Advice on how to make a home more energy efficient is often pretty general, like weatherizing to seal exterior air leaks, adding more attic insulation, or replacing older windows. Here are some targeted measures you can implement in specific rooms to maximize your home’s energy efficiency for even greater savings:
Kitchen
- If it’s time to replace your refrigerator, opt for an Energy Star-certified model. Certified fridges are about nine percent more efficient than standard models, and use only half the energy of a 15-year old unit.
- Don’t pre-rinse when you’re loading the dishwasher, only run full loads and never use the heated dry cycle. When you’re upgrading an older model, only consider ones with the Energy Star logo, which use roughly 12 percent less energy.
Living/Family Rooms
- Install ceiling fans and run them whenever your living and family rooms are occupied. In the summer, set the blades counter-clockwise and the cooling air movement can let you raise the thermostat setting. In the winter, switch the blade direction so the clockwise rotation pushes heated air back down as it naturally rises, and you can comfortably lower the thermostat setting.
Laundry Room
Always wash full loads of laundry, and only on the cold water setting. If you use the dryer instead of hanging laundry out to dry, clean the lint trap after every load.
Bedrooms
- Optimize your programmable thermostat for energy savings with nightly eight-hour setback periods of eight degrees in winter, and four degrees in summer.
- Install insulating shades on your bedroom windows and open them to let in free solar heat on cool, sunny days. On hot days, keep them closed to limit heat gain.
Bathrooms
- Upgrade to WaterSense labeled showerheads and faucets and you’ll save up to 3,500 gallons of water annually, which can significantly lower your water heating energy consumption.
- Replace your older water heater with an Energy Star-certified hybrid heat pump model and you’ll use up to fifty percent less energy for water heating vs. an electric unit.
For personalized advice about maximizing energy efficiency in your Lorain home, contact us at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about efficiency and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.
Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area