Guest Post - Winter Check-Up for Energy Savings

The middle of winter and the end of a long cold spell tagged a “winter vortex” gives plenty of reminders about the cost of energy and heating in the winter months. It is also an opportunity to do more than begrudgingly pay the bill. It can be a perfect time to do some easy self-checks to save energy both now and in future years. Some of the corrections can be done immediately, and others will require a contractor in the spring, but now is the best time to schedule those jobs as well.

Mid-Winter Inspection for Energy Efficiency

Take advantage of the very cold weather to do your own inspection to find places to reduce energy usage and costs. It will allow you to help the environment as well as your own budget. The cold weather makes easy work of identifying key areas to save.

Windows

While thermal efficiency ratings and e-ratings are the fodder of a sales pitch, one of the best methods to determine the energy efficiency of your current windows is simply using your hand. Run your hand around the trim of your windows holding it an inch or two from the trim on a cold night or morning. You can easily feel any cool air coming in by doing this on a cold day. To make it even more pronounced use a damp hand. If you feel any drafts or cool air around the trim then pulling off the trim and stuffing gaps with loose insulation is an easy fix. Sometimes a little caulking can be used on the narrow gaps. Doing from the inside, you can do this even in the middle of winter for immediate savings.

Check the air temperature an inch or so in front of the glass on the windows. If the air is noticeably cooler near the glass than in the center of room, you will benefit from a better thermally insulated window. If any frost is visible between the panes of glass then the vacuum or gas sealed in between the panes has escaped and you have lost most of the insulating power of the windows. In this case it is time to consider replacement windows. Look for energy star replacement windows as those give easy to read measurements on energy savings and also often qualify for tax incentives when upgrading.

Doors

A similar method can be used to check exterior doors. As well as check around the trim for needed insulation, ensure that gaps around doors are sealed with weather stripping. You can purchase weather stripping in a variety of widths to fill any gap for a tight seal. When you touch the interior of the door, it should be roughly the same temperature as any wall. If the door panel is cooler than an exterior wall, you need a better insulated door or to add a storm door.

Exterior Walls

Check the exterior walls of your home in two ways. First, by simply touching the surface of an interior wall and comparing the warmth of that to the surface of the exterior wall. You should not be able to tell the difference by surface temperature to touch of the interior or exterior walls. If you can feel a difference then the insulation in your walls is deficient. This will require adding cavity wall insulation as one possible solution, or depending on construction and needs, you may want to consider adding an energy efficient siding with exterior insulation.

The other method to simply determine the energy efficiency of exterior walls is to go outside on a cold snowy day and watch to see if snow that hits the side of the house gets wet and melts. If the exterior of your home is warm enough to melt snow away, that heat is coming from inside your house and leaking out.

Roof

If you are in a snowy climate, look at the roof on your home. This is best done a few hours after a new snow. If the snow is rapidly melting off the roof (and it is not due to sunshine) then you are losing too much heat. This is especially easy if you have an unheated garage or outbuilding to compare it to. If the snow is significantly less on your heated areas than unheated nearby rooftops then you need to add additional loft or attic insulation. In many homes this can account for 20% or more of all heat loss. Anytime the temperature outside is below 32f and it is not sunny there should not be dripping eves and icicles forming. In addition to saving a lot of energy, correcting this will help prevent the need for expensive roof repairs due to ice building up under the edges of shingles.

A semi-retired freelance writer and blogger living in the United States, Reuben Dickison holds degrees in Marketing and Public Administration. His career path has included consumer financial management and private business management training and consulting. His passion is promoting an environmentally sound business ethos and planet.

Sneak Peek: Do you love Mexican food? Stay tuned because tomorrow I have a fabulous recipe for you!

Images courtesy of Sira Anamwong, nuttakit, photostock, and Evgeni Dinev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This post was featured at Healthy, Happy, Green & Natural Party Hop and shared at Small Footprint Friday

Guest Post - A Guide to Going Green - Improvements You Can Make Around the Home

Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you will ever make, however the spend doesn’t stop there as throughout your time in the property you will need to spend money on many factors to ensure the space is comfortable and meets your needs. Spending money on energy bills is arguably one of the largest regular expenses you will have, and with finances tighter in this day and age for a rising number of households, any ways that this can be reduced are likely to be welcomed with open arms.

