A Retiree's Take On Energy Saving Projects!

by HC
(USA)

After about 10 years of energy savings projects, I'd summarize as follows:

I like projects with good payouts and ones that don't require big $ investments. I'd put payout numbers for each project but I usually don't have the documentation.

BIG PAYOUT PROJECTS

- Prevent heating sunlight from entering the building. This can lead to HUGE savings in air conditioning operating costs. This can be done with window inserts on the outside. You can also use a flag as an awning. Shade trees work but the timeline is long.
This one idea is the biggest deal on the list.

- Put a pot on the stove to humidify the house. (Beware: combustion products enter the living space but no more so than in cooking). Heating this way is 100% efficient.

- Deflect some of the close dryer exhaust into the room. This one has the same caveat as the stove. Don't over do it or moisture will create mold problems.

A CO analyzer can be used if you think the exhaust is unhealthy. Don't use exotic dryer chemical softeners if you use this idea. Consider a clothes line and dry some of your stuff the old fashioned way.

MEDIUM PAYOUT PROJECTS

- Seal and insulate the house. When in doubt, over do. The sealing task is critical and tricky. You can often feel a leak on the skin. Use particularly cold days to do your research.

Some specifics: doors, chimney flue (if you rarely use it, seal it), vent ducts, along wall tops in the attic (look for discoloration), any wall penetration such as electric conduit (take off the box or panel cover and you'll be able to feel a draft going through the conduit, but do this only if you are competent with electrical gear).

You can use non-conductive foam to choke the leakage both on the exterior of the pipe/conduit as well as the interior.

- Check partial attic crawl spaces. These are often wanting for sealing and insulation.

- If you have to replace an appliance anyway, get an energy efficient replacement. These days, most furnaces should have heat exchanger features and exhaust via a PVC pipe as an example. I researched replacing our refrigerator but couldn't get a good payout so we're keeping what we've got for now.

- If you have metal doors, on a cold day feel the knob and the door itself. I have added insulating panels to metal doors using magnets and have created foam mitts to insulate the door knobs. You'll notice the room is warmer afterwards.

- Use CFL bulbs where you can tolerate the slow starts. In low use applications I still have conventional bulbs. A bulb seldom used uses little energy.

- Plan your trips. Delay going until you can do several errands in one sweep. Gasoline costs too much now for inefficiency of thought and planning.

- Insulate the rafers of your roof. You can use a combination of reflective film and fiberglass if you like. I've gone with kraft lined fiberglass, 3-6 inch depth is fine. I staple the paper backing to the rafters with a commercial grade stapler.

It interrupts the radiant heat of the roof and forces the roof to release most of it to ambient. Don't tolerate a roaring hot attic. Insulate the attic access panel/door.

- A non-contact temp sensor is a good diagnostic tool. Sears sells them and you can go on line to find others.You can use this to detect areas of heat transfer.

LOW PAYOUT PROJECTS (but still worth the effort)

- track energy usage (electricity, gas) using the utility bills. Track both kwh and $. If you're good with spread sheets you can set up calculations to correct for weather variations. There's a magic to the act of tracking. It will inevitably lead to progress.

- Acrylic clear sheet can be used to fashion an internal pane to insulate the window from the room. Little screws and clips hold them in place. You won't even see them once installed. Unfortunately, the cost of these has gone up and forced a longer payout.

- Insulate the garage door. These are usually uninsulated. Your garage will feel warmer in winter and be a better space for project work.

- 'Shrink the house', esp. winters. Do this by closing off unused rooms, seal the heating ducts, and seal the room from the rest of the house. Don't do this where the thermostat is located, however.

- Insulate cooling and heating ducts.

- Examine where your furnace is. If it is warm and if it's in the basement, you can bet you're losing some heat to the basement walls. Consider insulating all bare metal ducts. Insulate the basement walls. If your furnace is in an unheated space, check for heat loss and insulate/seal.

- I've experimented with mirrors to reflect sunlight into the shady side of the house in cool weather. While I mention this, it's very RISKY. I set my grill cover to smoking. Also, it takes a lot of time to reposition the mirrors.

- Don't just control humidity, treat humidity like money. If you're losing conditioned room air you can figure it's being replaced by outside air. As an example, do you use a central vac? A traditional vac will exhaust back into the room being cleaned. The air is not lost.

-Don't leave your garbage door open while you do yard work, especially if the garage has an advantageous temp and humidity versus current ambient.

- Put some light color into your roof. If your roof is dark, your attic will be hotter than it needs to be. I sprayed some old white and off-white latex paint onto our wood shingles using a garden hose and insecticide sprayer.

The appearance difference was subtle but before I did it spraying water on the roof made steam. Now, no steam.

- There used to be a product that controlled the air escaping up the flue of water heaters. I haven't seen these lately. Maybe there was an issue with flue gases backing up into the home. Anyway, be aware that (like fireplaces), a flue can siphon room air with it as the exhaust gases jet up the chimney.

Consider placing fins on the water heater flue. As long as the flue draws well, the fins will salvage some of the lost heat.

- If your hot water system has a gravity recycle back to the water heater, close this off, esp. in summer and don't use it unless you have guests.

- Use freeze gel packs in winter. Leave them outside to freeze. Bring them inside and place in your refrigerator. They will slowly melt and displace electricity cooling. The control is a bit iffy, however.

- Make sure your a/c condenser is shaded. You don't have to plant a bush. You can create artificial shade.

- Insulate the skirt of the building at ground level. It is possible to insulate both on the interior and exterior.

- Use power strips on your appliances that draw power when off (TVs are good examples). When you've finished using the TV, turn the strip off. This applies to computer gear and most things that operate with a remote control.

- Become aware of lights left on in a room with no one present. Turn off the switch when you depart. If you live in a neighborhood where people leave their outside lights on all day, well, ........ .

I like outside lights using motion detectors. They come on only when there is activity sensed and don't work at all in daylight.

- If a floor feels cold, put a carpet or rug on it. Trust your senses. Let them lead you to savings opportunities.

PROJECTS TO CAREFULLY ANALYZE BEFORE JUMPING IN

- Solar photovoltaics to generate electricity, esp if you live in an area with anemic sunshine.

- Solar water heating that uses pumps or other electrical devices. You don't want your savings to be eaten up by hidden new usages.

- Projects that might annoy your neighbors like noisy wind turbines.

- Burning alternative fuels

- Reflective films to retard sunlight heating. I use these but I attach them to the interior screen. I've heard some have experienced thermal cracking of the internal pane due to overheating from the film.

- A bunch of projects called 'green'. Do the maths. Unless you can see a good payout, be cautious. If you want to do it to feel good or be patriotic or something else, then OK.