easily conduct a do-it-yourself energy assessment of your home and find ways to save energy and money. Depending on your situation you can easily save $100-$750/year.
The three key areas are: % of Total Expenditures
- Heating and cooling 46%
- Lighting, electronics and appliances 33%
- Water heating/usage 14%
Assessment begins:
Heating and cooling
- Check the insulation in the attic of the house. Do you have at least 18” of fiberglass batting or blown insulation uniformly covering the floor of the attic?
Insufficient Insulation
The brown paper facing (vapor barrier) should be against the interior of the house. The new insulation could be blown in or you can use fiberglass batts w/o the craft paper if you are adding to existing. Additional insulation is the easiest and most effective way to reduce a large heat loss and save money.
Insulation can also be added in the lower level between the floor joists or in the side walls. Both of these suggestions are more difficult to install and their payback is much longer than the attic project.
Next we need to check the house for air leaks (infiltration). A very important way to save energy and may add comfort to your home is by eliminating those nasty drafts. On a cold and windy day walk around your house and run your hands around the windows all the way to the bottom of the case molding under the sills, doors, fireplace and wall sockets. Feel how much air is coming into the room.
You Can Feel Air Infiltration Where Weatherstripping is Required
Solutions:
Caulk Around Window and Door Casings
- Doors – Install new weather stripping, adjust the threshold or add a door sweep. Pic of sweep
- Windows – Caulk around the case molding, wedge the tubes of hard foam between the sash and sill and close the blinds or shades at night.
- Search for wall penetrations especially in your lower level where pipes and electrical cables enter the house. Apply expandable foam or caulk to seal the open area around the opening. Pic of caulking penetration.
- Check to see if your pull down stairs and your whole house fan are sealed tightly. Do they have insulation over them?
Lighting and Electronics
The first change to make is replace the most “turned-on and left-on” lights in your house with compact florescent or LEDs. The bulb technology has improved substantially in past couple of years and they emit a soft light with “quick-on” technology. Electric is and will continue to be the most expensive energy we use in abundance, nearly twice as costly as natural gas for the same unit of energy.
After you have replaced your light bulbs walk around your house one night with the lights out and look at all the red and greens lights from your TV, cable boxes, stereo equipment, computer equipment, printers, and chargers. All of these devices are using energy even though you are not using them. Either turn them off, unplug them or put them on a timer so they only come on when you use them.
Unplug that 2nd refrigerator and consolidate the storage of food. One filled refrigerator is more efficient than two half empty ones.
If an appliance is 10 years old or older it is not as efficient (about 1/2) as the new ones. Replace if you can, especially if your HVAC unit or your refrigerator is 12-15 years old.
Water is not one of the most expensive resources we use but is the most precious.
We have the same amount of water on this earth as we did 10,000 years ago and we are not getting anymore. The single largest use of indoor municipal treated water is used to transfer waste down the drain, your toilet. About half your water goes down your commode, so minimize it. Your toilet should at least be 1.6 gallons/flush or less. Consider using a variety of devices to reduce the flow and still get the job done. Install a multi-port diverter, adjust the flush valve so the tank does not fill completely or install a flexible flush device.
Showerheads and faucets both have water saving fixtures that can be installed easily. Low flow showerheads and low flow aerators are excellent in the bathroom sinks.
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Lew Engle