Home energy saving projects
Upgrades that pay for themselves
I've done quite a few home energy saving projects over the years, some trivial, some major. Home energy saving projects can be expensive - if you want to retrofit your home with all energy saving windows and doors, you could be looking at thousands of dollars.
Here are some topics I cover in my energy saving projects section:
Not only does it save energy, it looks great!
Photo
by John Schilling, via FLICKR
The best energy efficient windows have a high R-value and a long-term warranty, and can cut your heating and cooling costs by up to a third. They are significantly more efficient than even ENERGY STAR windows. And you can buy them in bulk and save.
An energy efficient basement is a good place to start on home energy upgrades. I dug my basement out myself in 2002, with no prior experience in underpinning or foundation work, and my basement is both more spacious and more efficient as a result of the work. (Okay, I had some help!)
Attic ceiling insulation is one of the most effective ways of cutting your heating and cooling bills. Find out how much and what type of insulation you need, how to add to existing insulation, and get help deciding whether to do it yourself, or hire a pro.
Icynene insulation pros and cons describes some of the advantages and disadvantages of this professionally applied spray-on (or spray-in) insulation, which we had added to our ground floor over a decade ago and which continues to keep us toasty warm in winter and cool in summer.
Crawl space heaters might seem like the simple solution to problems with crawl space humidity or cold floors upstairs from a crawl space. But there are some simple renovations you can do to solve crawl space humidity problems, and you won't need to spend money every year keeping the crawl space heated.
Energy saving window coverings can cut down on heat transfer between your house and the out-of-doors, whether in the cold of winter or the heat of summer. Whether you choose energy saving curtains, blinds, roll-up shades, or a temporary plastic window insulation kit, you can cut your energy losses significantly. Insulating window blinds are one particular kind of window covering that provides great insulating value as well as a stylish appearance.
You can also buy energy efficient window film, which is a film you just cut and spread directly on the glass of your windows to reduce heat transfer with the out of doors in both summer and winter.
Heating duct insulation and proper sealing of heating ducts can cut your heating and cooling bills by up to 35% if your ductwork passes through uninsulated spaces such as attics or crawl spaces.
Ceiling mount fans can save you energy both in the summer when you're trying to stay cool, and in the winter when you want every cubic foot of warm air in your house to be down where the people are, not way up on the ceiling where nobody needs it!
Any home energy saving project designed to cut your heating or cooling costs should start with a good understanding of where you are losing heat in winter, or gaining it in summer. An Infrared heat gun can give you a quick understanding of where the worst thermal leaks are in your house, and these devices are now so cheap that every serious energy saver should own one.
If you want free lighting for your rooms, try installing a solar light tube. These easy-to-install systems allow you to direct natural daylight from your roof down into a top-floor room, even one that receives no natural light of its own.
Draftproofing a door can cut your home heating bill substantially, and is far cheaper than buying a new front door, while providing most of the same enregy saving benefits.
You can measure window efficiency easily with a probe thermometer or infrared heat gun. The gap between indoor and outdoor glass temperatures will give you a good measure of your window efficiency.
Canvas patio awnings can make your patio or deck a more comfortable place to sit in summer, and cut your home cooling costs too. In fact, in hot climates you can significantly lower your heating costs by using canvas awnings on south and west facing windows.
Read about other people's experiences with a home energy audit, share your own story, or ask a question about home energy aduits.
But remember, any home energy saving project that cuts your energy use has the potential to pay for itself over time. Just pretend you're going to take out a loan to pay for the project, and make sure that loan won't cost you more in interest than you save on energy bills. (If this doesn't make sense to you, you might want to do a little background reading on payback periods or energy return on investment - EROI.)
Skylights allow natural sunlight
to brighten your home
Photo
by tanais, via FLICKR
Energy efficient home improvement starts with an understanding of where your home is energy inefficient. In more and more cities, there are experts who can do a professional home energy audit for you. They'll do a detailed assessment of your home and tell you (or better yet, produce a written report) about how efficient your house is, and what kind of savings you might expect from various upgrade options. This can be money well spent - sometimes the big ticket item isn't the one with the big ticket savings! You can also do a simple energy audit yourself, or download an e-book that provides professional quality advice on doing your own detailed assessment.
