Becoming Energy Efficient

The Money-Saving Survival Guide For The Every Day Homeowner

Adopt Good Habits

Becoming energy efficient is something that needs to be part of the entire family. When it comes to using your home’s most important systems, instilling good habits in every family member early on is the first step to saving energy, saving money, and living in a healthy home.

How To Talk About Saving Energy

All families are different; one family might be concerned about climate change, while another just wants to keep energy bills low. No matter what your family values most, when children understand the underlying concept, they are often eager to participate. Help them understand what drives your values.

How To Talk About Saving Energy ¡  Kids should understand what energy

is used for. Explain that energy is an invisible force. People get energy from food and use it to walk and play. In the same way, houses get energy from burning things like natural gas and coal, and use it to run the refrigerator, heat the water, and turn on the lights.

¡  One of the most important ways to teach your kids to save energy at home is to make sure they understand that energy costs money. Wasting energy is similar to wasting food; it's throwing something away without using it.

¡  Go to the library for age-appropriate books or do a quick search on the Internet to help answer any questions you or your children might have.

Policies at Home Teaching kids specific ways to save energy is the next step and will help children apply what they have learned into real-life scenarios.

¡  Turn off the lights when you leave the room

¡  Turn off the TV when you're not watching it

¡  Only run the dishwasher and laundry machine when they are full 

¡  Don't use hot water when it's not necessary to do so

¡  Have family events where you do things that take little or no energy, such as going on hikes, playing together outside, or playing board games 

¡  Involve your kids as you do things around the house to improve energy efficiency, like caulking windows, hiring an energy efficiency specialist, and shopping for energy efficient appliances

Get An Energy Efficiency Evaluation

What if there was a way to save 30 to 40% on every electric bill from now on? With an Energy Efficiency Evaluation, you can!

A certified energy efficiency evaluation technician can come to your home, perform several tests to determine how to operate your home’s system more efficiently, and recommend some changes that could save you thousands of dollars a year.

Energy Efficiency Evaluation

¡  Each evaluation begins in the attic. Did you know that 80% of heat loss or heat coming into the home enters through the attic?

¡  The tech will then focus on 4 areas: insulation depth, radiant heat, ventilation, and finally, air quality.

Energy Efficiency Evaluation: Insulation Depth

¡ Most homes are not built with the proper amount of insulation. Insulation is rated by standards set by the Department of Energy, which states that a home must have a minimum of 15 inches of insulation.

¡  Insulation is a vital part of a home’s efficiency because it provides resistance to heat flow, and your attic insulation the more heat flow resistance provides, the more cost effective and efficient your home will be.

Energy Efficiency Evaluation: Radiant Heat

¡  Radiant heat is the energy of the sun’s heat that enters the home and heats anything solid that absorbs its energy.

¡  This excessive heat causes your AC system to work double-time. If the home isn’t equipped with some sort of radiant heat blocker, your home will be less energy efficient and your monthly energy bills will be sky-high.

Energy Efficiency Evaluation: Ventilation ¡  Proper attic ventilation is

important if you want reduced energy bills and want to maintain a safe and healthy home.

¡  First, the technician checks to see if there is enough air circulating in and out of the attic. Proper ventilation helps to keep the attic air from becoming stagnant and keeps the temperature of the air from becoming too extreme.

¡  Extreme temperatures cause condensation which produces mold and mildew, and can be harmful for the whole family.

Energy Efficiency Evaluation: Air Quality ¡  This test checks the air flow inside

duct lines and makes sure there are no contaminants which can be harmful to anyone inside the home.

¡  Airflow problems are caused by a number of things such as carpeting, pollen, and dust particles. These contaminants get stuck inside air duct lines and are constantly being circulated throughout the house. Over time, dust particles turn into mold and can be very hazardous if not addressed.

¡  identifying mold in air ducts and cleaning air ducts are the most important parts of the evaluation.

Pass or Fail?

¡  Once all testing is complete, the technician analyzes all the results and gives your home a grade.

¡  About 90% of homes do not pass the test.

¡  Whether your home fails or not, the important thing is to get it checked and to get it fixed.

¡  The best part about it is you only need to have your home evaluated once. When you know what is wrong with your home, you can fix it, maintain it, and save money.

Energy Star Appliances

Americans saved $30,000,000,000 in 2013 by using Energy Star® appliances, lights, and windows, saving the energy equivalent to 277 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Want in on the cash? Start using energy efficient appliances!

The Energy Star® Stamp ¡  Energy Star® is a program that was first

developed in the early 1990’s by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a method to identify and promote products that are energy efficient. Products carrying this symbol provide a way for businesses and consumers to save money and protect our environment at the same time.

¡  Appliances carrying the Energy Star® rating typically are 10 to 20% more energy efficient than non-rated models. This means you'll not only save money, but help your environment as well.

Why Be Energy Efficient?

¡  Using eco-friendly and energy efficient appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, and washing machines will significantly reduce waste and keep more money in your pocket for other important things you need (like vacation!).

¡  Energy Star® certified appliances use less energy than conventional ones, which helps reduce air pollution and combat global climate change.

¡  They also use less water, and by reducing water consumption, using Energy Star® rated appliances also helps protect our lakes, streams, and oceans.