greenHo.ws

You already own your house and it was built back before people were really aware of “green” building practices (you and about 110 million close friends). With American’s spending over $200 billion dollars on home remodeling there are a lot of people out there making changes to their homes. If you are going to update your home, why not go green. Well, you ask, what are some of the best changes you can make to improve your home’s energy efficiency?

Here is my top 10 list: (from little/easy to big/tougher)

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Not all “going green” efforts have to be giant projects to help the environment. Small changes can add up to a big impact. I’ve pulled together a list of small, simple and quick changes that you can implement.

· Change your HVAC equipment filters on a regular basis – this allows your furnace / air conditioner to work more efficiently and helps keep the air in your house clean.

· Swap out your incandescent lights for Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) or LED lights.

· When boiling water or cooking “liquid” meals, cover the pot. This will allow the item to heat quicker and use less energy.

· Vacuum your refrigerator / freezer coils – this will help keep your refrigerator / freezer operating at it’s peak efficiency.

· Install low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators.

· Only run your dishwasher or cloths washer when you have a full load.

· If you have a reasonable amount of dishes (more than just a few) using a dishwasher uses only half the energy, one-sixth of the water and less soap than washing by hand.

· Close your window coverings in the winter at night and during the day in the hot part of summer. Install a dimmer switch on frequently used lights. Dim your lights by a quarter, you increase your energy savings by 20 percent; dim them by half, increase your savings 40 percent. You also extend bulb life up to 20 times when you dim a bulb halfway.

· Lower the temperature on your water-heater, it’s safer and saves energy.

· Bring tote bags to the grocery store rather than using their bags.

Remember, little things can add up!

The Energy Independence and Security Act was signed into law on 12/19/07. There are a couple of key items in that bill that should benefit all of us. Probably the biggest news item was the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standard being raised. The law sets the new target at 35 miles per gallon for the combined fleet of cars and light trucks by model and it has to be reached by the year 2020. Also included in the bill were provisions to raise the energy efficiency standards for a broad range of lights and appliances. This includes regular light bulbs and fluorescent lamps additionally efficiency standards were set for external power supplies, and the majority of major home appliances.

A somewhat controversial piece was the Renewable Fuel Standard.

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There is so much news about how to save energy, be green, and use fewer resources in general, it’s hard to know where to start. So, to pull a few tips together, I perused a few green sites, racked my brains, pinged a few friends, then finally asked my wife for a few good and relatively new ideas.

I got lots of ideas. Before I share the new ones, here are three popular ideas that are not new, but always worth repeating. Hopefully you’ve heard them before:

1. Swap your old technology, incandescent light bulbs out for new CFL light bulbs. There is lots of information about CFLs on Wikipedia and a nice writeup on Consumer Reports.
2. Minimize shower time. We’ve all heard the jokes about “shower with a friend,” which never gets old. Reality is that even with low flow showerheads, showering still uses a lot of water. So, keep it short or share it with a friend.
3. Get a ride from someone or offer to drive. This is especially true in bigger cities where traffic is insane (Atlanta), but holds true everywhere. Even if you live in a smaller town, remember that pollution adds up.

These first few are a nice start with lots of information widely available. Here are five more ideas that are much less publicized:

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How many environmentalists does it take to change a light bulb? Just look in the mirror! Swapping out your standard incandescent light bulbs for more energy efficient light bulbs is one of the easiest and quickest things you can change in your home. It can also have a sizeable impact on your overall energy consumption and associated expense. Electric lighting burns up to 25% of the average home energy budget, with the electricity used over the lifetime of a single incandescent bulb costing 5 to 10 times the original purchase price of the bulb itself.

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