by Shana Fong on August 18, 2010
Here’s a piece written by Matt Golden and Jess Chamberlain for Sunset Magazine on best practices for keeping your house cool, the environmentally friendly way.
To keep a house cool, it’s really about either:
- Keeping the sun out, or
- Keeping the air cool/conditioned
In a retrofit situation, you have to first assess what your possibilities are:
- Is there an attic we can insulate?
- Are there eaves that are blocking some of the summer sun?
- Is there an existing cooling system?
This really affects what the best approach to take is.
For an average house in a cooling climate with an attic, we’d recommend reducing the cooling load as much as possible and utilizing passive cooling:
1. Air sealing
2. Adequate attic insulation (min. R-38) to create a thermal barrier
3. Radiant barrier, if there are ducts in attic; on roof decking or in attic
4. Low-E glazing on windows
5. Whole-house fan
This route is very cost-effective from a long-term standpoint; i.e. you’re not paying to condition the air, you just pay for the equipment and installation.
The other option is to actively cool the house, in which case you’d invest in the fundamentals (such as air sealing and insulation), then install a high SEER-rated AC unit (min. 16-18 SEER rating) designed to ACCA’s manuals J, S, D & T. If air handling equipment is located in the attic we would recommend encapsulating the attic with air-impermeable spray foam and bringing the attic into the building envelope. This prevents hot attic air (150˚F+) from infiltrating the duct system.
Easy Cooling Tips:
- Keep your AC unit in the shade
- Keep the coils clean
- Install high efficiency lighting (it keeps house cooler)
- Turn plug loads off
- Stop the sun before it gets into your house – use external shading, overhangs, and deciduous trees
- Low-E coating on windows
by Shana Fong on August 4, 2010
In the average American home, the water heater is the second or third largest energy user.
As long as you can get a hot shower in the morning, you probably don’t think too much about your water heater. But this mysterious appliance has a huge impact on the environment. Based on the California Energy Commission’s estimate of energy use in a typical household, water heating consumes about 31% of the energy used.
Energy Facts
- Between 15%-30% of the energy your water heater uses goes to keeping a tank of water hot, just in case you need it.
- Hot water heaters have adjustable thermostats. For every 10° you lower the water temperature, you can save 3%-5% of your water heating energy.
- The heat that escapes through the sides of the tank is especially important if it’s in an unheated spot like a basement or back porch. A water heater blanket can save 5%-10% of the energy you’ve been using.
Simple Ways to Save Energy
- Adjust the temperature setting on the water heater to 120°F. If you have a dishwasher that cannot heat water with a built-in booster heater, set the water heater to 140°F. Electric water heaters have two thermostats that should be set the same. Use a thermometer at the faucet to gauge water temperature. Don’t rely on the dial on the heater; they’re generally inaccurate. With electric water heaters, turn off power to the tank before adjusting the themostat.
- Put your hand on your water heater. If it feels warm, install an insulating blanket around it. The colder the area the heater is in, the greater the heat loss. So if it’s in the garage in the winter, you’re going to lose a lot of heat.
- Insulate the hot and cold water pipes leaving the tank, wherever they are accessible. Cover at least the first five feet (preferably ten) and keep the insulation three inches away from gas flues. Foam sleeves or adhesive-backed foam tape are available at hardware stores.
- When replacing an old tank, make sure the new one is the correct size for your family and is energy efficient.
- Electric water heaters should be turned off if you leave home for more than a few nights. It takes about four hours to reheat the water when you turn it back on.
Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.
by Shana Fong on July 21, 2010
Here are some easy and effective home energy fixes you can do around the house for $2 to $90:
- Light switch and outlet sealers: under $5
Two of the most frequently overlooked sources of air leakage in a home are light switches and outlets. Dodge those drafts by sealing up any switches and outlets where you can feel a draft on your hand.
- Hot water heater pipe insulation: $2 per foot
Use this cost-efficient fix as a quick way to reduce wasted energy on water heating. Insulating just the first 6 feet of pipe from your water heater will cost $12 and will save you over $5 a year on water heating while reducing CO2 emissions by more than 55 pounds. We typically recommend insulating the first 10 feet of pipe.
