Make your Home Energy Efficient

Focusing on space heating and water consumption is an important consideration in making your home become more energy efficient. Usually, so much energy is being consumed by a house through these. To reduce energy consumption, some of these basic steps have to be taken:

1. Insulating Your Water Heater

Lowering your water heater’s thermostat setting may be helpful when you always have plenty of hot water. This approach to saving energy benefits most electric heaters. If you want your water heater to conform to your water usage schedule, you may also utilize timers. They prevent the water heater from trying to maintain hot water during periods when it is never used. Furthermore, you can add to the insulation of water heaters. You can do so by wrapping the insulation horizontally around the unit using duct tape to seal the seams where they meet. Then, make cut-outs to leave the thermostat, controls and drain faucets exposed. If you have an electric water heater, cut a cap of insulation to fit the top. Provide slits for the water inlet and outlet pipes. If you have a gas water heater, do not cover the burner access or the flue collar. Leave about two inches of exposed area around the flue collar then tape any remaining joints and seams.

2. Pipe Wrapping

You should insulate water pipes that pass through unheated areas and run under your house from an unheated utility room. If you don’t insulate hot water pipes, they will easily lose heat and cause your water heater to work harder. Although cold water pipes are more resistant to those, insulating them can also prevent sweating and dripping in heated areas, or freezing in unheated areas. Easy to use, pre-formed foam pipe insulation sleeves are easily available in most hardware stores.

3. Replace Furnace Filters

Furnace filters will have to work harder when they are clogged because this will reduce airflow through the heating and cooling systems. Overheating and premature compressor damage in air conditioning systems are usually caused by severely clogged filters. Therefore, you need to check your furnace filter monthly. If you are going to go to the trouble to pull it out and look at it, you might as well go ahead and replace it in the process.

4. Cover the Windows and Seal the Doors

A significant chunk in most heating bills is due to heat lost through windows and doors. An estimation from several studies states that loss through windows alone could account for up to 35 percent of heating bills. To determine where drafts are, you need to check around windows and doors with a candle or a light piece of thread on a windy day. This will reveal problem areas in need of immediate attention. Afterwards, remove and replace damaged caulk and weather-stripping. If you want to save on costs, there is an inexpensive method of weatherizing windows that involves attaching thin, clear plastic film to the window trim inside of the house using two-sided tape. The film is then stretched tight using heat from a blow dryer to remove wrinkles and creases. Decorating your windows with closed shutters, window shades, blinds, curtains and lined draperies also helps. All of these contribute to energy savings by helping to insulate windows.