Home Energy Conservation

You must have heard the popular saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’; well it’s high time to take the first step towards energy conservation and help avoid exhaustion of our precious resources. Home energy conservation is one of the ways you can contribute towards a healthier earth.

Going green has become quite a popular trend among people - and why not? It is an excellent way to help your environment and keep the green stuff intact in your wallet. Increasing the efficiency of your home can help you conserve energy and this can be done with little or no cash. All you need is a little innovation and interest.

There are a variety of methods and ways to increase the efficiency of your home. With a little bit of know-how you will be able to make educated decisions and give your home sweet home an energy efficient makeover.

Some helpful points to make your home energy efficient:

• Building materials need to be chosen wisely. In traditional wood framed constructions, gypsum is used to cover the walls inside and stucco or wood based siding materials for the exteriors. All these components have an R-value or a thermal resistance value. If you use materials that provide good insulation, then it will lower the need for indoor cooling or heating.
• When planning to build a house, keep in mind that proper site selection is very important for energy efficiency. If you construct your house in relation to the sun then it will help you conserve a lot of energy. During winters, a south-facing window will collect heat from the sun to keep your house warm; however, the same window needs to be blocked during summer time.
• The federal housing administration says that the individual R-values of your walls should be R-19 and the same of your ceilings should be R-38. The individual values can be calculated by using an “R-value of Commonly Used Building Materials Table” and then all you need to do is add them up to get your total R-value. To cut down on energy costs you can install high R-value insulation.
• A simple thing like air infiltration can also affect your home energy conservation. Simply weather stripping your doors and windows will not be beneficial as they allow air infiltration. Caulking windows is one very cheap and easy way to block this air penetration.

There are other methods of conserving energy as well; below are some quick and effective ways to increase the efficiency of your home:

1. Plant trees and shrubs on the windiest side of your house, particularly if it has windows.
2. Cut down on the usage of electrical appliances and switch off appliances when they are not in use.
3. Increase the thermostat a few degrees in the summer and lower it by the same during the winters.
4. Purchase and utilize appliances that are energy star rated; they will be more energy efficient than other appliances.

I hope this article provided you with some helpful tips by which to achieve home energy conservation.  These eco-friendly methods of saving energy will not only benefit the environment, they will also help you save some cash. The methods are simple enough to follow and are very effective and beneficial. By making little efforts you can help reduce the pressure on the existing but fast depleting resources; and take a step towards a new world of alternative energy.