The Most Effective Energy Saving Tips for Homeowners

Homeowners can use some of the following effective energy saving tips to save some money on utility bills. By following just a few effective energy saving tips and utilizing energy efficient products, you can make your home more comfortable and easier to heat and cool while saving money. The latest tips and newest products that use clean, renewable energy to power your home can be found in local stores and online. You can find some energy saving tips that are easy while others may require more effort and investment, but will provide huge savings over the years.

The first step in whole house energy efficiency is to find out where you are using the most energy. A home audit is the easiest way to find areas of the most use and help determine which of these effective energy saving tips will provide the most benefit. You can do a basic home energy audit yourself, contact local utility providers, or call an independent energy auditor for a complete examination of your home energy usage. Just to give you an idea, the average home uses 4,700 kWh per year.

Looking at the average home energy usage we can determine the most effective energy saving tips and reduce the costs involved with energy saving products that will benefit you most. Average homes use about 31% of its total energy consumption to heat the home. By having routine maintenance done on the furnace such as changing filters and having the duct work cleaned you can make your furnace run more efficient. Sealing the home from outside elements with weather stripping or caulking can be the easiest and most effective energy saving tips and costs almost nothing to complete. This will prevent the inside air from escaping or the outside air getting in. Installing a geothermal heating system can cut the energy usage dramatically. Cooling your home in the summer takes about 12% of the total energy consumption. Keeping your cooling system working properly and performing routine maintenance along with air sealing techniques can save money here each year as well. Air sealing a home will reduce heating and cooling costs which makes this a very effective plan for energy savings.

Water heating accounts for about 12% of total annual energy consumption. By lowering the thermostat temperature on a water heater, installing water heater insulation jackets, or using a solar powered preheating system, you can cut energy use and save money.This is one of the most overlooked are when it comes to effective energy saving tips.

The remaining 45% of your total energy consumption is used in lighting, appliances, electronics, and other similar uses. One of the most inexpensive of the effective energy saving tips is changing your lighting. The lighting energy use can be cut down by as much as 75% simply by changing your traditional light bulbs to CFL bulbs. These compact fluorescent bulbs use less energy while producing the same amount of light. Energy star qualified appliances are more efficient than older appliances and can reduce energy usage and cut costs as well. The easiest and most common sense approach to energy savings is turning off any items when they are not in use. Any items that have a standby mode will use energy even when they are off. These items are best to be unplugged when not in use to save energy.

These steps here are among the easiest and most basic energy saving and money saving tips. These are often implemented with little cost and little effort and even the larger costs of appliances or geothermal heating systems can be justified if you will be replacing these soon anyway. Take advantage of these tips and you can cut your monthly utility bills and enjoy not only being more green but having more green as well.