« Municipal Solar Financing | Home | Solar Gadget Finds of the Week »
Home Energy Conservation Challenge – Follow Up
By Solar energy | March 25, 2009
Home Energy Conservation Challenge –
Follow Up
Here’s a follow-up tip for those of you who completed or are currently working the Energy Challenge.
Note: If you are here for the first time, you can find how this challenge works here. Please join in and begin reducing your electric bills today!
If you have taken the action steps explained in the previous six (6) weeks of the Energy Challenge, you know or have these things:
1. How many kilowatt-hours your home used last year
2. The average kilowatt-hours used per month last year
3. A tracking excel sheet to track kilowatt-hour usage
4. Home much your refrigerator uses (measured by your Kill-A-Watt meter)
5. A refrigerator running as efficiently as possible
6. A water heater efficiently heating water when YOU decide you need it
7. A heating/cooling system set to automatically raise and lower your home temperature settings to accommodate your family’s lifestyle and comfort—and reduce your electric bill
8. A power strip eliminating phantom loads that add to your electric bill
9. Energy efficient home lighting
10. Invisible air leaks closed and sealed
When you’ve accomplished these tasks, give yourself a pat on the back! And when you’re next electric bill comes, compare it to the same time period last year. You will be amazed at the energy savings.
Now here’s a final energy saving action to boost you to the next level.
Get a professional home energy audit. Here’s how.
Call your local energy provider and ask if they do home energy audits for their customers. Most do. But if not, hire a home energy professional to evaluate your home. You energy provider should be able to suggest someone.
A home energy auditor thoroughly evaluates how much energy your home uses, then suggests steps you can take to improve the efficiency of your particular home.
Your auditor will most likely cover items you have already addressed in this energy challenge. But a personal auditor can assess things like attic and wall insulation, windows, heating/cooling units, appliances, etc., that apply to the particulars of your home.
So call your energy provider today and request a home energy audit.
A word to the wise:
When you call your energy provider, be polite. They are accustomed to complaining people calling to grouse about their energy bill. Customer service employees are trained to screen calls to determine who is just complaining and who really wants to take some responsibility for their own home.
So be patient with the customer service representative who takes your call. Answer all their questions courteously. Tell them all you have done to improve what you know to improve but that you want a thorough home energy audit to learn where you can improve your home’s energy efficiency.
Thanks again for joining the energy challenge!
Leave a comment and let me know how this works for you.
Topics: Home Energy Conservation Challenge | 1 Comment »
May 31st, 2009 at 11:12 pm
great site! lots of resources for people starting out on the home conservation front. thanks!
however, the picture of the freezer above makes me cringe. it takes more energy to cool air than solid mass. the freezer is too empty and that’s wasting energy (and your money). don’t need to keep more food on hand? that’s fine. start filling up containers (2-liter soda, milk jugs, tc) with water and put them in the freezer and/or fridge. this will eat up some of that excess space and keep your fridge/freezer from working so hard!