Chapter 4: Start Small For Big Savings
Throughout the next chapters in our e-book, you will find many, many different tips and tricks to helping you to save money on your home’s energy needs.
But, as we mentioned, it is smart, even most beneficial to start small and work up to larger changes in your home. Now, that does not mean that you can not do both, but we will begin talking about some of the small, inexpensive ways that you can begin to see energy efficiency in your home.
In the next pages, we will list some pretty simple things you can do right now to get started at saving your hard earned money.
Insulate Your Water Heater
There are several things that you can improve with your water heater to see benefits in energy savings.
First off, do you realize that you are heating water to a certain temperature for your shower or your washing machine only to bring that temperature down by mixing it with cold water so that it is usable? Most people can not use straight hot water and that’s where some savings can come in. Lower the hot water temperature to the lowest comfortable setting for your needs.
If you have an energy efficient hot water heater, you can save a great deal of money just not heating the water as hot as you normally would. Most hot water heaters have dials that you can use.
You can lower it just a bit or a good amount, just do not drop it below 120 F, as this is an unsafe level for bacteria and sanitation reasons.
This is especially helpful if you have an electric heater.
Another thing to consider doing is to install a timer on your water heater. What is the sense of warming water over and over during the day if you are not home or do not use it during the day? Have the water heater timer kick on before you come home from work so that hot water is ready and waiting for you.
Even better is insuring that the timer keeps the heater off during the night when you know you won’t be using it. You can again set the temperature on your hot water heater to aid in getting it right.
Probably one of the largest benefits in regards to your water heater is to have it insulated. Most of the time, your water heater will already be insulated, you just need to take it to the next step. By adding insulation around the outside of your water heater, you are keeping the heat inside the water heater and therefore reducing the need for the heater to turn on and heat, using fuel to do so.
This is a large benefit to anyone that is perhaps housing their water heater in the basement or in another area of their home that is not heated.
There are two solutions here. First, you can purchase prepaid hot water heaters to easily apply to your hot water heater. These fit snuggly over it and take just minutes to install.
Another option is to consider making your own with strips of insulation cut the size of the circumference of the water heater. Use duct tape to keep it in place. Just be careful not to cover the areas where gas or piping are located otherwise the water heater will not function properly for you.
Your Piping
The next big yet easy energy saving solution for you to consider is to insulate your home’s piping. Piping carries hot water to and from the various faucets in your home. The route that it takes is important to consider.
In addition, it is important to insure that while the hot water is traveling to its destination it is staying as hot as possible. If not, you will be tempted to just up the temperature on your hot water tank.
Yet, all you will need to do is to insulate the pipes to insure that the water temperature does not drop when traveling form the hot water heater to the actual place where you will use it.
This can be very beneficial to those that have piping that runs through areas of your home that are not heated, such as the basement or even outside. When this happens, the temperature of those pipes can become very cold, especially in winter months, drastically lowering the temperature of the hot water you need.
To remedy this, just purchase and install insulation for your hot water pipes. You will find very easy to use pre-made foam pipe insulation available to use.
To do so, just cut down one side of the insulation with a sharp knife so that you can insert it over the top of the piping. Make sure to measure for a snug fit too. Snap it onto the piping. When you come to a corner, joint or other angle, all you need to do is to bend the foaming to form fit over the piping. Most of the time, this is easy to do. Then, use duct tape to cover any of the slits you have made and the joints.
It also pays to do this with cold pipes as well. These pipes often sweat and then drip onto the other hot pipes, again, lowering the temperature in them. In addition, insulating them can help to protect them from freezing and or breaking during winter months.
You’re Furnace
Your furnace is probably one of the largest consumers of energy in your home. It makes sense that you should want to take into consideration any and all different types of ways to keep those costs lower.
One of the simplest yet most effective methods to keeping your furnace running efficient is to simply change the furnace filters often.
Both your air conditioning units and your heating units have filters that allow air to pass through them.
When your filters are clogged with dust and other stuff, it makes it harder for the air to get into your unit and therefore makes the unit work harder.
The harder that it works, the more energy it needs to have. In fact, if they are overly clogged up, you can cause your entire unit to become overheated and then find problems such as your compressor going.
See, the problem here is not the costs though. Your filters are likely to cost just a few dollars and they are even easy to replace. Yet, people just do not get to their furnace and take care of it as often as they should. You should check your furnace filters each month.
There are two different types of filters you can use. The first is the standard type and these are very inexpensive to purchase and are disposable. Many people dispose of these each month just to make it easier on themselves instead of having to bother with checking them.
If you purchase other type, which is a more expensive, allergen and small particle filter, you may not want to dispose of it each month. Rather, put it up to the light to see if in fact light can make it through. If not, then it is time to replace them which is likely to be one time every three or so months.
You may also have a self charging electrostatic filter. These filters still need your attention at least each month. Here, you will want to clean them monthly by rinsing them from the clean side. These usually need to be replaced one time every several years.
Another benefit that you can get from your furnace is to insure that you have it checked and cleaned each year. You should do this as it can help to improve the overall efficiency of the unit. Most heating and cooling experts say that having the unit checked each month can help you to save throughout the year and keep you from having to replace the unit too soon.
Ceiling Fans
Another aspect of your home that you can save some money on is the ceiling fan. Most homes have these installed throughout them. If you do not, consider adding them. Most of the time, they are not too costly, and can even be found quite inexpensively.
You can save a great deal of money with ceiling fans if they are used right.
In the summer, use your ceiling fan in a counterclockwise direction. Allowing it to spin this way will keep air moving. Moving air feels cooler and therefore you will not need to use your air conditioning as much. In addition, it will help to keep the air moving and keep the thermostat set higher. The air conditioning units in homes will use a great deal more energy then that of a ceiling fan.
But, in the winter, you should use them as well. In this case, have them spin at their lowest setting and in reverse (clockwise) so as to push the hot air that rises from the ceiling down onto the working area of your home.
At the lowest setting, it will not cause a breeze in your home either but will keep the furnace from having to be set too low during the winter months.
In the coming chapters, we will talk more about other elements in your home that need to be taken into consideration when it comes to energy efficiency.
There is no doubt that you may be thinking that covering your pipes and keeping your hot water tank insulated are going to cost you some money. That is true. In fact, you may find yourself spending a couple of dollars and investing some time in making sure that those things are happening.
Yet, the benefits of doing these things with these units in your home are definite. There is not doubt that you can keep your energy costs down by investing a little money in these projects.