Energy will soon get tired of us, if we do not change our stance that is. It is such a huge entity that once it comes to us dressed up as “Crisis” our whole technological advancement will fall short of coping with it.
This is not to say that we are not taking the right steps. It is just that our moves give an impression of being patchy and intermittent. What we require is robust, all-encompassing steps. Such steps should also be like a continuous tirade…those that attempt to bring renewable energy resources to the fore.
All that some other day though. Presently I will focus on a few areas of your home which need all the possible energy attention.
Attics and crawl spaces are the major culprits
You are only too aware that homes bleed energy through attic and crawl spaces. This brings to light the need of thorough insulation procedures. Do not judge insulation material simply by its R-value.
The value may not hold water if you have not got conducive atmosphere to install, lets say, a batt foam or a spray foam board.
Energy rated appliances
Use only energy rated appliances. You will be surprised to compare two utility bills- one from the time you had outdated appliances and another picked up from among those bills which you have paid after installing energy rated appliances.
Such appliances make a ballpark difference of 30% to your bills, quickly offsetting their purchase and installation costs.
Occupancy detectors
If your wallet does not outright disallow them, think over what I am going to say next. Today, we have occupancy detectors which optimise energy based on the occupancy of a room. The moment it detects less occupancy or volume of activity in a room, it lowers the intensity of light.
It also switches off the light the moment it finds a completely vacant room (now, don’t even get me started on how we forget to switch off lights when we leave a room). In fact, the motion sensors can also optimise ventilation so as not to waste energy.
Energy audits
Go for energy audits and blower door tests once in a while. They will tell you of those monsters whom you could otherwise never find. Sometimes, appliances on a standby can also cause energy leakage. We tend to ignore these small discrepancies but they show up big in our utility bills.
Till the time Smart Meters take over fully and we get machines that alert us the moment we waste energy into rapid mass production, you will do well to use some of the above tips for an energy efficient home.
What strategies do you devise to save on your utility bills?
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