There is often not a day that goes by where there isn’t a story about going green or becoming more energy efficient in the news, with authorities encouraging us all to do more to become more efficient, reduce our carbon footprints, help protect the environment and in turn benefit from reduced energy bills in the process. It may sound like a simple thing to do, but knowing exactly how to implement in your life and particularly around your home can be more of a challenge.

There are however a number of improvement projects that you can embark on, some minor, others on a larger scale, that can provide you with the improved efficiency results you are hoping for, so here is your guide to going green through a number of improvements you can make in and around your home;

Understand Your Efficiency Starting Point

Whilst not necessarily an improvement as such, it is however advisable to see where your property currently stands in terms of its level of efficiency before you start making any improvements. The completion of an energy performance assessment will highlight specific areas of your property where heat is being lost and give an overall picture of how efficient your home currently is. By gaining an understanding of where you are starting off in terms of your home’s energy efficiency, you can compare it back to this once improvements are made.

Head Up to the Attic

The attic is one of the biggest culprits of heat loss and has the potential to be losing you a significant amount of money without you even knowing it. Whilst most attics will have some insulation in place, in may be that this needs to be topped up for ultimate performance, with a depth of 270mm (10.5 inches) of insulation being the recommended amount to effectively keep heat within your home. A steady saving can be made by improving the insulation in your loft space, with an increase from 100mm (4 inches) up to the 270mm (10.5 inches) potentially saving you £25 ($40) or more on your energy bills each year.

Double Up on Your Windows

If you still have the original windows in your home, there is a good chance that these will be single glazed, which are highly ineffective at keeping warm air in and cold air out. Investing in double glazing has the potential to require a relatively large outlay to begin with, however can quickly be recouped in the annual savings you make on your energy bills. Anything up to £165 ($255) a year can be saved following the installation of double glazing as they keep the heat produced from your heating system in your home for longer, meaning you can then run your system on a less frequent basis.

Check Your Wall Structure

Un-insulated walls are also big culprits of heat loss, with around a third of all heat in your home being lost through the walls. Poorly or un-insulated cavity walls and solid walls can both be at fault, yet adding the necessary insulation can make a big difference. Un-insulated cavity walls could be losing you around £140 ($220) a year in lost energy, however with an installation cost of between £400 ($625) and £500 ($780), you can soon make this back over a few years whilst also reaping the benefits of improved insulation. Whilst you may expect solid walls to offer better efficiency, you would actually be wrong as insulated solid walls can save around £450 ($700) over the course of a year, making the installation of insulation highly advisable.

Quick Fire Improvements

• Draughts around windows and doors can easily allow cold air in to your home, making the warmth produced from your heating system less effective. Implementing draught proofing can make a big difference, with savings on heating of up to £55 ($85) a year a real possibility.
• A newer boiler (furnace) offers significantly improved energy efficiency than an older model. In a similar way to windows, replacement is a large investment to begin with however replacing your current inefficient boiler could save you around £300 ($470) a year on the cost of running it.
• The bulbs you use in lights around your home is another area where potential savings can be made through improved energy efficiency, as energy saving alternatives cut running costs and also last far longer.
• A water meter can help you keep a close eye on the amount of water you are using, ensuring you aren’t wasting any and in turn simply throwing money down the drain.
• Assess the current appliances you are using in your home, particularly in the kitchen, as updating to newer, more energy efficient models could result in improved performance as well as helping to cut the costs of running.

Hopefully this guide to going green has opened your eyes to the improvements that can be made around your home which can make a very real difference to how energy efficient your household can be and the subsequent savings that can be made from achieving this. Good luck in your endeavours to make your household a greener, more environmentally responsible one!

This post was written by blogger Oliver Kyle who, when investing time and money into making the necessary improvements around his own home to make it more energy efficient, called on the services of Skip Hire UK for a waste disposal solution that also takes the impact on the environment incredibly seriously.