Determining the Energy Consumption in Your Home
Posted on 16. Aug, 2009 by Grace in Energy Efficient Homes
Before you can begin to have an energy-efficient home, you will need to determine the parts of your house where energy is often used (and wasted). The best way to do so is to audit your home energy.
A home energy audit is considered to be one of the most efficient methods of helping you conserve on your energy use, and lower the cost of your utility bill as the same time.
There are actually different ways to do a home energy audit. You may opt to do it yourself, or call you may call a local utility to do the work for you. However, a complete heat-loss examination is best done by a trained energy auditor.
For more details on the energy audit, visit Energy Savers website at www.energysavers.gov. You can also find free energy-consumption calculators and other tools to help you create an energy-efficient home, at www.natresnet.org.
According to the Buildings Energy Data Book, published in 2007, space heating is accountable for at least 31% of the total energy consumption of the average home.
This means that by conserving on the energy used for heating, you can make a considerable savings on your energy bills. Unless, of course, you live in a hot climate where cooling might be more of an issue. And, needless to say, heating bills are more of an issue during the winter than during the warmer months.
Water heating, lighting, and space cooling line up side by side, eating up as much as 12% of the average home’s energy consumption. Home appliances, electronics, refrigeration, and other things that you plug into the wall socket consume an average of 8% to 9% each.
The following tips should be useful if you decide to have an energy audit in your home:
1.Look for cracks or holes around your house, particularly around plumbing fixtures, in walls, in and around doors, and around windows, where air tends to leak through.
2.Insulation levels must be checked in various parts of your home, such as the the attic, crawl spaces, ceilings, basement walls, exterior walls, and floors.
3.For further instructions on how to insulation levels, visit www.energysavers.org.
Determining the parts of your home where the most energy is wasted is essential – especially if you want to save as much money as possible.
To read the next post in the Energy Efficiency Series, please visit Planning an Energy-Efficient Home.
