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Home Energy Conservation Challenge – Week 6
By Solar energy | March 18, 2009
Home Energy Conservation Challenge – Week 6
Welcome to the final week, week 6, of the Home Energy Conservation Challenge! If you’re here for the first time, you can find how this challenge works here.
If you have taken the action steps explained in the previous five (5) 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 energy 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
Let’s get started with our final week, week six (6).
Small, imperceptible things add up.
Think about it.
A couple cookies, a few French fries, and those lazy hours spent surfing the net. Once a month a few cookies and fries and a lazy hour probably do not matter too much to your general health.
But daily, these little habits can add up to excess body fat.
Small decisions, small habits, accumulate to form a lifestyle.
Choices add up. Like rungs of a ladder, they take us somewhere.
This week you will conquer the imperceptible energy leaks. Although seemingly insignificant, these small energy tweaks accumulate to save you energy dollars.
- Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs)
- Windows and doors
- Electrical outlets and switch plates
Switch to Compact Fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)
Most likely, you have been using incandescent light bulbs in your lamps and lighting fixtures at home.
These bulbs produce light by passing an electric current through a thin filament. The filament, when heated with electric current, produces light.
However, a shocking 90 percent of the energy produced by an incandescent light bulb is given off as heat, not light.
Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) reduce your home’s demand for electricity.
EnergyStar rated Compact Fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) produce 75% less heat than incandescent light bulbs to produce the same amount of light. They also last up to 10 times longer than incandescent.
EnergyStar rated CFLs can save up to $30 in electricity costs over the lifetime of the bulb. Recycle your CFLs at your local Home Depot or check Earth 911 for a recycling center near you.
The EnergyStar site offers a helpful article about how to match the right CFL to the proper fixture. Here are the bullet points from their site:
- CFLs perform best in open fixtures that allow airflow, such as table and floor lamps, wall sconces, pendants, and outdoor fixtures.
- For recessed fixtures, it is better to use a reflector CFL than a spiral CFL since the design of the reflector evenly distributes the light down to your task area.
- If a light fixture is connected to a dimmer or three-way socket fixture, you’ll need to use a special ENERGY STAR qualified CFL designed to work in these applications. Make sure to look for CFLs that specify use with dimmers or three-way fixtures.
- To choose the ENERGY STAR qualified CFL with the right amount of light, find a qualified CFL that is labeled as equivalent to the incandescent bulb you are replacing. Light bulb manufacturers include this information right on the product packaging to make it easy for consumers to choose the equivalent bulb. Common terms include “Soft White 60” or “60 Watt Replacement.
CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury, so here’s what to do if you happen to break a CFL. Follow these guidelines to dispose of them properly.
Caulk windows and doors and other small air leaks
Would you leave a window open when your heating or cooling system is running? Of course not!
But consider this: ignoring those little cracks and leaks in your house is the same as leaving a window open wide. Added together, those small leaks become one giant leak.
The folks at Home Depot say that tiny cracks account for up to 20 percent of the energy used to heat and cool a typical home. So, by caulking, sealing up those tiny cracks, your energy costs are reduced by 20 percent.
Here’s where to look for these pesky leaks in your home:
• Around doors
• Around windows
• Dryer vents
• Faucet pipes and wires
• Hot water heating pipes
If you’ve never done this before it’s really not that hard. If you have a handyman-type living at your house you’re in luck. If not, the easiest thing to do is visit your local home improvement store—like Home Depot—and ask for help in choosing the caulk that works for your particular home.
Weather Strip around doors and windows
Weatherstripping around doors and windows keeps air leaks sealed around the movable joints. Even a 1/8-inch-wide crack around the door is sucking dollars from your pocket. If you can feel air coming in around your closed door then you definitely need weatherstipping.
There are various types of weatherstripping—again, ask your local Home Depot for help—to accommodate different situations, doors, and windows.
Also, the U.S. Department of Energy Consumer’s Guide gives helpful information about weatherstripping selections for particular uses.
Install gaskets behind cover plates on electrical outlets
This little trick was a new one for me. I had never heard of gaskets for electric outlet cover plates until this year.
Simple to install, these foam inserts create a seal around your electrical outlet.
Home energy auditors recommend installing these behind your cover plates on your outside walls. Seems the air in your attic communicates with the air in your house via holes cut for your electrical outlet.
Who knew?
Here’s a photo of a foam insulation gasket.
Purchase a package of these at your local Home Depot (or other home improvement store).
Besides keeping that cold attic are from seeping into your house in winter there’s another small but appreciated benefit from these little jewels.
They keep the attic dust from seeping into your house and landing on your furniture! Very cool!
Take Action:
1. As your incandescent bulbs need replacing, them with Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs)
2. Caulk your windows, doors and other small leaks
3. Weatherstip your windows and doors
4. Purchase and install foam insulation gasket around your electrical outlets and switch plates that are on the outside walls of your home
5. Make a note on your excel sheet the date you install these changes
Continue to document your kilowatt-hour consumption monthly on your excel sheet and watch your energy consumption and electric bill decrease.
Thanks for participating! I would love to know how these conservation tips work for you. Feel free to share your results in the comment section.
Topics: Home Energy Conservation Challenge | 1 Comment »
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Wow, I never heard of the gaskets either. That could save lots where I live. You can almost feel the breeze from the outlets in one of our bathrooms. My handy-man type will learn about this product at dinner tonight!
Thanks!