Lower-Cost Ways to Lower Your Energy Costs
When it comes to energy efficiency in homes, saving big doesn’t have to mean spending big. We’ve talked before about cost of construction and various energy standards for building, but what about homeowners who aren’t ready to build a new home or undertake a large-scale retrofit on an existing one?There are numerous small ways to make an impact on energy consumption in the home – and that also lead to significantly lower expenses. In this post, we describe some of those approaches, as well as pointers on which ones are most relevant to your needs.
Seal cracks around openingsLeaky windows and doors are often one of the largest sources of energy loss in a home. Even if the door itself is insulated, or a window is double- or triple-paned, if the seal around it is not tight enough, air will escape. Does that mean you need to install new windows and doors? Not necessarily. Simply caulking around window casings and adding draft blockers and weather stripping to door seals can produce a noticeable difference in leakage.
Of course, we must caution you to be wary of over-sealing your home. Making the space completely air-tight will cause problems with ventilation and air quality. But with more attention to the spaces around windows, doors, and chimney flues, you can and likely will reduce your energy costs. Add insulation into walls, floors and atticAdding insulation into the space between the interior and exterior of your home can prevent climate controlled air from escaping – and unwanted hot or cold air from entering.
If you don’t know the quality of your home insulation, or you know that it’s not great, consider blown-in insulation as an alternative to ripping up your flooring or tearing down your walls to install anew. Blown-in insulation is minimal-damage, fairly quick to install, and relatively inexpensive, and it can go a long way toward sealing your house against unwanted energy loss. Additionally, if the pipes that carry hot water to different parts of your home are not insulated, consider wrapping those pipes so that you do not lose any heat during the process of transporting it from one point to another. The same idea applies – the less energy it takes to heat or cool an area, the more energy you save.
Install a vapor diffusion retarder (VDR)Often also referred to as a vapor barrier, a VDR slows the rate at which moisture (in the form of vapor) gets into your home. Controlling the amount of moisture in your home can affect how much energy you spend on controlling the climate of your home, as the removal of moisture is part of that process.Not everyone needs a VDR, though. Your need primarily depends on your climate, as the amount of moisture in the air is a primary determining factor of how much moisture might enter your home through permeable surfaces. Also dependent on your climate is the position of the VDR – on the interior wall in cold regions and on the exterior wall in hot, humid areas. Be cautious, though – lowering the humidity levels in your home to an excessive degree can cause damage to some of the home’s elements, such as wood flooring or trim.