- Monitor your meter: $20
Purchase a Kill A Watt electricity monitor and plug in your appliances and electronics to find out which ones are the biggest energy culprits. Use this to inform your future upgrade decisions or see how much energy you can save with easy adjustments like turning down your refrigerator’s temperature.
- Smart powerstrips: $20-90
Cut back on phantom power by plugging electronics into smart powerstrips, such as the one by Wattstopper which turns devices on and off based on occupancy and uses a motion detector to manage energy use. Our recommended smart strip is Belkin’s Conserve.
- Faucet aerator: $2
These handy products are one of the least expensive ways to increase your water efficiency by mixing air into the water stream. When installed, each aerator will save 500-2,000 gallons of water a year.
- Chimney balloon damper: $35-50
The fireplace is a common area for heat loss in your home, as most dampers don’t work well and many older homes don’t have them. Inflatable balloon dampers fit in most chimneys to keep heated air in, and you can remove them whenever you want.
by Shana Fong on July 19, 2010
The gaps you can find around the windows and doors of the average American house add up to the equivalent of a hole in the wall that measures 10 inches by 10 inches.
Your house has more leaks than the CIA. There are cracks all over the place. Your doors and windows don’t quite meet their frames; there are tiny spaces where the walls almost join the floor; there are open areas around your electrical and plumbing outlets. And these little gaps eat energy. In fact, an amazing amount of heat in the winter – or cool air in the summer – escapes through them. But you have two simple weapons to fight with: caulking and weatherstripping.
Energy Facts
- Caulking and weatherstripping an electrically heated home can keep some 1,000 pounds of CO2 out of the air. So if 1,000 of these homes were weatherized, over a million pounds of CO2 would be saved.
- Believe it or not, stopping air infiltration can reduce your home’s heating and cooling bills by up to 40%.
- People are concerned that although weatherstripping may save energy, it will keep fresh air out of their homes. While it’s true that some ventilation is necessary, it’s really not much of a problem – a typical house may get twice as much fresh air as it needs. In other words, the air is probably flying out of your house as quickly as you’re heating or cooling it.
Caulking vs. Weatherstripping
- Cracks without any moving parts – like the places where a wall in your house meets the outside edge of a window frame, or two other dissimilar materials come together – can be sealed with caulk.
- The places where doors and windows close into their frames can be sealed with weatherstripping – cleverly designed strips of felt, rubber, metal, or plastic that fill the spaces around doors and windows, and compress when you shut them.
- Weatherstripping materials come in many styles. Some are self-sticking, so you don’t even need a hammer to install them. Others must be nailed on. Still others are crafted so pieces on the frame and the door lock together when the door closes.
- One of the trickiest places to weatherstrip is where the door meets the threshold. Special “shoes” and “sweeps” are available to stop these air leaks.
- Besides saving energy, weatherstripping and caulking have an additional benefit: By stopping drafts, they’ll make your home more comfortable.
Leak Patrol
- Some evening, when your house is at least 20°F warmer than the outdoors, hold your hand up to various places around windows and door frames. If you feel any drafts, the windows and door frames need weatherstripping.
- You can also use a smoking incense stick to look for drafts. Hold the stick near places you think might have cracks; if the smoke dances or gets sucked in, you’ve found a place to seal.
- Many of the biggest air sealing opportunities are up in the attic and below your floors. For these harder-to-reach leaks, it’s a good idea to call in a trained professional such as Recurve to quickly identify and remedy your home’s major leakage areas.
Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.
by Shana Fong on July 16, 2010
Is your thermostat accurate? If not, chances are that the temperature sensor is being affected by cold air coming through the opening where the thermostat is mounted.
Keeping control of your thermostat is one of the simplest ways you can save a great deal of energy – and money – all year round.
