How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

No matter whether you're heating or cooling your home--you're going to use energy--and energy costs money. If you can make your home more energy efficient--you can save yourself some money--and as an added bonus--help preserve the environment. Read on for some ways to make your home more energy efficient.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

How to Block Drafts

1. Use a lighted incense stick or a tissue on a stick to find any drafts. Move it slowly around windows and doors; even slight air movement will move the smoke or the tissue.

2. Check the caulking around your windows. There should be no gaps in the caulking between it and the walls of your house. If there is a leak, remove the old and install new caulking. Checking the caulking every year is a good way to save energy.

3. Check the weatherstripping on your doors. Weatherstripping prevents drafts from getting in or cool air from getting out. If you have no weatherstripping it's easy to add, lots of it is adhesive- backed and just sticks onto the doorframe or bottom of the door.

4. Check around your electrical outlets. Areas behind the electrical outlets and switches are often not insulated, but you can buy thin foam insulation specifically designed to fit under an outlet plate that will block drafts.

How to Conserve Energy

5. Install a programmable thermostat to control the temperature in your home. It will adjust the temperature to match your schedule and ensure you aren't heating or cooling an empty house.

6. Consider using compact fluorescent lights instead of regular incandescent bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs provide an equivalent amount of light, but use much less energy and don't produce anywhere near the amount of heat a regular bulb does.

7. Turn down the temperature on your water heater. Many water heaters are set so high the water could scald someone. Adjust the temperature to 120 degrees.

8. Add insulation to your water heater and hot water pipes. Insulating blankets designed to wrap around a water heater and insulating foam tubes to go around hot water pipes are readily available.

9. Replace your furnace filters on a regular basis. Blocked furnace filters make your HVAC system work harder and longer using more energy. A clean filter allows the system to work more efficiently.

10. Adjust ceiling fans so they will blow warm air down from up high in the room during winter.

11. Consider the energy efficiency rating (EER) of any appliances you are replacing. Modern appliances are much more energy efficient than appliances that are even a few years old.

How to Adjust Your Habits

12. Use heat-generating appliances (dishwasher, washing machine, clothes dryer) in the cooler evening hours. This will actually help heat your home in the winter and will make your air conditioner's job easier in the summer.

13. Turn on your washing machine and dishwasher for full loads only. Washing a partial load wastes both energy and hot water.

14. Take showers not baths. Showers use less hot water. Also consider installing water-saving showerheads that will conserve hot water.

15. Open blinds and drapes so the sun can come in during the winter and close them to keep the sun out during the summer.

Tips & Warnings

• Any one of these options will cost you less than $20, and some don't cost any money at all, but put them together and they'll have a major impact on the amount of energy you use (and on your energy bills).

[CCrock]

on 3/26/2009 Great information!

[theperfectfit]

on 3/26/2009 Hey Murray, how about an article about how to dispose of those curly light bulbs? Most people are just putting them into their regular trash. I couldn't get a contact you off of your profile so I hope this message gets to you.

[27ways]

on 3/25/2009 infrared cameras help - www.ir-city.com

[kevin1533]

on 3/25/2009 Some great info here. 5*

[Derren]

on 3/25/2009 Wow...short and great tips.