What is Energy and How Do You Conserve Energy at Home?
What is "energy"? Where does it come from? And how do we pay for it? When you learn the answers to these questions, you can also learn how to live more efficiently in your home. You can make a lot of progress toward improving the energy efficiency in your home by simply plugging the many places through which air can get in or get out. Plugging your home is called "air sealing," and it is one of the most important first steps to take when weatherizing your house to increase its energy efficiency.
Increasing the amount of insulation in various places in your home should be a high priority. Insulation, in its many forms, helps stop the transfer of heat from one place to another. A good example of this is the insulation in your attic. A thick layer of insulation helps stop heat flow from the house to the attic during the winter. In the summer, that same insulation helps stop heat transfer from the hot attic to the rooms below.
But while better air sealing and insulation in your home can do a lot to reduce your utility bill, that's not where the story on energy efficiency starts and ends. There are many other ways to conserve, some of which require only simple changes of habit or lifestyle.
Electricity powers lights, appliances, and electronic devices in your home. It also runs air conditioners, heats water, cooks food, dries laundry, and in some cases is used for space heating. Natural gas, propane, and oil are mostly burned to provide space heating and hot water; and secondary uses for these gases include cooking, clothes drying, and fireplace fuel.
A Few Tips To Conserve Energy at Home:
1. Replace old light bulbs with energy saving fluorescent bulbs. They may cost more, but will save you much more in the long run.
2. Turn off all electronic devices that are not in use. Not only turn them off but try to remember to unplug them. You will be surprised how much you will save with this simple step!
3. Air dry your dishes. When washing in a dish washer, the heat generated during the wash cycle is more than enough to dry your dishes.
4. Clean or replace air filters regularly. This can vary depending on the filter you are using. It's important to follow the instruction found on the packaging. If you no longer have it, here are some basic guidelines:
• Deep Pleated = Once or twice a year
• Ordinary Flat or Pleated = 2-3 Months
• Traditional Fiberglass/Polyester = Monthly
It is also important that your air filter fits properly and air is moving through it and not around it.
5. Close vents and doors in unused rooms. No need to cool or warm areas that people are not in.
6. Weather strip doors and windows! Weather stripping is an inexpensive alternative to replacing windows and will save you hundreds of dollars!
7. Wash clothes in cold water. Believe it or not cold water does clean, and many laundry soap manufacturers now offer soaps specifically made for washing clothes in cold water.
8. Repair or replace leaky faucets. A leaky faucet waste upwards of 30,000 gallons of water a year. Thats right, imagine what you would be saving with a quick fix!
9. Wash clothes in the morning or evening when its cooler. Sounds silly but the heat generated by the dryer will warm the house and in the summer months your air conditioner will use more energy to cool your home.
10. When shopping for new appliances invest in Energy Star. Energy Star appliances are not by any means cheap, but the upfront cost will pay for it self ten fold in the amount of energy you will be saving over time.
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