Do it yourself home energy audits: This DIY energy saving audits book is probably the best book in print on home energy audits and projects that can cut your home energy use. It starts off with a whole host of simple steps you can take to cut hyome energy use without spending a cent on upgrades or equipment. It offers 140 simple solutions on how to eliminate waste in your home - on heating, cooling, lighting, appliances, and water - including tips on how to identify where your energy budget is going.
Why spend $2,500 or more a year in utilities when a few simple habit changes and a little effort and awareness can cut your energy bill by 20% or more? And you can plough much of the savings you'll realize by following the simple, free tips in this book, into inexpensive efficiency upgrades that will cut your bill still further? Remember, if you'll be living in your home for the next 20 years and you can cut a $2,500 annual utility bill in half, that's $25,000 in principal alone you're saving!
Vapor barrier and insulation keep
renovated rooms warmer
Photo
by anastaz1a, via FLICKR
If you do hire a professional for a home energy audit, you may even get money back from the government or from your local utilities, for energy upgrades that are performed after the energy audit (sorry, most of these energy saving grants don't cover work done before an audit - so make the audit your first home energy saving project!)
Of course, if you don't want to pay for the professional energy audit, you can try doing one yourself - you just have to know what to look for!
Some of the bigger upgrades I've done to my house:
- Injected Icynene foam insulation into my main floor walls. An instant, noticeable increase in winter comfort!
- When renovating bedrooms, gutted the walls and added an extra two inches of insulation. Lost a little space, saved a ton on heating and cooling costs.
- Replaced all the original windows - and not only saved on energy but got a better looking house both inside and out!
New ENERGY STAR appliances are
an essential part of kitchen renos
Photo
by meemal, via FLICKR
Smaller projects have ranged from the obvious (like making sure every window has an energy saving window covering) to ones that would never have occurred to me without an energy audit (like levelling the blown-in attic insulation with a leaf rake).
I replaced the insulation myself in all three of our bedrooms in our 90-year-old house, but when it came time to replace the drywall I hired a contractor since I really didn't know how to do it myself. Now as I lie in bed reading at night I can see ridges and valleys along the ceiling, and places where the drywall screws recessed or popped out, and spots where the seams have split. There is a better way - learn about hanging drywall yourself, and then hire a professional drywaller to do the taping and mudding and sanding (as opposed to a general contractor, who may not be that good at the drywall finishing work.
Rooftop gardens are another great energy efficiency upgrade - you literally grow plants on the roof of your house. This saves on heating and cooling costs because of the added insulation the green roof provides - and you don't need to have a green thumb.
Rain barrels are a great home water saving project - you can capture rainwater off your roof and save it for watering a tree, your garden, your lawn. For more information see Rain-Barrel-World.com.
LetsFixUpYourHome.com has instructions on how to build a pergola and tips on keeping your patio cool.
For a wide range of home improvement projects, see Easy Home Improvement Projects. They provide complete DYI step-by-step instructions for home improvement projects,
repairs, maintenance, remodeling and more. Save money by doing the work
yourself and increase your home's value.
Of course, if your idea of a home energy saving project is to build a new home from scratch, more power to you, but don't just go looking for energy efficient floor plans and build the best one you find. There are plenty of sites out there with designs that take advantage of passive solar heating (and that balance winter solar heating with summer shade). These energy efficient floor plans are a good source of ideas, but tend to be oversized designs, in my opinion. Using less space, I believe, is a smarter starting point for energy efficient homes than using too much space efficiently!
One site that does have good quality floor plans for an energy efficient home is Wise Home Designs. They provide small house plans for homes of less than 1,500 square feet, as well as a broader set of energy efficient house plans.
A good site to visit for information on energy efficient windows is Window Replacement Experts. They provide omplete information on replacement windows, from window energy efficiency, to how-to information and the best replacement windows for your project.
For ideas on how to make energy saving improvements on a budget (of $100, $1,000, or $10,000 - or £100, £1,000, or £10,000) see ecoboom.co.uk, specifically their page Green your house on a budget.
If you're planning on basement renovations, Learn-Basement-Renovations.com has lots of great ideas.
Finally, if you're in the process of building a new home or adding an extension, it's worth considering what options you have to make it more environmentally friendly. EcoHouseFootPrint.com provides ideas on eco friendly building design - many of these ideas are simple and should not cost a lot.
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