How to Buy a Zero Energy Home

Buy a Zero Energy Home

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For many of us, our biggest energy expenses are not from our cars, but our homes. The bills are paid to different places each month, the gas company, the electric company, and the heating oil company, but consider what it truly costs you for heating, cooling, hot water, cooking and electric power. We could adopt the simple life, but living in a tent would limit our energy use to firewood and candles. The attraction of outdoor living would not carry past the first frost. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to buy a home that has a net energy use of zero? It’s now within reach technologically. In fact there is a movement in this country to build "zero energy homes."

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step1

Buy new. The best zero energy homes aren’t retrofits. They are designed from the ground up to save energy first. As just one example, a sensitive, zero energy architect will do her best to incorporate natural lighting throughout the home to limit electric light use. The steps involve range from orienting the home to best capture the sun’s path through the sky to generous use of skylights. Ideally, window will be shaded by deciduous trees that will keep heat out during the hot months, and let sunlight in from fall through early spring.

Step2

Make sure that the home is well insulated. It will keep your abode warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Cutting edge insulation today is more than rolls of fiberglass. It includes radiant roof barriers to reflect sunlight, tightly sealed ducts and low e windows.
What makes a window a good insulator? Low-emissivity (low-e) coatings are transparent layers of silver or tin oxide that allow visible light to pass through, but reflect infrared heat radiation. They are designed for specific climates. In the north, the windows are crafted to retain heat inside. In the south, heat is kept outside since there summer cooling matters more than winter heating.

Step3

Be certain that your home has energy star rated appliances throughout. These machines perform just as well as those that aren't certified, but they cut your energy output dramatically

Step4

Look at your home's hot water situation. Traditional hot water tanks waste radiant heat. Instead, choose on demand hot water heaters. Your entire hot water system should be well insulated. Even in cold climates sunlight can be employed in a solar hot water heating system.

Step5

Your cooling system should reserve air conditioning for only the most insufferable days. In hot, dry climates, evaporative coolers (swamp coolers ) can lower internal temperatures by 10-15 degrees. Because they humidify and air conditioners de-humidify, they can't be used simultaneously. However, you can run air conditioning at the same time as ceiling fans. If you set your air conditioning at 80 degrees, the wind chill effect from a ceiling fan can lower your perceived temperature to 72. You can of course, run ceiling fans by themselves. They use only 10 cents of energy a night, far cheaper than air conditioners.

Step6

A true zero energy home should generate its own power, whether through a photovoltaic solar system or wind generation. Your utility should employ net metering, so that the excess power you generate is sold back to the power company at full retail rate. On good months, you’ll have an energy bill that is zero.

Step7

A zero energy home should use sustainable recycled building materials throughout . You’re buying one of these homes not just to save money but to protect our environment. I’ve seen floors made of bamboo and kitchen counters made of recycled glass that are as elegant as any carved from old growth forests or mined of marble.

Step8

If your home is recognized as a zero energy home by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Program, to name just one certifying agency, your home will qualify for additional funding through an energy efficient mortgage.