Finding ways to cut back on your energy usage is one of the best ways to bring down your electricity bill. We've talked in the past about reducing your home's energy use and discussed the way your home's insulation can dramatically transform the way you experience your spaces and use electricity. Today we will give you 5 tips on cutting your energy bill.
Sustainable pioneer David Johnston focuses on easy changes you can make with your appliances, air exchange, insulation and even windows that will pave the way to dramatic savings. David shares his over 30 years of experience with the folks at inhabitat and gives us a snapshot of some of the best ways we can reduce our energy consumption by up to 50%!
I've pulled out segments from his interview, but make sure to head over to Inhabitat to read the whole interview!
1. Focus On Small Steps
"When your family’s energy bill is running high, there are a number of quick and easy changes that can be made that focus in on changing day to day habits. Every household should start noting how much energy is used per room per day, looking at how and how many rooms are being lit up at night, what appliances are running and the like. As we all know, one of the easiest changes you can make is swapping out your energy hungry incandescent bulbs for green picks such as LEDs..."
2. Get An Energy Audit
"Every house in America is under-insulated, and 120 million of these homes are in such a state that a thorough energy audit is warranted. Air leaks account for 25-30% of an average energy bill, and this is one of the most profound steps that you can make for the betterment your home’s comfort and reducing the amount of your monthly bill..."
3. Don't Worry About Over-Insulating
"A common fear of those looking to upgrade their home is that if they tighten homes up too much, they will find themselves in a dangerous and unhealthy living environment. The reality is that anytime you burn something in a house, you need oxygen – this includes water heaters, stoves, furnaces and more. Given that every house will find air leaks one way or another, this shouldn’t be a concern for most..."
4. Prioritize Sealing Your Home
"Sort out your air exchanges. Make air exchange your number one priority. Reducing the intake and outtake will give you the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to cash savings and comfort in your home..."
5. Invest In New Windows
"The new technology being applied to windows is nothing short of amazing, and there are four types of windows that you should reference if and when you decide that this is the right choice for you: Single pane windows, Double pane windows, Low-E windows and our new favorite, Super Windows. In practice windows are each given an R rating signifying their level of insulation (note that wall insulation will carry a rating of between R19-R20)..."
(Image: brmemc.com)
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This post should really be about reducing your heating energy bill. Not everyone uses electricity to power their home heating. I thought there would be more here about reducing the electricity bill rather than just focusing on heating.
I agree with Nicolac, I was disapointed with this post, especially since i have seen all these suggestions at least twice on this blog already.
I have to disagree with #3. For one thing, it's air sealing, not insulation, that "tightens up" a house. And the issue is, if you tighten up a house far enough, you are sealing yourself inside with your combustion appliances like gas stoves, furnaces, boilers, and water heaters. If these appliances are not functioning properly, or if you cause them to backdraft as a result of your renovation, you are in danger of adding carbon monoxide to your indoor air. Even though it's true that most houses have a lot of air sealing to do before this becomes an issue, it is not responsible to present the issue the way you have here. This is definitely something you should worry about!
"Air leaks account for 25-30% of an average energy bill, and this is one of the most profound steps that you can make for the betterment your home’s comfort and reducing the amount of your monthly bill..."
That would reduce your heating energy bill greatly.
You can also head over to Inhabitat for the full interview. It goes really deeply in-depth about each point. http://inhabitat.com/5-tips-to-cut-your-electricity-bill-with-green-energy-expert-david-johnston/
And speaking as someone who moved from an under-insulated house with air leaks and old windows into a property with new double paned windows and great insulation, our utility bills (electricity AND gas) are less than half what they were in the old place. That translates to roughly $110/month on a property that includes 3 separate units (3 gas stoves, 3 gas heaters, 3 refrigerators, 2 washer/dryers and 4 adults).
Michelle, of course a better air-sealed and insulated home is going to use less energy than and old drafty one. Air sealing and insulation are both necessary, you shouldn't really do either one without the other, but they are very different things.
All I'm saying is that you have captioned #3 above as "don't worry about over-insulating" - but really what you meant to say was don't worry about over-air-sealing. I'm pointing out that error and also disagreeing with your statement that you don't need to worry about it, because you do.