Whether you’re looking to save a bit of money or want to do your part to protect the environment, it is worth your time to keep an eye on your monthly electric bill. There are always ways to better control your energy consumption, even as you use your HVAC unit to heat and cool your home. The more effort you put into improving your thermal efficiency, the more likely it is that you’ll save money and better control the environment inside of your home.
How Is Your Home Losing Energy?
While you know better than to leave your windows open, for example, while the air conditioning is on, there are more subtle ways for energy to slip out of your home. The most common ways for your home to lose energy include:
- Lack of Insulation – if you haven’t insulated your crawl space or basement, then moisture may be making its way into your home and making those spaces more difficult to temperature control.
- Gaps and Drafts – it is also possible that your home may have suffered damage due to long-term exposure to hydrostatic pressure. In turn, the gaps left behind by that damage may be allowing energy to escape from your home.
- Lack of Energy-Efficient Materials – the insulation, ducts, and piping you’re using may also be energy inefficient, as may the appliances in use throughout your home. You can work with a contractor to determine what materials may both better suit your needs and reduce your monthly energy consumption.
The Economic Value of Improving Your Home’s Energy Efficiency
When it comes to setting your monthly budget, you’ll want to know what kind of costs – and savings – to expect based on the home improvements you’ve made. On average, savings after improving your home’s energy efficiency break down as follows:
- Crawl space encapsulation can help you save up to twenty percent of the cost on your electric bill.
- Sealing air leaks using DIY home methods, including caulk and weather stripping, can save you between five and thirty percent on your energy costs.
- Installing storm windows can cut costs by between twelve and thirty-three percent.
- Investing in a programmable thermostat that lowers the heat while you sleep can save you ten percent on your monthly electric bill.
- An EnergyStar gas furnace can cut your energy costs by up to fifteen percent.
Checking Your Home’s Thermal Performance
If you’re looking to gauge the energy use of your home without basing your estimate solely on your bills, then you can work with a professional to assess the space’s thermal performance.
The air in your home grows warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter, with cold and moist air sinking into your basement or crawl space as a result of its density. As you invest in more appropriate insulation for your home, you can not only allow air to circulate more effectively through your home, but you can also cut your home energy costs by up to twenty percent.
Why Should You Improve Your Home’s Energy Efficiency?
It can be costly, at first, to go about improving your home’s energy efficiency. As you take those first steps, however, you’ll start to see just how quickly those investments can pay off.
Consider this: as you make a point of fixing cracks and gaps throughout your home, it’ll become easier for you to control the flow of air throughout your home. As such, your utility bills will start to drop, and you can put some of that allocated money towards other projects. Similarly, platforms like TurboTax often allow you to take on a tax credit for home insulation efforts you’ve made over the course of a year.
The benefits of improving your home’s energy efficiency aren’t just economic, however. Insulating and otherwise protecting your home makes it more comfortable to live in and allows you to make positive contributions to the environment.
Why wait, then, to schedule a home inspection? If you want help improving the efficiency of the energy use in your home, you can reach out to the professional contractors in your area and look over your property for signs of damage. With a little bit of work, you can repair any cracks, replace any damaged insulation, and watch your energy bills start to plummet.