The Cheapest Energy Of All Is The Energy You Don’t Use.
While not as exciting or as sexy as a solar array, energy conservation is by far the most cost effective way to reduce you energy consumption. As the saying goes, “The cheapest energy of all, is the energy you don’t use.”
Like in so many other areas, the basic blocking and tackling of building sciences will give you the most bang for the buck when it comes to making your home more energy efficient. For example, air sealing and added insulation together are probably the single most effective way to lower your energy bills. New windows may be appealing, but truthfully, they may take as much as 20 years to pay back, while air sealing and insulation can pay back in as little as three to four years.
While proper weatherstripping should be a part of air sealing if you hire a contractor to do the job, if you are a do-it-yourselfer, make sure you start there, it’s usually the easiest and quickest part of air sealing.
Window locks are another way a house envelope (the air barrier of the house) is often compromised. The locks provided by the manufacturers of “builder special” windows tend to be weak, and form a poor seal. Additionally, we’ve seen many houses where the locks broke years ago and the owner has failed to replace them. Start by replacing the broken locks with good tight sealing locks, then move on to the leakiest windows. Soon enough you’ll have them all replaced. While you are at it, make sure you caulk around the trim of the window too if it’s not been already done.
Check your crawlspace and make sure that all the insulation that should be up against the floor actually is. Most home owners don’t venture into their crawl space beyond the distance it takes to push in the lawnmower. There should be a continuous sheet of plastic on the floor right up to the walls and piers everywhere and the insulation should be snug against the floor joist. Many a cable guy, alarm installer or phone rep has pulled down insulation to access the floor and failed to properly replace it.
Get your HVAC system tuned up annually. You may think it works because it’s giving you cold or warm air, but what you don’t realize is that it’s using more and more energy every year to do it, because: the burners are burning inefficiently, you haven’t changed your filter in a year, a bird has built a nest in the vent, the refrigerant is slowly leaking, etc.
These are all items that are either free for the do-it-yourselfer or represent low investments on the part of the home owner and yield a high savings.
Your air sealing efforts may not be visible to anyone, but they will be to you when you get your next energy bill.