Energy Facts
- During the winter, you can save as much as 2%-3% of the energy your furnace uses simply by lowering your thermostat 1°F (if it’s set between 65°F and 72°F).
- In the summer, the process is reversed. You save 3%-5% of the energy used by your air conditioner for every degree you raise the thermostat setting (if it’s set between 70°F and 82°F).
- Do you chronically forget to turn down the heat? There are low-priced, easy-to-install thermostats that adjust the temperature automatically. The simplest have built-in clocks; the more advanced models are computerized. An advanced model will, for example, turn your furnace on 30 minutes before you wake up, turn it off when you leave for work, turn it on just before you return home, and then set it for 55°F when you go to bed. Some also have a “minimum energy use” setting that monitors temperatures when you go on vacation.
Simple Ways to Save Energy
- Keep the thermostat under control. Recommended winter settings for heaters: 68°F in the daytime, 55°F at night. In the summer, turn the air conditioner’s thermostat to 78°F.
- Check the temperature. Using an accurate thermometer, make sure that the temperature near your thermostat is representative of the rest of the house. If it’s located in a drafty or sunny spot, you may be getting false readings and wasting energy.
- Plug the hole in the wall behind the thermostat with a piece of fiberglass insulation.
Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.
by Shana Fong on July 7, 2010
Leaking ducts can reduce the efficiency of your heating system by up to 20%. Ducts are a critical part of making your home energy efficient. If they’re leaking air – which they almost always do – or if they’re losing heat because they’re uninsulated, they’re contributing as much to global warming as they are to keeping you warm.
Energy Facts
- You can save up to 10% of your heating or cooling costs by insulating and tightening up ducts.
- Even if the air isn’t actually escaping from an uninsulated duct, you lose a lot of heat through its thin metal walls.
- When the first air that comes out of the vent after you turn on the heater is chilly, and stays chilly for a long time, you know your ducts are uninsulated and you’re wasting energy.
Simple Ways to Save Energy
If your ducts aren’t insulated: Turn on your furnace and feel for air escaping around the duct joints. If you feel any (and you probably will), hire a certified contractor such as Recurve to seal them with mastic.
If your ducts are already insulated: It’s harder to find out if your ducts leak. You can expose the joints (where the ducts bend, for instance) to check – but it’s best to leave it to an expert.
- Before you start examining your ducts, check to make sure the insulation isn’t asbestos (looks off-white, stiff, heavy cloth). If it is, stay away! It’s in your best interest to get it properly removed ASAP.
Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.
by Shana Fong on June 24, 2010
Eight percent of American homes now have pools, which waste more energy than all the nation’s ENERGY STAR homes are saving!
Swimming pools are typically the first- or second-largest single energy user in homes that have them. California’s 1.35 million residential pools use the entire electrical output of a medium-sized power plant.
Energy Facts
- Evaporation is the biggest source of heat loss from hot tubs and pools. When only 5 gallons of water evaporate from a hot tub, the remaining 500 gallons chill by 1°F., then must be re-heated.
- American swimming pools contain enough water to cover the city of San Francisco with a layer of water about seven feet deep. About 30% of that water is heated, requiring as much natural gas as a city of 6 million normally uses.
- For every hour it’s in use, an average pool heater consumes three times as much energy as a home furnace.
- Pool blankets (insulating sheets that float on the water surface) reduce the energy consumption of pool heaters by 40%-70%.
- Pool pumps use about the same amount of energy in an hour as window unit air conditioners.
Simple Ways to Save Energy
- Cover your spa or hot tub. Use a well-insulated cover with an R-value rating of 12 and foam insulation that is at least 2 inches thick. It’ll prevent heat loss and evaporation.
- Cover your pool with a floating pool blanket whenever you’re not swimming.
- Install a highly efficient two-speed or variable speed pool pump and use the low speed as much as possible. This can cut your pool-pumping energy consumption, and the related costs, in half.
- Resist buying a pool pump bigger than you need; it will cost more to buy and operate than a properly sized one.
- Put a timer on your pool pump – most run longer than needed to keep pools clean.
Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.
