Steps to make your house more energy effecient.

[zach]

I've been doing a lot of research on this lately. My last home was a town house in Chicago built in the early 80's. I posted some of the work I did on that house including insulating the attic and replacing all the doors and windows. Now I'm starting over with a 1940's Cape Cod in New Hampshire. So here's the process I've come up with. You may want to start with a home energy audit first but I'm a do it yourselfer and don't want to spend the money to have an auditor tell me what I already know. So I'm getting the low hanging fruit (obvious stuff) and then I'm going to have an energy audit done to find additional areas to improve.

Feel free to add anything I've missed or any suggestions you have to this thread. I'm going to keep editing and adding to this as I have more time. I'm also taking pictures and will start posting what I've done.

1. First and foremost you need to Air Seal your home. It doesn't matter how effecient your heating and cooling systems are or how much insulation you have if air is flowing in and out of your home uncontrollably. All the tiny air leaks in your home add up to the equivalent of leaving a window wide open all the time. Find the drafts and leaks and seal them up. This means caulking around doors and windows, adding weather stripping, putting window film over your windows. A few ways to find the drafts are: a. Walk around your house on a cold day and feel around windows, doors, attic entrances, mail slots, fireplaces or anywhere else air might be getting in. b. Close all the curtain on a bright sunny day and look for daylight around doors and other areas that air might be getting through. c. Do the opposite, at night turn all the lights on and go outside and look for cracks. d. Have a home energy auditor do a blower door test.
2. Install a Programmable Thermostat. This is easy to do and setting your heat lower at night and when you are at work can lead to significant savings. Some newer ones will even let you set different programs for every day of the week so when your home on the weekends you can set it at a comfortable temp.
3. Close off rooms you don't use. Leave the door closed to guest rooms, storage rooms and any other rooms you don't use often. Close the vents or turn the radiators down or off if possible.
4. Insulate, Insulate, Insulate. I would usually start with the attic because heat rises and the attic is usually the easiest place to add insulation. Crawl up there and measure the thickness of your insulation. Then claculate your current R-Value using the chart found here: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/...ns_06.html#how. Once you know your current R-Value use the chart here: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?...sulation_table. Add additional insulation to get up to the recommended R-Value or better. Couple of cautions about DIY insulating, it's usually not a good idea to disturb existing insulation, wear long sleeves and pants, goggles and a dust mask. Don't block ventilation or you will have a moisture problem, when putting insulation in eaves use baffles found at home improvement stores to make sure you don't block the air flow.
   Other ways to insulate are to use spray foam and caulk to seal around doors and windows, insulating basement walls in an unfinished basement and so on.
5. Doors and windows. Often doors and windows are the weakest link in a homes "envelope." If you have old single pane windows or uninsulated doors you may want to consider replacing them with newer energy effecient ones. This can be expensive and usually isn't something most people will want to do themselves. I'm not most people though. Look for windows and doors with the lowest U-Factor (which is like an R-Value for insualtion) and the energy star logo.
6. Hot Water Heaters. Hot water heaters can consume a lot of energy. Use cold water to do your laundry, install low flow show heads and just be mindful of how much hot water you are using. Consider upgrading your water heater to an energy efficient one or adding an insulation blanket around it.
7. Furnaces, Boilers and Air Conditioning systems. Make sure the filters are clean and changed regulary and have the systems serviced annually. Consider upgrading to more energy effecient systems, or even better, switching to systems that use renewable energy like geothermal or solar hot water.

Don't forget to look for tax credits and incentives in your area. Not only will these improvements pay off in lower energy bills but you might be able to get money back from the IRS, state and local governments, local utilities and other groups. Check this database to see what's available in your area: http://www.greenerpeople.com/forum/g...ncentives.html (Where to find renewable energy rebates, tax credits and incentives.)

Other resources and links:

• http://www.energysavers.gov/your_hom.../mytopic=11220
• More coming soon...

[LivingGreen]

Hot Water Heaters. Hot water heaters can consume a lot of energy. Use cold water to do your laundry, install low flow show heads and just be mindful of how much hot water you are using. Consider upgrading your water heater to an energy efficient one or adding an insulation blanket around it.

This one always astonishes me. I know a ton of girls who will only wash certain things in cold water, and certain things in hot water... Maybe it's a fabric thing, but I don't understand how hot water could be GOOD for clothes, you know?

