If you want to make sure that you’re using energy as effectively as possible, you should make sure that you’re utilizing the most efficient heating and cooling processes in your home as a whole. With up to 55% of your home’s energy consumption used on heating and air conditioning, improving your home’s thermal efficiency can significantly reduce your home’s energy usage as a whole. Here’s your one-stop guide to efficient home heating and cooling.
Guide to Efficient Heating and Cooling Created By: Foundation Recovery Systems
Energy Vulnerabilities in Your Home
Every home has different energy vulnerabilities. These are the places where energy is most likely to leak out. You can’t completely avoid these energy vulnerabilities — you have to open the door sometimes, after all — but you can at least reduce the amount of impact that energy vulnerabilities have on your home. Here are the most common areas to notice energy vulnerabilities.
● Duct Register
● Plumbing Vent Stack
● Doors
● Top Plate
● Sill Plate
● Windows
● Vent Fan
● Dryer Vent
● Crawl Space
Some of these are obvious, like doors and windows. However, some of them are less obvious. You may not even know what a “plumbing vent stack” is. These less-obvious ones are the ones that you might need to call in an expert for so you can make sure you’re sealing them up properly.
Methods of Improving Home Energy Efficiency
What can you do to actually improve your home’s energy efficiency? It’s important that you take steps that could have a genuine impact on your home’s energy efficiency overall. Every home has different energy efficiency issues and choosing the right ones to focus on could be extremely important. These are a few of the ways you might be able to improve your home energy efficiency.
● Crawl Space Insulation and Encapsulation: 20%
● Sealing Air Leaks Using Caulk, Spray Foam, and Weather Stripping: 5-30%
● Installing Storm Windows: 12-33%
● Using a Programmable Thermostat to Reduce Energy Usage While Sleeping: 10%
● Installing an EnergyStar Gas Furnace: 15%
The percentage range for some of these methods can vary dramatically because some homes may benefit from it more than others. For example, sealing air leaks is much more effective in a home that doesn’t have air sealing already implemented. That’s one reason it’s so important to talk to a home repair expert early on.
The Value of Energy Efficiency in Your Home
Why should you invest in energy-efficient opportunities for your home? There are many good reasons to invest in these energy-efficient options. Regardless of what’s initially drawn you to energy efficiency, these are the biggest reasons to actually put time and money into the move to energy efficiency.
● Lower Utility Bills in the Future
● A Tax Credit for a Certain Percentage of Your Home Insulation Costs
● A Benefit to the Environment
● More Comfortable Living Spaces, Even When You’re Using Less Electricity
These are all important reasons to err on the side of energy efficiency. After all, if you’re willing to put up some money up front when it comes to energy efficiency, you may be able to make it up on the back end in lower energy costs overall. It’s an economical choice that you should definitely make regardless of your personal reasons for doing so.
Conclusion
An energy efficient living system is always going to be the best choice overall. After all, if something’s better for the environment and better for your pocketbook, why wouldn’t you want to choose it over the other options? However, it’s also extremely important that you choose the energy-efficient repairs that make the most sense for your unique situation. Even if you think it’s a good idea, you should still consult with a home repair expert before you add energy efficiency options into your home, just to make sure.
Leave a Reply