You don’t need to buy a new house in order to have a ‘Greener’ house. There are tons of ways to go about saving energy in your existing house ranging all the way from the simple to the complex. The goal of course is to lessen the impact our lives have on our natural resources. In order to do that we need to find ways to reduce our consumption of energy. Making our homes more energy efficient can sound hard and complex, but there are ways to make it more manageable and non-intrusive to our existing homes.
Our houses use the most energy keeping us comfortable. Our Heating, Venting, and Air Conditioning systems or HVAC are effected by many variables and new technology has made these systems much more efficient, like 14 SEER and higher rated units. Advances in product innovation have also helped with the prevention of heat load that causes the demand on our a/c systems, like low-e windows and radiant-barrier films. New homes usually have this technology built in to them, but we also can fairly easily incorporate these products onto our older homes that may not already take advantage of these product.
Upgrading your older air-handler and condenser can make a huge difference in your monthly utility bills. Most houses built prior to 2000, don’t have a SEER rating higher than 10. The current average is 14 or 15, and we recommend it to be even higher. The difference in efficiency over 10 years is staggering, but very good for lowering energy consumption. Even though it is fairly easy to change out the a/c components, if you are not ready to make that change right now you can make a very simple and inexpensive change, by getting a programmable thermostat. You can program your unit in both heating and cooling every day of the week and usually into 3 or 4 segments of the day. This will allow you to optimize the usage of your new or existing unit, and not spending energy when you don’t need it can have dramatic effects on your overall usage.
Another way that our houses cause us to use energy is by allowing the sun’s energy to heat our living spaces. New products that help reduce the amount of heat allowed into our houses have helped in this area to great degrees. The state of Texas now requires a minimal amount of Low-E protection on our windows that is much better than the products that were allowed prior to 2006. You can really feel the huge difference between a Low-E protected window and one that is not. Again, if you do not feel in the mood to change out all your windows to get this great new product, there are films that are clear or tinted that can be applied to your existing glass that will do the same job as a window that is manufactured that way. Just make sure you are getting a good quality product with high quality installation, and you can benefit with much more comfortable rooms.
The third way to ‘Green up’ your home and save money at the same time is to address the heat gain through your attic. It is current standard for most builders to install radiant-barrier roof decking for all of our houses and put a minimum of R-30 insulation in the attic (although R-40 is recommended). The difference in the temperature of an attic with radiant protection and one without is also astounding. Having a cooler attic lowers the heat load inside the house by a significant amount and thus lowers your energy consumption because you are not cooling the effects from the attic. If you have a house without this product for the roof deck, you do not have to re-roof your house to fix this. There are some good brush or spray-on products that will get close to the same protection and not cause a problem applying them in a closed in attic. You will really see the results if you get these products applied correctly. Another good idea to prevent heat from the attic from infiltrating your house is to add or replenish the insulation. Over time a blown-in insulation can settle and be less effective, so replenishing it will be a very good way to reduce your energy usage.
Even though there are many ways we can help out our planet, any and all of these ideas will definitely help reduce your impact on the environment by reducing the amount of energy we personally use. All of our efforts combined will make a difference for ourselves and for generations to come!
