Home Energy: Why Is There a Need to Improve It?
Improving Your Home Energy Efficiency
With all the talk of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the news these days it seems to me that having an energy efficient home is the way to go.
So why is there a need to improve your home’s energy efficiency?
A lot of homes these days are beyond energy efficient. In fact, if your home is over 10 years old, it was more than likely built with NO energy conserving features.
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Our home is typically looked at as a structure that’s expected to provide us shelter from the elements and a place to accumulate a bunch of stuff. We must remember that our home has a system of energy which flows in and out of it which gives us the ability to live comfortably. Making the best use of that energy is the hard part. The inside and outside environments, the building shell itself, the occupants, and the mechanical system must all function together as one living system.
Air Sealing Takes Precedence
The building envelope (exterior walls) is said to be the shell of the entire house that shields us from weather elements. This envelope must be capable of providing the structural support for the roof and the walls, as well as permit the flow of natural lighting into the home. The most important step to improving your home’s energy efficiency is to first air seal your home. Above and beyond making any changes on the inside or placing renewable energy sources such as solar, the home must first be air sealed effectively.
Why is this the most important first step to an energy efficient home?
In order for new energy efficient appliances and renewable energy sources to give you the benefit of saving money, it is imperative that your home is able to keep that energy inside the home effectively. What good is a solar panel on your roof if the energy generated can’t keep up with the consumption inside the home because of energy loss through the building envelope?
Replace Energy Guzzlers
Once your home is air sealed, the next step would be to start replacing energy guzzlers such as light bulbs and home appliances. Right now, Compact Fluorescent light bulbs are the most effective lighting source to use at the moment. Most people just think that Fluorescent light bulbs only use less energy, which is correct (not to mention last up to 5 years long!), however, the biggest advantage to these little puppies is that that don’t emit as much heat as regular incandescent bulbs. In fact incandescent bulbs waste 90% of their energy on heat rather than on lighting! Getting rid of these heat generators will cut down on the temperature inside your home, which will in turn cut down on your AC bills. It’s a double whammy of energy efficiency all packed into one little bulb.
After replacing all of your lighting with Fluorescent bulbs, you can decide which home appliances need to be replaced first. For most, the Air conditioning and Heating unit are the first to go, followed by the Laundry machine and Washer/Drier. Energy Star products are quickly becoming the norm rather than the exception and can provide great savings on your utilities and have less of an affect on the environment as well.
Home energy efficiency doesn’t mean you have to live with less, it just means you use less in order to gain more.
This article makes alot of sense to me. I need to check into solar panels for my own home and change my light bulbs, etc. We need more people like Jessop to motivate us to becoming more independent of energy sources that have been draining our pocket books and our natural resources. Thank you for the article.
Lots of good ideas for my 29 year old house,will have the insulation checked soon and have already replaced 30% of my lighting,you need to give us more info on this subject and more indepth ideas. Jack
Some great ideas in the article,I need to hav my insulation checked soon,have already replaced about 30% of my lighting ,thanks for the info you need to write some more on this subject and includr additional ideas to improve our systems and lifestyle.Jack
GREAT ARTICLE ON THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND SOME GREAT TIPS ON CONSERVING ENERGY-I ALREADY MADE THE SWITCH TO THE NEW LIGHTBULBS AND LITTLE BY LITTLE I AM MAKING MY HOME MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT-GOOD JOB WITH THIS ARTICLE!
Well written article. Many of these ideas should be included in revised building codes.
Thanks again Jessop Petroski for an informative article. We have already switched to the new bulbs and have always been interested in solar power. We’d love to read more in-depth articles about solar power. We live in the deep south & when we built our home 24 yrs ago we insisted on Northern recommended R value insulation instead of the typical R value installed locally. That decision is still paying off today. We have always been interested in solar power & would like to read more in-depth articles written by Mr. Petroski on the subject.
I love this concept, its so friendly to variables.
This little place is great!
To all of you who are concerned about the building inspectors. I invite you to Belize Central America. I have been here for 18 years and involved with sustanable living and farming during that time. You can live cheap (solar and wind power)and grow almost all of your own food. I can help you get the land and free assistance to teach you how to grow your garden. The weather is great year round. Then you can say: “What depression?”
Great post but there’s more to consider - like many of these are made offshore. Mariah Power’s Windspire (http://mariahpower.com) is made in the US (Michigan) of mostly recycled components and recently won the Popular Science “best of what’s new” award http://tinyurl.com/6rhqjc
We need to consider everything when making these investments!
[...] Jessop Petroski does a great job of explaining why you should go the energy efficiency route first, BEFORE going solar. [...]