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
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.
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 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.
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 your own home energy audit: This DIY energy saving kit was designed to be the first complete home energy audit kit of professional quality available online. It combines the knowledge of government testing (which is incomplete at best) with the author's professional energy auditing experiencthat normally costs hundreds of dollars. The kit contains: This kit was designed to be the first complete home energy audit kit of professional quality available online. It combines the latest in government testing (which is incomplete at best) with the author's professional energy auditing experience, which normally costs hundreds of dollars. The kit contains:
- The energy saving inspection guide
- Printable energy audit sheets
- Energy audit worksheets (in xls Excel format)
- Sample of a filled out worksheet
- Energy loss calculators (in xls Excel format)
- Heating estimator calculator (in xls Excel format)
- Free energy tips guide
- Developing an energy saving plan guide
- Home buyer's energy checklist
Combined with the instructions in the guide, the kit contains everything a homeowner or renter would need to see how much money is being lost and how much could be saved in energy. The calculators translate energy lost into dollars, so a price tag is associated with common energy problems.
This book provides simple tips that can start you on the road to big energy savings within minutes.
How about a five-minute tweak that can save you $80 a year on your gas bill? Or a simple change to a bad habit, that cuts your electric bill by up to $30?
This book provides over 200 tips to lower energy costs - over 400 pages of content. Tips such as a $3 change that can reduce water consumption by 15%, or a one-minute change that cuts hot water costs by 15%.
All of these tips are available online - but this e-book gives you everything gathered and organized into one place, available on your computer - or printed off - whenever you need it.
Comes with an 8 week (56-day), no-questions-asked, 100% money-back guarantee.
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).
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.
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.
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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