Energy Upgrades
Making energy-efficient upgrades to your home can not only reduce your energy bills, but also make your home more comfortable and sustainable.
Before we get into the best upgrades to consider, I’d recommended getting a comprehensive energy audit performed on your home.
This will give you a baseline to measure improvements against. These audits are sometimes available at no or reduced cost from your local gas or electric utility.
- Insulation: Adding insulation to your attic, walls, and floors can help prevent heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer, reducing the need for heating and cooling systems. When it comes to insulation, you have lots of options. The most common being fiberglass batts and blown in cellulose. Attic insulation can be a low cost way to reduce energy bills. Adding insulation to existing walls involves a lot more disruption.
- Air sealing: Air leaks around doors, windows, and other areas can cause drafts and increase your energy bills. Sealing these leaks with weather stripping or caulk can improve your home’s energy efficiency. There are a few simple methods to help find and stop drafts and this is easily the first thing I’d do when trying to make my house more efficient and comfortable.
- High-efficiency HVAC systems: Upgrading to a high-efficiency heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can significantly reduce your energy bills while also improving indoor air quality and comfort. While this route is not cheap, it can significantly improve your comfort and reduce monthly heating and cooling costs. Check with state and local governments as they often provide grants, loans and tax rebates for new, energy efficient systems.
- Energy-efficient windows: Installing energy-efficient windows can reduce heat loss and gain, helping to keep your home at a more consistent temperature and lowering your energy bills. This is a very expensive option and, while it can really enhance your homes look and feel, it may not be worth the energy savings you get out of it.
- LED lighting: Replacing traditional incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient LED bulbs can reduce your lighting energy use by up to 75%. At this point, I can’t see any good reason why all your lightbulbs aren’t LED. Oh, and they last basically forever.
- Smart thermostats: Smart/programmable thermostats can learn your heating and cooling preferences and automatically adjust the temperature to optimize energy use and comfort. They can work on a schedule set by you and can be operated from an app allowing you to turn your thermostat up and down from halfway around the country. Highly recommended upgrade.
- Renewable energy systems: Installing renewable energy systems, such as solar panels or wind turbines, can help you generate your own electricity and reduce your reliance on the grid. These upgrades usually involve specialty contractors and are highly site specific. THis is one where I would advise you to consult a local expert.