Table of Contents
Energy Efficiency And Light Bulbs
Light bulbs are one of the easiest areas for homeowners to help in energy conservation. It is so simple to change a light bulb. If you aren’t running LED bulbs yet, like these bright white bulbs, you need to consider changing over. I can see your eyes rolling now. You probably tried LEDs when they first came out, when they made your room look like an operating theater and hurt your eyes. You can get LED bulbs now that look exactly like a regular incandescent bulb but they use 10% of the energy. Check out more information on LED bulbs here.Natural Lighting

Fluorescent Lighting
Fluorescent lighting was the first energy efficient option for lighting in commercial and residential buildings. They work by creating a tube with an ion inside which, when excited by energy passing through, creates light. Unlike their predecessors, the fluorescent light bulbs don’t burn out when the filament is broken. Instead, they slowly die over time. Ironically, fluorescent light bulbs take a few hundred hours of use in order to run at full brightness as well. Fluorescent light bulbs were also the first to offer different light colors, like I go over in this article on the science of light. Basically, you can have a warm light color, like a standard incandescent bulb, or a cool light color, like the first LED bulbs or natural light. That’s pretty cool and it offers you the ability to customize your lighting atmosphere. Some people don’t feel like they like the light that fluorescent bulbs produce, feeling that they produce a headache. I think part of this is mental because they’ve heard other people have issues. However, even I notice a difference in the light color. They produce a…watery…light that even I don’t tend to like very much. My eyes see even the warm light colors as somewhat unpleasant. But everybody’s eyes are different so that’s something to remember.LED Light Bulbs
LED light bulbs are what fluorescent bulbs wish they were. They are even more energy efficient than fluorescent bulbs and they produce better light. LED bulbs basically have a small computer chip on their base that produces light when a current is passed through it. Here’s a fun fact: you don’t actually need the top plastic part of an LED bulb. The only purpose the top serves is to make the bulb look like a regular bulb. These bulbs produce light at any desired color temperature now. You can select anything from a warm light to a cool light and everything in between. For the most part, you can get all the color temperatures in most wattage equivalents but the most options come at the 60 watt equivalent. The light produced is thick and beautiful, unlike the fluorescent light produced. I haven’t heard of anybody that suffers from headaches due to an LED bulb but if you have trouble with one, try a different color temperature before you give them up for good.Smart Light Bulbs

Light Sensors and Timers

Energy Efficiency With Windows And Doors
Windows and doors are a problem when it comes to whole house energy efficiency. They basically put a giant hole in the wall where you don’t have very much insulation built up. Because of that, you need to make sure that you purchase these products and install them correctly to maintain good energy efficiency.Windows
Basic Anatomy Of Energy Efficient Windows

Vinyl, Composite, Or Wood, Oh My!
When you go window shopping, you’re going to see windows made out of many different materials. For the most part, you won’t see the old aluminum windows anymore since they didn’t tend to be very efficient. The majority of what is stocked in store will be white, vinyl windows, like Jeld-wen. These windows are a great starting point for most homeowners since they are energy efficient and fairly inexpensive. Composite windows, from companies like Anderson 100 series windows, are a great alternative to vinyl. Unlike vinyl, they are constructed more cleanly, without all the corner welds and with style lines in the frames. I prefer these windows because those small details make your home look a little more spiffy. These windows probably aren’t going to be that much more energy efficient since they are so similar to vinyl. Wood windows are one of the best options for energy efficiency. They offer a classic look and they offer high insulation value. The only problem with wood windows is that the wood tends to rot outside. However, most of the window companies, like the Anderson 400 series or Marvin windows, have started to make the traditional wood windows and clad the outside in a tougher material like aluminum or vinyl. This gives you all the great benefits of wood windows but they last longer.Doors

Selecting Energy Efficient Door Material
I was shocked today when I helped a customer trying to find an energy efficient door. He looked at a Thermatru fiberglass door compared to a Simpson wood door. The fiberglass door, with a half length window, had a U-factor of about .26 while the wood door had a U-factor of .45 for the same door. I explain U-factor just below so don’t get too far ahead. What that means though is that the fiberglass door is almost twice as efficient as the wood door! I never would have thought that would happen! I’ve always been told that wood doors are more efficient and that’s always what I’ve told my customers. I’m glad this customer had me look. So, go with a fiberglass door and keep the glass small if you want the most energy efficient door.Reading Energy Efficiency Labels On Windows And Doors
Now, to explain how to read energy efficiency labels, because it may as well be written in Greek for most of us. This can get incredibly scientific but I’ll keep it to the basics. There are two things that are important for energy efficiency. If you want a super science-based explanation, check out this article from stanekwindows.com.
R-Value
There is the R-value, which people are a bit more familiar with. This measures how insulative a particular material is, which is why it is important in selecting insulation for instance. The higher the R-value, the more the material insulates. It does not take into account how that material is installed. Because of this, while it may be listed for doors and windows, it isn’t as important.U-Factor
The important measurement on a door or window is the U-factor. This measures how much heat passes through a specific assembly of materials, such as a properly installed window glass and frame, over a certain time. To learn how to properly install a window check out How to Install a Window. The lower the U-factor, the more energy efficient the product. So, to travel back the door example above is a huge difference in energy efficiency!Energy Efficiency And Appliances

