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Making your home more energy efficient

Everyone has been feeling the affects of high prices and rising interest rates. Everything from gas prices to monthly mortgage payments is more expensive.

But there are ways you can conserve money and help the environment at the same time. One way to do so is to make your home more energy efficient. This can save you a lot of money on you energy and electric bills.

All you have to do is make a few simple changes to your home, and watch the savings start to pour in.

The August 15, 2006 article by Sue McAllister of SiliconValley.com, “Upgrading your home,” discusses how you should be thinking about ducts, insulation and double-pane windows when remodeling your home in order to make it more energy efficient.

Making your home more energy efficient is much more important than making it more fashionable, and this will definitely help you out in the long run.

“Wendy Krugman used to get monthly energy bills of nearly $200 at her former home, a San Jose condo. So before she and her husband, Ben, moved into the fixer-upper house they bought in late 2004, they remodeled it with the help of her father, a contractor. Energy efficiency was a priority. 'With the high mortgage, we didn't want a high PG&E bill,' she said. The three-bedroom house in Cambrian now has new windows, insulation, plasterboard, kitchen and bathrooms. 'Our PG&E bill is $83 this month,' Krugman said.”

There are a wide variety of things you can do (both big and small projects) to increase the energy efficiency of your home. A few of the things you can do is to insulate EVERYTHING in your home, from the walls to the attic.

“Remodeling contractors say one of the best ways to cut down on your heating and cooling bills is to insulate your attic, or increase the 'R-value' of the insulation you have. In general, the higher the 'R' number, the more insulation the material provides. You can also get a rebate from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for adding insulation to your home.”

If you are adding to your home, any new walls must have insulation, but there are also way to add insulation to existing walls.

“But you can also blow insulation into existing walls through small holes drilled into siding or plasterboard. Use pre-insulated ducting materials, or add insulation around ducts that carry your heated or cooled air -- otherwise, most systems pour 25 percent or more of the air into the attic, Donatelli said.”

Another great way to reduce energy costs is to invest in single-pane windows instead of double-pane windows. “Dual-pane windows -- those with two sheets of glass separated by a layer of inert gas -- 'don't let in the heat in summer; they don't let out the heat in the winter,' said Howard Timoney of De Mattei Construction in San Jose. Dual- or triple-pane windows also reduce noise from outside.” This will help reduce your costs because you will be using less air-conditioner and heater power.

Considering new technologies and investing in new energy-efficient appliances are two very easy ways to become more eco-friendly and energy-savvy. Although these appliances may initially cost more than regular ones, they will end up saving you a bundle in the long run.

“Energy Star-rated refrigerators, dishwashers, laundry machines and other appliances are certified by the federal government to use 10 to 50 percent less energy than standard models. Tankless water heaters cost more to install but use less water and energy than traditional ones because they heat water on demand. New lighting with LED (light-emitting diode) technology uses far less electricity than normal incandescent lighting.”

Implementing just a few of these energy-saving tips into your home will surely save a lot of money in the future.

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