Now that winter is here a question that New Jersey home inspectors often get is how can clients save a little money on their energy costs in their new home? Energy and utilities of all types are as expensive as they have ever been. It is wise for the NJ home inspector to understand simple ways for their clients to make their homes more energy efficient.
Significant savings can be achieved by implementing simple changes that homeowners can do themselves. Making some small changes to improve energy efficiency can save the homeowner money, increase the comfort level in the home, have a positive impact on the environment, and reduce pollution.
The majority of the energy used in homes is for heating and cooling. There are some simple steps a homeowner can do to help control these costs.
– Install a ceiling fan in the rooms. ceiling fans can be used to distribute both heating and cooling making the HVAC system more energy efficient providing more even temperatures in the rooms of the home.
– Replace air filters at the proper interval. Obstructed air filters can not only damage appliances they reduce efficiency.
– Set thermostats to a reasonable temperature. Thermostats should be lowered in the evening. For the majority of homes there is a 2% savings for each degree the thermostat is lowered for at least an eight-hour period. Turning down the thermostat from say 70 degrees to 65 degrees can save over 10% of the heating costs in the home.
– Installing a digital smart thermostat can save money by automatically turning the heat down when no one is at home and also at night. These smart thermostats can save about $150 a year in energy costs for the typical household.
Consider installing a tankless water heater. Demand type instant on water heaters supply hot water to the home only when needed. They don’t produce the standby energy loss associated with traditional natural draft water heater units. These units heat water as needed without the use of a storage tank thus saving significant costs over time. Cold water is supplied to the unit then when hot water is called for in the home the electric element or burner will turn on to heat the water as needed. These units create a constant supply of hot water and also are much more energy efficient. Although costing more up front, the homeowner will see a return on their investment over a few years with these units.
Replace old light bulbs. The typical household uses 11% of its energy budget to lighting. Older light bulbs convert roughly 10% of the energy they consume into light energy. The use of new lighting such as LED’s and CFL’s can reduce the energy savings by reducing the amount of energy needed by up to 75%. Here are some interesting facts. Compact fluorescent lights use about 75% less energy and last about 10 times longer than traditional light bulbs. LED bulbs actually last longer then compact fluorescent bulbs and consume even less energy.
New jersey home inspectors should inspect the attic insulation and make sure it meets requirements. All homes should be properly insulated. Sealing and insulating the home is a very cost-effective way to make a home more comfortable and energy efficient. A sealed and well insulated home can improve comfort and indoor air quality while lowering energy cost.
The following are locations were there can be significant air leakage. These areas should be insulated and sealed.
– Pipe and wire penetrations – Attic access hatches – Mail slots – doors and windows -electrical outlets – switch plates- attics and walls
Because hot air rises a lot of energy is lost through the home’s attic. All holes should be sealed especially where the walls meet the attic floor. Small openings can lead to large energy loss. A homeowner can do this by looking at areas of darkened insulation. Dark insulation is the result of dusty indoor air being filtered by the insulation. Depending on what part of the country the home is located in there will be different R-value recommendations for attic insulation. The typical Northeast home R-value recommendation is R-49. The R-value of batt style insulation is roughly 2.9 to 3.8 per inch. This means that the typical home in the northeast should have about 15 inches of attic floor insulation.
The attic access hatch should also be properly sealed up. A homeowner can cut a piece of fiberglass or rigid foam insulation the same size of the attic access hatch and glue it to the back of the panel. If there is a pull-down set of steps a cover can also be fashioned from rigid foam board. There are also some premade options called ladder mates or ladder tents that have a zipper cover to provide insulation in this common area of heat loss.
Install water conserving shower heads and toilets
A low flow shower head is available in different flow rate. A low flow shower head is regarded as a shower head that has a flow rate lower then 1.5 gallon per minute. A standard shower head has a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute. That water usage equates to 25 gallons for a ten-minute shower. A low flow shower head will have a flow rate of about 18 gallons which is a significant water savings over a standard shower head.
Toilets can contribute to roughly 35% of the total water usage in a home. Replacing an older toilet which would use about 3.5 gallons per flush with a low flow toilet which would use 1.6 gallons per flush. This steps alone can save a household thousands of gallons of water usage per year. Also duel flush toilets are seen more and more in homes.
Duel flush toilets have been gaining in popularity in the US. These toilets let you choose between a one-gallon flush and a 1.6-gallon flush. Using a duel flush toilet can reduce water usage in a typical home by an additional 30%
Although New Jersey home inspectors are not performing energy efficiency audits in the homes they inspect. It is useful to understand some of the basic home energy savings principles and be able to educate their clients about saving energy if the clients have interest in learning some simple energy savings ideas.