Low Cost Home Maintenance can Lower you Energy Bills
Improve your homes energy efficiency and lower your monthly energy bills with a modest amount of work that you can do yourself, and with only a few very affordable materials. If you are a home owner, then you know that maintaining your home is a never ending process. But, by changing or adding a few maintenance items to your regular routine, you can make your home more comfortable and energy efficient with very little extra effort or expense. In the process you will also help to insure that your home will last longer, and has the highest possible resale value.
Maintain
Change the furnace filter at least every 30 days.
If you have a ventilated crawl space, make sure that the vents are closed tightly when you are heating, and
open the rest of the time. Consider installing automatic vents (about $15 each)
Remove any obstructions around exterior heat pump units, such as overgrown bushes or trees.
Correct any kind of plumbing leak no matter how minor, either from a faucet, pipe or pressure relief valve.
Check all crawl spaces where pipes run for leaking or uninsulated pipes.
Clean the lint filter on your dryer after every load.
Clean the coils on the back and underneath your refrigerator and freezer at least four times a year.
Caulk and seal
Air infiltration is the number one source of wasted energy in most houses, Therefore
it is one of the most important issues to address if you hope to save energy.
If you have leaky doors and windows your preferred first choice would probably be to have them professionally replaced, another choice could be to install storm doors and windows, especially if you live in a cold climate. However, the home owner can often make huge improvements with a very small investment in materials and a weekend or two of effort by repairing and installing new weatherstrips and caulking. Consider covering windows with plastic using one of the kits that you can get at any hardware or home improvement store, especially if your windows are old or of an obsolete design. It may not be pretty, but the results can be dramatic.
After tightening the doors and windows arm yourself with a caulk gun and plug up every hole, crack, or gap you
can find inside and out. Then remove plug and switch covers and install foam gaskets on all of them. Put one
of the plastic safety plugs that you find in the Baby Proofing section of the home improvement store into every
receptacle that doesn’t have something plugged into it. If you are competent to work around electrical equipment
take off the cover of your electrical panel (if it is inside of the heated space of your house) and seal the
gap between the panel and the drywall. You can also take down lights (without disconnecting the wiring) and seal
around the wiring device box that they are mounted on. Also seal the holes in the boxes where the wires come in, and any other holes in the wiring box. Always
turn off the electricity before working around wiring. According to the Canadian Government “Simple Caulk and Seal” can save as much as 30% on your heat bill.
Hot Water
After heating and cooling your home, the water heater is the next biggest consumer of energy.
Reduce the temperature of your water heater to 120 degrees F.
Insulate your electric water heater with a water heater “blanket”.
Install a water heater timer and set it to turn the heater off during times of low demand such as over night
and during the work day. FYI, digital water heater timers are available that allow you to have a different schedule for weekends than during the work week. Just Google for “digital water heater timer.”
A common misconception is that a water heater works harder than normal to recover after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings. This misconception has been dispelled by years of research and numerous studies. It is always best to put your water heating on a timer, as the energy lost from a hot water tank depends on the temperature difference between the surface of the tank and its surroundings. It’s a common myth that it somehow takes more energy to keep heating up a tank than it does to maintain it at a normal temperature.
Of course, as with all myths, there are a few “ifs” and “buts”. If the tank is highly insulated (so standing losses are very low) and there is an effective thermostat on the tank, then the losses caused by leaving it on all the time can be much reduced. So insulating the tank is more important than installing a timer. And some people have a need for large quantities of hot water all day long, in which case they may have no alternative except to leaving the heater on. But in general, it is much better to install a timer. A water heater timer, will cost between $30 and $100 (according to features - digital timers are more expensive, but allow more flexibility than mechanical ones) and if you can install it yourself safely, could pay for itself in a few months and is an excellent investment. If you have to hire an electrician, then of course it will take longer to recoup your investment, but it still may be worthwhile. FYI, many home improvement stores will hook you up with professional installers for a reasonable firm price.
When you program your timer, you want to try to turn the water heater off and then use up as much hot water as possible so that as small amount as possible is left to slowly cool off and go to waste. For example if your routine is to always take a shower before going to work in the morning, then set the timer to turn off the water heater before you start your shower. In most cases you will still have plenty of hot water. Obviously, you want to do the same thing at night. If you can also run the dishwasher after your shower, then the strategy gets even better. Most modern dish washers will heat their own water if needed, so quality and safety will not be compromised.
Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning - HVAC
Heating and cooling your home typically uses more energy than everything else put together, so
this is the place where the most improvement can usually be found.
Maintain your system. Clean or replace your air-conditioning filters once a month or as needed.
Clean baseboard heaters and radiators as needed. Make sure they are not blocked by furniture,
carpeting or drapes.
Lower your thermostat setting. The U.S. Department of
Energy estimates that you can save up to $40 for every degree (Fahrenheit) you lower your thermostat
during the winter heating season. The same goes for reducing the load on your air conditioner in the
summer.
Lower the heat even more at night. Pile on the blankets instead.
Reduce heating and cooling drastically when you aren’t home. But always keep in mind that it is possible to cause dammage to your home by turning the climate control completely off for days or weeks at a time. So turn it down, not off.
Automate energy savings by installing a programmable thermostat.
Remember the fuel required to reheat a building to a comfortable temperature is roughly equal to the fuel saved as the building drops to the lower temperature. You save fuel between the time that the temperature stabilizes at the lower level and the next time heat is needed. So, the longer your house remains at the lower temperature,
the more energy you save. So Don’t be afraid to lower your thermostat when you won’t be home. However, if the weather will be very cold, or very hot and humid, then don’t turn the HVAC off, or you run the risk of frozen water pipes (or frozen aquarium fish, or house plants) or in hot humid weather mold could grow in a closed up, un-conditioned house.
Other Maintainance / Improvements
Insulate hot water pipes, especially if they pass through unconditioned areas.
Replace the drip pans under your stove eyes with nice shiny new ones. This will reflect more heat onto
whatever you are cooking.
Change incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescents. Fluorescent lights use only one-third the energy of
traditional lights and last up to 10 times longer. Compact fluorescents are now available in bulbs that look
just like the decorative round bulbs often found in bathroom fixtures, flood light bulbs, and also like regular light bulbs. So you don’t have to display the funny looking curlicue bulbs to take advantage of compact florescent technology.
Getting an energy survey done will allow you to apply your efforts in the most effective manor.
Your Electric Utility company should be able to help you arrange an energy survey, possibly even free of charge.
Get Some Professional Help:
Get an HVAC professional to check:
- Duct work for leaks, especially if they run through unheated areas like crawl spaces or attics
- Relays and equipment on baseboard and electric heating units.
- Air conditioner refrigerant levels.
- Thermostat operation.
- Compressor cycling in heat pump unit.
- Back up heat (in heat pumps) for proper function.
Have a professional inspection of your heating and air-conditioning system done every year. By the way, most people wait until the beginning of the heating or cooling seasons to have work done on their HVAC system, and the technicians are swamped at that time. So, do yourself and your heat and air man a favor and call them when the weather is mild in the spring and fall, or at least not right after the first cold or hot weather of the year.