If you live in a cold climate, the MOST IMPORTANT THING you can do to get energy efficiency and energy savings is to insulate your home. Next, is to seal it, taking special attention to windows and doors. Buying new efficient furnaces or new energy efficient boilers is also crucial.

Space heaters & energy Savings

Space heaters can be great for energy savings. There are now an amazing set of new types and more energy efficient space heaters. They can be a source of supplemental heating, or a source of personal and spot heating (in the case of radiant heaters) but they can also combine with your central furnace or boiler to get lower energy bills.

See, on these issues: The best of space heaters, Energy Efficient Space Heaters

The Best of Furnaces, Heat Pumps, Solar Powered Systems, Air Sealing, Air Conditioners...

For a wide range of information on the best brands, manufacturers, strategies, etc, involving furnaces, heat pumps, air sealing, insulaton, air conditioners, solar powered systems... see:

The Best of Furnaces
The Best of Heat Pumps
The Best of Insulation
The Best of Solar
The Best of Air Conditioners
The Best of Caulking & Air Sealing

Winter Energy Savings

Winter is the time of year with the highest energy bills. But it hasn't to be so. Here are some tips on how to... Save on heating and energy bills.

Insulation Is Critical To Get Energy Efficiency And Smaller Heaters

Do not buy a new heater - even a new energy-efficient heater... - without considering issues like your home's insulation and sealing, or the efficiency of your windows and doors.

Your heating and cooling needs, or the size of your new HAVC system (air conditioning, boilers, furnaces...) depends highly on the insulation levels of your home and on features like energy efficient walls..

See, for instance: Insulation solutions and Energy Efficient Walls

Qualified windows and doors

Old conventional windows and doors may account for over 25% of the heating and cooling energy bills in a typical home. Get home energy efficiency and energy savings may involve replacing or at least sealing your old windows and doors.

See: Energy Efficient Windows and Doors

Skylights

Roof skylights can provide daylighting, natural ventilation and views. But you also should take into account possible drawbacks, their different types, their energy-efficiency or their sizing.

See: Basics on Skylights

If just half of our homes used solar water heaters

Solar water heaters is an energy efficient technology. If most of our homes used solar water heaters, CO2 emissions cuts would equal the emissions of millions of cars. Solar water heating demands an higher initial investment, but its payback is very short.

See: Solar Solutions

Heat Pumps: an Energy Efficient choice for home heating and cooling

Heat pumps can be an eco-friendly and energy-efficient choice both for heating and cooling. See: Energy efficient Heat Pumps

More energy-efficient air conditioning

Air-conditioners can be expensive and environmentally-unfriendly. But if you do need air conditioning, prefer Hig efficient Air Conditioners and Ductless home air conditioners or window air conditioners tips instead of central air-conditioning.

Cooling strategies without air-conditioners

There are several proven air-conditioning alternatives. Some are inexpensive and very simple: awnings, venetian shades, blinds or draperies... (see Shading devices), solar screens and reflective films (see Window films), ceiling fans and whole-house fans (do not underestimate them; see Fan basics), natural ventilation, evaporative coolers (in hot dry-climates and temperate climates), roof cooling coatings...

Try also more structural energy efficient cooling approaches: shade the hottest parts of your walls and rooms with trees; plant hedges to drive cooling breezes towards your home. Landscape is crucially important, and trees are part of some small cooling miracles. And bet also on attic insulation (see Roof and Ceiling Insulation and Attic Insulation).

Natural Cooling

In most climates it's wise to bet on ventilation, ceiling fans, and natural cooling techniques for cooling our homes.

See: Climate & Cooling

Protecting the environment & Energy Efficiency

Our most innocent acts - driving a car, heating or cooling our homes – are deeply associated with global warming and climate change. But there are some ways of keeping our homes comfortable without costs.

Just an example: using compact fluorescent lights reduce electrical consumption for lighting by 80 percent... Lighting is responsible for around 5 to 15% of residential power use - something that can be reduced by 50% or more by using energy efficient lighting: fluorescent lights, LEDs, lighting controls like dimmers and sensors...

See: Energy efficient lighting

 

 

 

House-Energy.com - All rights reserved by EJCR - Site Map