10 Tips to Make Your House More Energy Efficient
Sponsors »
Like it? Share it with others »
By: Rafter Tales
Tags: Appliances, Conserve Energy, Energy Star, Live Green
Tired of costly gas and electric bills? Your home can be more efficient if you follow a few simple tips on saving energy.
While some of these ideas require a little up front investment, many are easy to follow without spending a dime.
Here are the top 10 energy saving tips you should consider:
- It is time to switch your old light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs. Compared to their conventional counterparts, these energy-efficient light bulbs utilize 75 percent less energy. In addition to this, they last longer too. Replacing incandescent lamps with energy inefficient bulbs is a simple way to take part in environmental conservation. Even though they cost higher than traditional light bulbs, thinking about their advantages such as lasting ten times longer than other bulbs and being energy efficient makes them worth the extra money you have to shed.
- Breaks and fissures at doors and window seams let the heating and cooling pass through them. Cutesy gap blockers are used to stuff these cracks. These blockers are chiefly long, cylindrical tubes filled with stuffing and are available in the market. However, you can create your own gap blockers by sewing a matching home décor fabric to go with your room’s theme. If you don’t have the skill nor the time to make one, you may use a tube sock then stuff it with rice and fasten the ends. In addition to this, energy efficiency can be achieved by replacing old, worn-out caulk and weather stripping with fresh ones.
- Purchase new drapes. Buy insulated curtains because they not only help you during summer but also during winter. Your abode soaks up more heat when you keep the drapes open when the sun is shining on one part of the house. However, by closing the curtains, you prevent the heat from escaping. During summer, leave your drapes closed during the day to make your house cooler. The curtain will obstruct much of the heat from coming in.
- Do not leave your appliances plugged in when not in use for extended periods. An appliance, even when it is turned off, makes use of electricity as long as it is plugged in. So don’t leave anything plugged. See to it that you don’t forget to unplug your gadgets such as TVs, toaster and even cell phone chargers. Unplugging will conserve a lot of energy and at the same time save you some bucks.
- Make use of appliances tagged with the Energy Star label. Do you know that the older models of appliances can consume twice as much energy as the newer ones So change now your old refrigerator with a new energy star model to conserve more energy. Iceboxes are not the sole appliances that are Energy Star certified. Other appliances such as washers, dryers, dishwashers, even water heaters are now carrying this kind of certification.
- Take note of your air conditioning’s thermostat. To save on energy and trim down your air conditioning bills, reduce heat in your house, especially during summer months. You can conserve around 7 to 10 percent of your cooling expenses for each degree above 78 when you turn the temperature a bit higher. When you go out of the house, be sure to switch off the air conditioning or turn the thermostat up a few degrees.
- Support your air conditioning by adding a ceiling or a handy fan to supplement it. It only takes half a cent per hour to operate a fan and yet it can lift the temperature of the room three to four degrees cooler, thus allowing you to set your thermostat a few degrees. Supporting air conditioners with fans will definitely increase your savings. This method is ideal for occupied rooms because fans cool people, not rooms.
- Instead of installing single-pane windows, use double panes. Switching from single-pane windows to double-pane ones will aid in heat gain in summer and heat loss reduction in winter. Another advantage of double-pane windows is that it blocks noises from the street, thus making your home peaceful.
- Reduce water consumption and water heating cost by as much as 50 percent. How? Set up low-flow toilets and faucets.
- Save water and energy by taking a shower! Yes, you can! Replacing baths with showers can conserve 4 to 5 gallons of water. Also, increase your heater thermostat to 120 degrees; 140 degrees if your dishwasher does not have a booster. In this way, you not only saved water, you also saved energy by needing your water heater less.
Last year we switched our entire house over to cfl’s and shaved $30 a month off our electricy bill.
No. 1: CFL’s do *not* last longer. Sounds like you’re echoing the packaging. I don’t know if it’s because they’re not designed to cycle on and off (like folks use incandescents) or what, but I have not experienced them lasting any longer.
On No. 4, try and plug all your devices into a power strip. Granted, this may not always be feasible (the clock on my stove comes to mind) but try. You are spot on with unplugging cellphone chargers. Those things are inefficient. Just go to one with no phone attached – it will be warm. The electrical energy is being converted to heat and *not* charging the phone.
No. 6: My wife and I purchased a 4-ton heat pump for just under 2000 sq ft of heated space about two years ago. My power bill is about the same as the old, inefficient 2.5-ton unit it replaced. Four reasons; (1) you need about 1-ton of heating/cooling per 500 sq ft in Alabama (the 2.5-ton unit ran all the time), (2) it has a variable speed fan, (3) it is a 13 SEER, and (4) I increased the insulation in my attic. I can now actually feel the air coming from the vents and, again, my power bill is about the same. I also keep it at 68 in the winter and 73 in the summer. If you think I’m crazy, you’ve never lived through an Alabama summer.
No. 7: Yep, I use ceiling fans throughout the house; however, I turn them off during the day when no one is home. Those things are big AC motors (they’re not very efficient as a lot of electrical energy is converted to heat) on the line. No need in using the electricity if no one is home.
No. 9: I took two old milk jugs, washed them, and filled them with sand. I then placed them in the toilet tank. My water bill has not decreased noticeably.
No. 10: If you have small kids, do *not* raise your water heater to more than 120F. They can be scalded very quickly.