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Conserving Energy: Household Energy Use Breakdown
Below is a breakdown of the typical home's energy usage. This should be taken into account when considering which energy saving ideas might have the largest impact for your time and money.
Source: Residential Energy Consumption Survey, 2001
Here are some strategies and ideas for reducing the energy expenditures of some of the most significant areas:
Heating and Cooling
-Avoid resistive element electric heaters (ex. space heaters, electric base board, 'heat strip' window units and central heating systems, basically any electric heater that is not based on heat pump technology). Compared to a typical air conditioning system, resistive electric heaters are 2 to 3 times less efficient in their consumption of KW of electric per BTU. There are a few heat pump windows unit models available, and mini split systems are another option if retrofitting a central heating system is impractical.
-Utilize passive solar design principles in the placement of windows and skylights. For existing buildings, put up awnings or plant deciduous tress and shrubs in front of windows that gain too much heat in the summer.
-Use energy efficient windows. If you don't want to replace all the windows in your house, you can get aftermarket storm windows or make your own from greenhouse polycarbonate or even bubble wrap.
-Have an air infiltration and/or an infrared heat loss test done on your home and correct trouble spots.
-Make sure that you have at least 12 inches of attic insulation and have more blown in if not. A blower can be rented or borrowed from most home improvement stores and this can be done fairly inexpensively. If your attic insulation is less than 12 inches deep, than taking this step will likely pay for itself in less than a year.
-If your house was built before 1970, check that there is wall insulation and consider injecting foam insulation if not.
-Install a radiant barrier in attic.
-Apply reflective window tinting inside windows. Not only can it reduce the heat gain through windows by 80% or more in the summer, studies show it actually saves the most money in the winter by preventing radiant heat loss.
-Install a programmable thermostat
-Use ceiling or other fans to circulate air. Reverse direction with seasons. This is especially beneficial when heating with appliances that don't employ blowers. A ceiling fan running in reverse in the winter will prevent the hot air from stagnating at the ceiling while the floor (and your feet) remain cold.
-Install high efficiency heat pumps and air conditioners. I am currently enamored with Fujitsu's mini split heat pump and A/C units that have SEER ratings from 19-21. That's better than some geothermal systems! Central heating and air systems can now be found with 16-18 SEER ratings.
-Vertical or horizontal loop geothermal heating and cooling systems.
-Hydronic solar space heating.
-Heating with wood pellet (or biomass) stoves may be another option as the $ per BTU can be lower than all other forms of heating in many situations.
-Live in a house with less square footage. Does all your stuff really need to be in air conditioned and heated space? Or could some of it go in a workshop, garage, or storage unit and enable you to heat and cool less area?
-Adjust the room temperature a few degrees lower in the winter and higher in the summer. I started wearing sweaters in the winter and shorts instead of pants everyday in the summer and found my comfortable room temperature was much lower/higher than it was otherwise.
-Open the windows if it's nice out and shut off the A/C. If it turns cool at sunset and it's still hot in the house, put some fans in the windows to blow in some of the cool air. A whole house ventilator can also help with this by rapidly cooling off the attic after sunset, but be sure the installation or presence of one won't be a source of air infiltration.
Water Heating
-Hot water heater blanket
-Wash more loads of clothes with cold water.
-Use water-efficient dishwashers and washing machines
-Install low flow shower heads. At home I've found Oxygenics models deliver fantastic pressure and don't have the annoying misting effect of cheap hotel-style low flow heads. A valve just before the showerhead can throttle back on usage even more or allow for Navy showers.
-Tankless hot water heaters are largely over-hyped by the product manufacturers. A study by the National Renewable Energy Lab indicates it can take over 25 years to see the payback on the installed cost of a tankless system over a conventional hot water heater.
Refrigerator
-Freezer on top models generally use less energy than side by sides.
-Compare energy efficiency of available models here.
-Hack a chest freezer to make an ultra efficient fridge. Another link here .
-Ultra efficient SunFrost refrigerators.
Lighting
-Replace all incandescent and halogen lighting with fluorescents . If you like the warmth of incandescent lighting, choose fluorescent bulbs with a warm color temperature (2650-3200K) to get the same effect.
-Put outdoor lighting on light sensors, timers, and/or motion sensors.
-Buy light fixtures which reflect light downward, instead of ones that require higher wattage bulbs. This is especially important for outdoor lighting because it cuts down on light pollution that blinds city dwellers from seeing the night sky.
-Make use of skylights and windows. Open window shades during the day to reduce or remove the need for electric lighting.
Washer and Dryer
-Buy EnergyStar or energy efficient models. If you're in the market for a washer, consider a front loader for energy, detergent, and water savings. Compare energy efficient of washers here.
-Clean dryer lint every load and have the dryer exhaust pipe cleaned regularly. This prevents a fire hazard as well.
-Avoid long runs for your dryer exhaust. If your exhaust dips downward at any point, consider re-routing it and you may reduce your drying time by as much as 50%. Use a roof dryer vent if a wall vent is impractical (remove screen). Avoid flexible dryer hoses especially plastic ones and use smooth metal exhaust pipes. This reduces resistance for the blower and prevents excessive lint buildup.
Electronics
-Use power strips to cut down on phantom loads from computer and home entertainment gear. Unplug electronics with power bricks or stand by modes when not in use.
-Consider a computer's energy usage when selecting a model. Some desktops can draw as much as 150W for just the CPU while most laptops draw an average of only 20W.
-Most LCD TVs draw less power than tube models, but plasma screens can pull a ton of juice (300-400W+).
Other
-Well pumps can be a fairly significant use area. Solar well pumps are an option as is the use of water pumping wind mills. Rainwater catchment is another option that can reduce or eliminate the need for ground water usage. All-around water conservation practices will reduce electricity consumed by pump.
-Buy energy efficient dishwashers and use air dry setting (or just wash by hand).
-For the heating of hot tubs and swimming pools, use solar pool covers to prevent evaporative heat loss when not in use and gain heat in the day. A series of solar pool panels fed by your pool pump can slash the cost of heating the hot tub or pool significantly and pay for itself very quickly.
Further Resources
Center for the New American Dream - great information online and in publications
Monthly Challenges for the Carbon Conscious Consumer
The Half Project - low cost household energy saving projects
Home Energy Saver - web-based DIY energy audit tool
Guaranteed Watt Savers - professional home energy audits in the Oklahoma area
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