What Makes a House Efficient?

Posted on: Oct 04, 2016

Watching your budget or environmental footprint? There are neat little tricks that reduce both! Some take an investment, but they give greater comfort and overall savings.

What Does It Mean To Be Efficient?

For whatever reason you wish to create better efficiency, your wallet will positively feel the difference.

• Upgrading to a programmable thermostat will reduce your electric bill and reduce usage.
• Plant shade trees near the house, on the south and west sides. In summer, you will have shade. In winter, the sun will reach through the leafless trees.
• Change incandescent lightbulbs to LEDs. They last longer, too.
• Understanding that the air and heat make up at least half your bill, so you fully maintain the system; i.e., replace filters every three to four months.
• Windows changed from traditional to the low thermal emissivity type keeps the air inside your home more comfortable, by reducing heat transfer through the glass.
• Switching to a low-flow shower head uses about a quarter of the traditional ones. And for the toilet, a low-flow saves nearly 10,000 gallons of water a year!
• Invite over an energy auditor. When you know where the leaks around windows and doors allow the cool or heated air to escape, you can fix them. You may even find a free audit from your utility company.
• Check all the insulation. If you viewed your roof in winter as an infrared image, you would probably faint! Heat rises, right through old insulation.
• Check the ducts. If air is traveling through debris or out holes, your HVAC is working harder.
• Add a blanket of insulation around your water heater and pipes.
• Using a traditional furnace requires a pilot light. So that means 35% of the overall fuel is wasted. Literally, you are burning money. Upgrading will pay for itself.

Need A Little Help?

At Airco Service, we have often been asked “what does it mean to be efficient?” So we have kept up on technologies to formally and professionally answer that question for you. We believe in giving back to our community, which is why we have remained a family business for over 50 years – to give that personal attention to your energy needs.

What does it mean to be efficient? Overall energy conservation. And there are lots more ways to do so. Give us a call or check out our other blogs to see more tips.