Refrigerator
There are some general good practices regarding refrigerators when you are buying one for energy efficiency. For starters, make sure that you are buying a refrigerator that is the correct size for your needs and Bestbuy has a great article to help you choose. A fridge that is completely empty or one that is completely full will not run with its best efficiency. Keep your refrigerator from any heat sources as well. For example, a fridge in a hot garage or too close to a stove will not run as efficiently. On the matter of space, you need to make sure that the refrigerator has space for air to circulate as well. You don’t want your refrigerator to be stuck inside a cabinet or it runs extra in order to account for the lack of air flow.Water Heater
Okay, let’s all calm down a second and prepare to be flexible. Now that you are ready I have to tell you something. Standard tank water heaters are incredibly inefficient!! You are keeping 40 or more gallons of water super heated so that for a small portion of the day you have a shower or a load of laundry at your chosen temperature. If you have to use a standard water heater, at least cover it with a water heater blanket to make it slightly more efficient. Instead look into buying a tankless water heater. Just like it sounds, these water heaters don’t have the big tank of water kept warm for only a small portion of the day. Instead, tankless water heaters heat water instantly on demand. It only heats the water you use so you have a ton of energy efficiency and you save a ton of money.Clothes Dryers
Your dryer is a great place to focus on energy efficiency. It’s one of the times when you should pay for some of the cool features that usually are just bonuses. For instance, look for dryers with moisture sensors that will stop prematurely if they sense the load is already dry. You can also look for dryers with steam functions to quickly release wrinkles in clothes. The trick if you aren’t ready to replace your dryer is to run it efficiently. Run your dryer with a moderate size load that allows your load to dry completely without wasting energy by running past dry. You can also put dryer balls, wool felted balls, to help your loads dry quicker and save energy as well. You could also line dry your items with a retractable clothes line that gets out of the way when you aren’t using it.Energy Efficiency With Heating And Cooling

Cooling
Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans help to circulate the air around a room, whether it’s cold or hot. I thought I would put it under cooling since that’s the function most people are familiar with. However, running a fan will help to push air around and room and make the whole room more similar in temperature, like a convection oven. Ceiling fans don’t take a ton of energy to run fortunately. They function as a cooling device mainly by wind chill. So they cool a room’s occupant by the actual blowing air more than anything. If the room is unoccupied, don’t run the fan!Air Conditioning
I have a hatred for air conditioning. It feels good at first but then it makes you too cold and you end up running the heat to warm up. But that’s beside the point. There really isn’t an air conditioner that is better for energy efficiency. They are all terrible at it compared to the benefits that you get. To run your air conditioning at its most efficient, just keep the temperature as high as you feel comfortable. If you turn your air conditioning up and then put on more clothes, it defeats the purpose. Make sure that if you are going to be gone for a long time, you turn your air conditioning off because you’ll be cooling a house with nobody in it. You can always look at installing a smart thermostat to turn your cooling system off automatically during unoccupied times of day.Blinds/Curtains

Heating
Electric: Baseboard Heat and Ceiling Heat
Electric heating is one of the easiest types of heating system to install and incredibly common in the United States. These systems come in both baseboard and ceiling varieties. The nice thing about these systems is that you can shut off different rooms and not heat them if they aren’t in use, which does save some energy. The baseboard heaters, lie along the baseboard of your room and heat the room from the bottom up. These heaters keep you from running furniture too close to the walls. The systems are incredibly easy to set up though and provide reasonably good heat. They are slightly more energy efficient but still not great for efficiency. Ceiling heat uses electrical resistance in wires laid above the ceiling sheetrock to heat the room from the top down. These are one of the most inefficient systems, since heat rises, and if energy efficiency is important to you, you should look at replacing them.Forced Air Furnace

Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are deceptive things. They can’t be classified as heating or cooling because they do heating, cooling, dehumidify, and act as air purifiers. These systems now come in a ductless variety, which I just put in my home, and they are excellent examples of energy efficiency. Let me give you an example in my own home. We installed a Mitsubishi ductless heat pump about a year ago. It cost $5,000 fully installed, which definitely hurt when I wrote that check. However, we now keep our home at a constant comfortable temperature year round and our energy bill hasn’t increased at all. We never used to have air conditioning and we used to run our ceiling heat as little as possible. We were constantly too cold or too hot. I have never regretted spending that money. It was the best thing I ever bought and I 1000% recommend it to anybody.Energy Efficiency And Vampire Energy

Examples of Vampire Energy
- Microwave clock
- Coffee pot
- Cell phone charger
- Television
- Laptop charger
- Cordless drill charger
- Video game console
- Router