Over the last few years there has been a big push for people to find ways to use less energy in their homes. With advanced technology luckily, that’s easier than ever before.
You’ll notice that most major appliances now come with energy efficiency stickers to let you know the cost of yearly energy consumption. This is very helpful, but what are some other things you can do (besides buying energy efficient appliances)? If you often find yourself wondering ‘Why is my electric bill so high?’ and want to do more, read on for some helpful tips.
Why Do I Want To Make My Home More Efficient?
Making your home more energy efficient is more than just going green or reducing your carbon footprint. Of course those are good things, but it can save you money too!
- Incentives: Federal, state, utility and local jurisdictions’ financial incentives, such as tax breaks, are very advantageous for homeowners in most parts of the U.S.
- Saves Money: It costs less to power a home that has been converted to be more energy-efficient.
- More Comfort: It increases the comfort level indoors
- Climate Change: It reduces our impact on climate change. Many scientists now believe that excessive energy consumption contributes significantly to global warming
Heating and Cooling Your Home With Intent
As much as half of the energy used in homes goes toward heating and cooling. This alone could account for a high electric bill because electricity rates have skyrocketed. In Florida an efficient HVAC system is almost a necessity. Here are some ways to adequately cool your home:
- Ceiling Fan: Ceiling fans not only cool the air but can circulate it efficiently so you can avoid humidity in your home. Install a ceiling fan. When the weather is tolerable, you can use a fan in place of your HVAC.
- HVAC Filters: Make sure you’re changing out your filters at the recommended frequency. Dirty filters make your HVAC work harder which increases energy consumption.
- Thermostat Temp: Choose a thermostat setting that is comfortable but not extreme. Recommendations state that 78° in the summer and 68° in the winter is ideal..
- Programmable Thermostat: A programmable thermostat allows you to control temperatures when you’re away. That way you don’t have to set it at a certain temperature and hope for the best. You can adjust it according to the current temperature.
- Curtains: Curtains are not just for decorative purposes. When you draw the curtains they can either insulate for heat or block the summer sun from coming in.
Install a tankless water heater
A traditional water heater stores and continuously heats water and is a big component of energy use. Investing in a tankless water heater provides an on demand type of hot water. When the tap is turned to ‘hot’ cold water travels through a pipe into the unit. Either a natural gas burner or electric element heats the water and voila, hot water.
Replace Incandescent Lights
Traditional incandescent lights convert approximately only 10% of the energy they consume into light, while the rest becomes heat. The use of new lighting technologies, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), can reduce the energy use required by lighting by 50% to 75%. Advances in lighting controls offer further energy savings by reducing the amount of time that lights are on but not being used.
Seal and Insulate Your Home
Sealing and insulating your home is one of the most cost-effective ways to make a home more comfortable and energy-efficient, and you can do it yourself. A tightly sealed home can improve comfort and indoor air quality while reducing utility bills. Our thermal imaging inspection can assess leakage in the dwelling and recommend fixes that will dramatically increase comfort and energy savings.
The following are some common places where leakage may occur:
- Electrical receptacles/outlets
- Mail slots
- Around pipes and wires
- Wall or window mounted air conditioners
- Attic hatches
- Fireplace damper
- Inadequate weatherstripping around doors
- Baseboards
- Window frames
Water Consumption
The following systems can be installed to conserve water usage in homes:
- Low-flow shower heads: They are available in different flow rates, and some have a pause button which shuts off the water while the bather lathers up;
- Low-flow toilets: Toilets consume 30% to 40% of the total water used in homes, making them the biggest water users. Replacing an older 3.5-gallon toilet with a modern, low-flow 1.6-gallon toilet can reduce usage by an average of 2 gallons-per-flush (GPF), saving 12,000 gallons of water per year. For the average Florida Home that equates to a full month of savings. Low-flow toilets usually have “1.6 GPF” marked on the bowl behind the seat or inside the tank;
- Vacuum-assist toilets: This type of toilet has a vacuum chamber that uses a siphon action to suck air from the trap beneath the bowl, allowing it to quickly fill with water to clear waste. Vacuum-assist toilets are relatively quiet; and
- Dual-flush toilets: Dual-flush toilets have been used in Europe and Australia for years and are now gaining in popularity in the U.S. Dual-flush toilets let you choose between a 1-gallon (or less) flush for liquid waste, and a 1.6-gallon flush for solid waste. Dual-flush 1.6-GPF toilets reduce water consumption by an additional 30%.
Appliance Awareness
Appliances and electronics account for about 20% of household energy bills in a typical U.S. home. The following are tips that will reduce the required energy of electronics and appliances:
- Refrigerators and freezers should not be located near the stove, dishwasher or heat vents, or exposed to direct sunlight. Exposure to warm areas will force them to use more energy to remain cool.
- Computers should be shut off when not in use. If unattended computers must be left on, their monitors should be shut off. According to some studies, computers account for approximately 3% of all energy consumption in the United States.
- Use efficient ENERGY STAR-rated appliances and electronics. These devices, approved by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program, include TVs, home theater systems, DVD players, CD players, receivers, speakers, and more. According to the EPA, if just 10% of homes used energy-efficient appliances, it would reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of 1.7 million acres of trees.
- Chargers, such as those used for laptops and cell phones, consume energy when they are plugged in. When they are not connected to electronics, chargers should be unplugged.
- Laptop computers consume considerably less electricity than desktop computers.
Daylight vs. Electrical Light
Day lighting is the practice of using natural light to illuminate the home’s interior. It can be achieved using the following approaches:
- Skylights: It’s important that they be double-pane or they may not be cost-effective. Flashing skylights correctly is key to avoiding leaks;
- Light shelves: Light shelves are passive devices designed to bounce light deep into a building. They may be interior or exterior. Light shelves can introduce light into a space up to 2½ times the distance from the floor to the top of the window, and advanced light shelves may introduce four times that amount;
- Clerestory windows: Clerestory windows are short, wide windows set high on the wall. Protected from the summer sun by the roof overhang, they allow winter sun to shine through for natural lighting and warmth.
- Light tubes: Light tubes use a special lens designed to amplify low-level light and reduce light intensity from the midday sun. Sunlight is channeled through a tube coated with a highly reflective material, and then enters the living space through a diffuser designed to distribute light evenly.
Change the way you do laundry
- Do not use the medium setting on your washer. Wait until you have a full load of clothes, as the medium setting saves less than half of the water and energy used for a full load.
- Avoid using high-temperature settings when clothes are not very soiled. Water that is 140°F uses far more energy than 103°F for the warm-water setting and isn’t that much more effective for getting clothes clean.
- Clean the lint trap every time before you use the dryer. Not only is excess lint a fire hazard, but it will prolong the amount of time required for your clothes to dry.
- If possible, air-dry your clothes on lines and racks.
- Spin-dry or wring clothes out before putting them into a dryer.
Electricity Costs A Lot But EDC Home Inspections Can Help
Energy costs have increased across the board, especially if you’re one of the residential customers dealing with Florida utilities. If your Florida electric bill has gone up, first contact EDC Home Inspections for an inspection and then utilize the steps above for some cost saving measures.
Many of these can be done yourselves as a DIY project and can drastically improve efficiency in your home.
If you have any questions about your home’s efficiency (and want to reduce that monthly electric bill) give us a call! We are happy to help.
