subject: Residential Energy Efficiency - Helpful Tips [print this page] Having a residential energy efficiency home is more than just turning down the thermostat in the winter and changing your furnace filter twice a year. While those things do help along with regular cleaning of the condenser of your air conditioner, there is so much more you can do.
The most obvious way for your home to become more energy efficient is to install new Energy Star component to your HVAC system. This will conserve energy because the units will use less but that is not the only thing you can do nor is it always necessary.
There are many less expensive ways to help do your part to conserve more energy that is used to make the inside of your home more comfortable. The least expensive way is to install weather stripping on all the windows and doors. This will help seal the small leaks that allow the inside environment, you paid for to create, from needlessly escaping.
Another large energy saving path is to install double pane glass in your windows or cover them with plastic. While the plastic is cost efficient many prefer the look of glass which is energy efficient in both the summer and winter months.
For many years in the past homeowners would manually adjust their thermostats at night and when they left the house. Today, with the advance in technology there are programmable thermostats that adjust the temperature in your home automatically. While it does do the same job as when it is preformed manually, the advantage is you can wake up in a warm house instead of crawling out of bed when it is cold and having to wait for the house to warm up.
These are a few helpful tips to make your home a residential energy efficiency place to dwell in comfort.
