Going Green: Energy Conservation FAQs

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Conserving energy will help the environment, and it’ll also help your wallet. Gas and electricity prices are rising, and having a more energy-efficient home can help you reduce monthly costs significantly. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions regarding going green and energy conservation:

Question: I want to go green, but I don’t know how to make my home more energy-efficient. There are so many options. How do I choose which are the best to invest in?

Answer: Conducting a home energy audit is the best way to figure out how to improve the energy efficiency of your home. You can have an home energy audit conducted by a professional auditor. Professional auditors use specialized equipment like infrared cameras and blower doors, and can thoroughly investigate your home for inefficiencies. However, you can also conduct your own home audit. Going room to room, note any points where air could be entering or leaving the house. Places to check include windows and window frames and door jams.

If you have crawl spaces or an attic where insulation is visible, take a look at it and see if it’s still in good shape. Take note of how old your appliances are, also. Once you’ve recorded all of the problem areas you can find, head to your power company’s website, or a state or federal website on energy conservation. These sites usually have checklists that let you know which energy hogs to prioritize.

Question: I want to save money and help conserve energy, but I don’t want to be uncomfortably hot or cold in my own house. Is there a way to save money without giving up on creature comforts?

Answer: Definitely. Because of the current focus on energy conservation, more and more appliances and climate control options are being engineered to be more energy-efficient. While upgrading to new appliances or systems can be costly in the short-term, these new, sophisticated energy-efficient options will save you money in the long run.

This is particularly true of climate control options. Heating and cooling are amongst the biggest culprits when it comes to using too much energy, and we are often using one or the other all year-long. Upgrading to modern energy-efficient air control systems can really make a difference if you’re trying to save money.

The best thing about these upgrades is that they are likely to keep you just as comfortable as your current climate control option. Energy-efficient air control systems save energy in creative ways, like including programmable thermostats that warm your home shortly before you’re due to return from work, or automatically turn off around the time you leave for work. Options like this have no impact whatsoever on how comfortable you are in your home; they’re saving you money when you’re not there. Another way in which these new systems save energy is by incorporating more efficient motors. This doesn’t affect your experience at all.

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Source by Robin Khan