Each season brings unique challenges and opportunities for homeowners to be able to save energy and increase the overall performance of their homes. Fall is an especially crucial time to be mindful of things you are doing around the house to save energy. As the warmer summer days are starting to come to a close, we thought we’d develop a blog series with ways that you can ensure you’re saving the most energy possible as you move into cooler and colder temperatures this fall.
As a follow up to the most recent post on the home energy blog, here is part 2 in this series on energy savings tips and tricks for the fall:
- Lower your water heating requirements. Many of us have our water heaters set far too hot, which is not only unnecessary for the hot water we use, but also a huge culprit when it comes to heat usage in your home. In fact, water heating can account on average for 14-25% of the energy usage in your home. By lowering the temperature setting to around 120 degrees, you’ll save a lot of energy and money. Not to mention, you’ll also avoid scalding hot water that can burn you or your loved ones!
- Insulate the attic door. This is a project that many put off, but making sure all parts of your attic are properly insulated and sealed can pay off big time for saving energy in the colder months. Even making sure the attic door is properly insulated can save you a lot of energy and money. A poorly insulated attic door, in some cases, can account for 10-15% of heat loss in a home when it is cold. Many attic doors are just drywall that sits on a frame, making it easy for heat to escape that should be kept inside the home. A quick insulation project can go a long way here.
- Clean the refrigerator. While it may sound strange, a poorly functioning refrigerator can eat up a great deal of energy, bringing down the overall efficiency of your home. By checking and cleaning the coils and ensuring proper temperature inside the refrigerator at least once a year (fall is the perfect time), you’ll increase the efficiency of this energy hog of an appliance.
- Seal or block the bottoms of your doors. You may have seen commercials for silly-looking “draft snakes” that slide beneath your door. The truth is, these can actually be a very inexpensive way to make a big improvement to old or inefficient doors. By blocking drafts coming into the house and disallowing warm air to escape, your home will not only use less energy, it will be much more comfortable in these areas.
We’ll be completing this blog series with one more post full of energy saving tips for the fall. Don’t miss it.
