Home Energy Audit
You can easily conduct a home energy audit yourself. With a simple but diligent walk-through, you can spot many problems in any type of house. When auditing your home, keep a checklist of areas you have inspected and problems you found. This list will help you prioritize your energy efficiency upgrades.
Start with your Energy Bills
Your bills will provide you with valuable information about just how much money and energy you are using for your cooling, heating, and appliances. Look at your heating and cooling costs by month for the last year (if not the last two years) and look for trends in usage or obvious changes. Note the spikes during the summer and winter months.
Understand both the kilowatt hours you are typically using as well as the amount your utility is charging per KWH. Get to know what it is that you are paying for every month. You will use these monthly figures as a baseline to measure the impact of the changes you make in the following steps.
Locate Air Leaks
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, air leaks can reduce home energy efficiency by 5 to 30% a year. Check for indoor air leaks, such as gaps along the baseboard or edge of the flooring and at junctures of the walls and ceiling. Check to see if air can flow through these places:
- Electrical outlets
- Switch plates
- Window frames
- Baseboards
- Weather stripping around doors
- Fireplace dampers
- Attic hatches
- Wall- or window-mounted air conditioners
Also look for gaps around pipes and wires, electrical outlets, foundation seals, and mail slots. Check to see if the caulking and weather stripping are applied properly, leaving no gaps or cracks, and are in good condition.
If you have difficulty locating leaks, use the incense test: move a lit stick along walls. Where you see smoke waver, you have air coming in and heating or cooling sneaking out.
Maximize Heating and Cooling Equipment Efficiency
Heating and cooling equipment typically account for the most significant home energy use. First, make sure all your vents are open in rooms you want conditioned, but close the ones in rooms you hardly use. Ensure vents are clean and unobstructed. Vacuum away any dust.
To reduce waste, check your furnace filters. If they are dirty, change them or invest in an electrostatic permanent filter. This will cut down on waste and does a much better job of cleaning the air. If you have central air conditioning, check the coils both inside (usually in the basement) and outside. If they have dirt on them, carefully vacuum it off (you may need to first remove the protective grilles).
Examine ductwork for dirt streaks, which mark leaks. You can often fix problems with duct tape or insulation. If your ducts look very dirty or worn, call a professional to get an estimate on a thorough cleaning or replacement. Also put on your calendar: annual pro inspection of your entire heating and cooling system.
Check Your Appliances
Take a close look at your appliances, especially if they are older models. Begin by checking your major appliances with a Kill A Watt. If older units are found to cost you a lot, you have motivation to upgrade to a new high-efficiency model (and make sure it is Energy Star certified). All you do is plug the Kill A Watt into a wall socket, and then insert the plug for the electronic device that you wish to monitor. It will give you detailed info on energy use, and even has a “money button” to show you how much the unit costs you to operate.
Older fridges and freezers are common culprits of high energy use. Typically they are put in the garage and forgotten. If they are using too much juice, you may simply need to turn down the temperature dials, or clean or repair seals. In general the EPA recommends keeping refrigerators at 37 degrees F and freezers at 3 degrees.
If you don't have a Kill A Watt, you can still estimate how much energy an appliance uses with the following formula: (Wattage x Hours Used Per Day ÷ 1000 = Daily Kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption (1 kilowatt (kW) = 1,000 Watts). The wattage of an appliance will be stamped on the item. To get the annual consumption, multiply this by the number of days you use the appliance during the year (divide the time by 3 to account for the idling time of your refrigerator). Calculate the annual cost to run an appliance by multiplying the kWh per year by your local utility's rate per kWh consumed.
Unplug Unused Appliances
Even when electronics like TVs, DVD players, computers, lamps, toasters, blenders, coffee makers, and cell phone chargers are plugged in but not on, they still draw power, resulting in about 8% of our annual electric bills. Even Oprah featured a woman who was vigilant about unplugging everything in her house when it wasn't being used. She claims to have saved about $100 a month on her energy bill.
It's easy. Look around your house and unplug any unused devices you find!
Change your Lighting
Lighting typically accounts for about 10% of your electric bill. Swap out high-wattage bulbs with lower users, ideally CFLs. Start with an area where you have lights on the longest (typically the kitchen and living rooms). Don't feel compelled to rush out and try to replace every bulb at once. Also be aware that rapid on and off switching decreases the life of CFLs, so it may not be worth it to install the pricier bulbs in places like closets, where you rarely have the lights on. In such areas, try a lower-wattage regular bulb, like a 40 W instead of a 60 W.
Consider how you use lighting in each room. Instead of always hitting the main overheads, would your lifestyle be better served by installing some low-wattage task lighting? Think about desk and reading lamps or even night-lights instead. Get rid of halogen torch-style floor lamps, which use a tremendous amount of energy. Also consider installing motion detectors, which are especially good for halls and exterior lights, since you don't have to worry about people accidentally leaving them on.
Measure the Results
After you have made some improvements, revisit your energy bills and compare the difference of the current month to the same month a year ago. Did you save money? Consider going back through the steps above. Also consider using a web-based audit tool like this one created by the Department of Energy.
Get a Professional Opinion
It also may be time to bring in the pros for a full-service, high-tech energy audit. Energy auditors and raters use specialized tools and skills to evaluate your home and recommend the most cost-effective measures to improve its comfort and efficiency, as well as the best sequence for doing them to take advantage of interactions. The rater can also provide independent verification of contractors' work quality. Look for raters who are RESNET Accredited. In some regions, there are Home Performance with Energy Star programs, too. Most of these programs include low-cost home assessment and strong quality assurance practices and/or inspections.
