Where Has All The Energy Gone
Many existing home were not built to be as energy efficient as necessary for today and the future. For cost reasons and environmental reason, it is important for us to fix our house to be more energy efficient.
The first chart (source: EPA) shows that close to 70% of energy is used in space heating, space cooling and water heating. The second chart shows the major problems areas where the energy is wasted in heating and cooling. It is quite obvious that that improvement in these areas can reduce energy consumption. They are also best done during a remodel.
Here is a list of things can be done to improve the energy efficiency. They are in order of easy of doing as well as cost effectiveness.
- Reduce energy consumption. In particular, many electronic devices consume power even when they are in idle or sleep mode. Turn these devices off by using a smart power strip.
- Air seal, including ducts
- Add insulation to attic, crawl space, external facing walls and ducts. See ‘>here.
- Change to energy efficient furnace, air conditioners and water heaters when it is time to replace them
- Change to energy efficient windows. See This forum provides you with resources about home renovation, improvement, makeover and repair topics such as air condition, bathroom design, cabinet replacement, driveway paving, drought tolerant landscape, drought tolerant plants, faucet, finding contractors, flooring, furniture, gardening, heating system, home appliances, home insulation, hot water heater, landscape planning, moisture management, plumbing, retrofit, roof replacement, saving water, solar hot water, solar panel, solar system, water conservation, and many others. While we focus on issues in California, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose, Oakland, Cupertino, Danville, Dublin, Hillsdale, Marin, Mountain View, Orinda, Pleasanton, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Walnut Creek, most information is applicable in all parts of USA as well as the rest of the world.