Five Things You Can Do Today to Save Money on Energy Bills
Recently C3, the Cville Tool Library, and LEAP partnered on a workshop for area homeowners: Home Energy Efficiency: The Basics. Even though I’ve been involved in local climate action (including a short stint as Commercial Program Manager for LEAP) for years, I still learned helpful new information.
Here are five tips so you can start saving money NOW, while also helping to reduce your home emissions.
LEDs are 75% more efficient than old incandescent bulbs
1- Quick Wins
I recently visited a friend in North Carolina and was surprised to see in their guest bathroom a light fixture with six old-style, incandescent 120 watt light bulbs instead of a single digit 9-watt LED bulb. Incandescent light bulbs are extremely energy-inefficient. So if you have any in your home, it’s definitely time to switch to LEDs. You can still keep the warm light quality by looking for a “color temperature” of around 2700 Kelvins. Kelvins are a measure of color temperature — the lower the number, the warmer the color. Another easy action is to set your water heater to 120 degrees. Finally, have you purchased a programmable thermostat? Nest and Ecobee are “smart” thermostats that are great energy savers because you can program it and forget it – and it automatically goes into eco-mode to save you money while you’re away! Remember Cville Gas customers are eligible for a $100 rebate.
A blower door test can uncover leaks in your house
2- Home Energy Assessment
To really figure out your starting point, I recommend getting an assessment done from LEAP or doing a DIY version using this link. LEAP’s price of services ranges from FREE to $500 and up. The income-qualifying thresholds for services are quite high, so don’t let that $500 sticker price scare you off.
Do you have enough insulation in your attic?
3- Attic Insulation
Did you know that 80-90% of homes do not have adequate attic insulation? It can be a huge source of leakage, wasting your hot or cold air. That means the first place you should start getting serious about energy efficiency is in your attic! Attic insulation - whether blown in insulation, fiberglass batts, or cellulose - should be 17 inches for the highest R-value ( or resistance to heat flow; the higher the R-value, the more resistance and better efficiency. Current code in Virginia is R-39. You can go for the gold with a Passive House Institute US standard of R-30 walls and an R-60 roof!
4- Air Sealing
On average 20% of the conditioned air in a home is lost due to poorly sealed (or sometimes even detached as in photo above) air ducts. A blower door test and a pressure check of your ducts can uncover these leaks. You can fix those by applying mastic (shown in photo above) and/or foil tape to joints in the ductwork as well as any gaps between the duct boots (those are the ducts that are beneath or above your heating/cooling register) and the surrounding drywall or flooring.
5 - Next steps?
We highly recommend calling LEAP at (434) 227- 4666 or email info@leap-va.org to schedule an assessment or diagnostic test. To receive one-on-one coaching or quantify those emissions reduction measures, contact C3 at impact@theclimatecollaborative.org. We’d love to help!
More Resources:
IRA Flyers based off information found in previous blog entitled “How Will the New Climate Law Help Virginia Households?”