How to Fix an Energy-Inefficient House

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With winter here - as well as the heating bills - it's important to understand how a home uses its energy. In particular, it helps to understand how your home uses its energy. Essentially, there are two different ways: efficiently and inefficiently. If your home isn't up to snuff in its energy efficiency, you'll want to keep reading this article. It won't only save you headaches, it will save you money.

One of the first principles in energy efficiency is keeping the energy you're producing, and this is often done through insulation. Much of the energy your home is using is for generating heat. If you're losing heat to the outside world all the time, then your energy bills are going to stay sky-high. You'll essentially be using more energy to keep the same amount of heat other people have. If your home is old, it will help to check the insulation you have in your walls, learn about crucial points in which you can save much of your heat, and learn ways to test for "heat leaks."

Consider installing more energy-efficient windows and doors to amp up your home's ability to insulate, as well. If you're buying a home, ask about having these installed right off the bat.

Another way to change how energy efficient you keep your home is to purchase equipment that will simply use less energy off the bat. New, modern heaters, air conditioners, and washers/dryers will be able to do much of the same job using less energy, helping you save on your monthly bills. Of course, these appliances can cost a heavy sum upfront, so it might take a keen eye for shopping and perhaps a bit of sacrifice in order to make your home energy-efficient. Key appliances like refrigerators, washers/dryers, water heaters, and dishwashers are some of the appliances to think about. If you want to upgrade to a more energy-efficient appliance, you might consider selling the old one, as well, in order to offset the costs.

Optimizing your home's insulation and the equipment that use energy are great places to focus on reducing your energy uses. You can also use conservation as a way to stave off your energy usage, but if you want to maintain your lifestyle with less energy, you can do that, as well. For many people, simply utilizing both strategies reduces the most energy use possible.

Photo Credits: iLoveButter

This post involves:

air conditioners, buying a home, dishwashers, dryers, energy bills, energy efficiency, energy efficient windows, first principles, headaches, heating bills, home energy, insulation, keen eye, leaks, refrigerators, right off the bat, two different ways, use energy, water heaters, windows and doors

... and focuses on:

Energy, Handyman, House, How to Fix

Posted by Fix Handyman on January 26, 2010 in Energy, Handyman, House, How to Fix