Cold water cleans just as well! Promise!

[quinn]

Thank you for sharing your ideas Zach in making an energy efficient home. May I just add that another way to reduce energy consumption is with the use of WINDOW TINTS. While most window tints are for reducing solar heat gain in the summer, low-e tints both block summer heat and improve winter heat retention. Window tints are cost-effective, energy-efficient and definitely eco-friendly.

[zach]

I read somewhere once that it had to do with the laundry soaps. I think the story was that older soaps used to require hot water to get light colors fully clean but the soaps on the market today are just as effective in cold water as hot. So really there's no reason to use hot water for laundry anymore. Not sure if I have this right or not but I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere at some point.

This one always astonishes me. I know a ton of girls who will only wash certain things in cold water, and certain things in hot water... Maybe it's a fabric thing, but I don't understand how hot water could be GOOD for clothes, you know?

Cold water cleans just as well! Promise!

[LivingGreen]

I read somewhere once that it had to do with the laundry soaps. I think the story was that older soaps used to require hot water to get light colors fully clean but the soaps on the market today are just as effective in cold water as hot. So really there's no reason to use hot water for laundry anymore. Not sure if I have this right or not but I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere at some point.

I've been using this great biodegradable soap called Soak which was 'meant for delicates', and is meant for handwashing either in a sink, or in a basin. It's really fantastic, and only requires "cool" water.

[GoEcoStore]

this is a good post keep up the good work.

[Energy Saving Trust]

Great post.

Here's a few more tips that will help:

- Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and check for draughts around windows and doors.

- Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily.

- Always turn off lights when you leave a room

- If possible, fill up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher: one full load uses less energy than two half loads.

- A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off!

- Use energy saving lightbulbs. They last up to 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs, and using one can save you around £40 over the lifetime of the bulb. This saving could be around £65 over its lifetime if you're replacing a high wattage incandescent bulb, or one used for more than a few hours a day.

- Do a free, online home energy check and see how much energy and money you could save in your home (UK only) - http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/...omeenergycheck

Clare
The Energy Saving Trust
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

[LivingGreen]

Great post.

Here's a few more tips that will help:

- Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily.

I've heard (but admittedly haven't looked into) that you should unplug appliances, including your television, etc., when you're not using them. I believe the reason was that these appliances still draw electricity even when they're off... Is this true?

[thegreenlivingplace]

I've heard (but admittedly haven't looked into) that you should unplug appliances, including your television, etc., when you're not using them. I believe the reason was that these appliances still draw electricity even when they're off... Is this true?

Yes, it's very true. According to the DOE website as much as 75% of power usage from many appliiances is from the use of standby power used when the appliance is supposedly turned off. That number seems a little high to me but... The list is long when you really stop and think about it...TVs, DVDs, DVRs, computers, monitors, game stations and stereos are some of the biiggest Vampires. But invest in some power strips and it makes pulling the plug much easier than reaching behind a stereo cabinet to pull it's plug.

Go room by room in your house one night and turn the lights off in each room and look around. Anything that has an LED light showing needs to be added to the list.

Another big drain that wasn't mentioned in this post but has been in others are any kind of charger...cell phone charger, battery chargers, electric razor chargers and laptop computer chargers need to be unpluged when not being used. They all draw power as long as they are plugged in.

[LivingGreen]

Yes, it's very true. According to the DOE website as much as 75% of power usage from many appliiances is from the use of standby power used when the appliance is supposedly turned off. That number seems a little high to me but... The list is long when you really stop and think about it...TVs, DVDs, DVRs, computers, monitors, game stations and stereos are some of the biiggest Vampires. But invest in some power strips and it makes pulling the plug much easier than reaching behind a stereo cabinet to pull it's plug.

Go room by room in your house one night and turn the lights off in each room and look around. Anything that has an LED light showing needs to be added to the list.

Another big drain that wasn't mentioned in this post but has been in others are any kind of charger...cell phone charger, battery chargers, electric razor chargers and laptop computer chargers need to be unpluged when not being used. They all draw power as long as they are plugged in.

I wish people weren't so lazy that they overlook these things. I will be more conscious of plugged-in appliances from now on, to be sure!