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Better ways to make a house more energy efficient (1 Viewer)

Sinrman

Sinrman

Footballguy
So I live in a home that is about 16 years old. A lot of the original pieces (AC unit, insulation, etc.) are still in place. The hot water heater was replaced last year and a new roof put on about 2½ years ago.

Suggestions on making our home more energy efficient? It is a split level home, only about 1600 sq. feet, but does NOT heat or cool well throughout the house. Trying not to break the bank and money is tight, but hoping to come up with some easy-to-implement things to keep this house going longer and until we can get out of it (hopefully in the next 3-5 years).

 
Where do you live? Temps?

16 years is a long life span of an A/C unit. Upgrading to a new one will definitely help. For that, you are looking at $3k to $6k. Make sure it's 16 SEER or higher.

 
Insulating your hot water pipes would be one thing to do that wouldn't cost nearly as much as replacing an under-performing furnace or AC unit. Getting really GOOD windows will probably work wonders too...if what you have isn't up to snuff. Increasing the R-value of your insulation in your attic and walls would help a TON as well. Even the color of your home/roof will make a big difference on the amount of heat that is absorbed/retained. So depending upon whether you have more heating or cooling needs throughout the year, that's something to consider as well.

The other thing? Caulk. My wife and I bought a 100-year old home that had been neglected for a decade prior...so much so that birds and bats had taken up residence in the attic. And I think I probably caused the stock price in certain caulk manufacturers to go up a penny or two on my own those first couple years. :) But our heating/cooling bill was cut by over 50% after all our work:

- 63 new energy-efficient windows

- sealing up any cracks and gaps we could find

- new boiler

- new AC unit

- landscaping around the house (raised the level of the ground ~14-16 inches around the entire perimeter of the home

- new, lighter-color roof (less heat absorption in the Summer)

- skylight in my third floor office (natural light vs. artificial, a chance to release heat from the third floor into the air, as heat rises, while cooler air falls)
- installed the handler/distributor (I think that's what you call it?) for the AC unit in the attic. Again, using the fact that cooler air falls to have our home to consume less electricity to cool our home.
- new hot water pipes (insulated) and cold water pipes

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. And of course, another GREAT thing you can do is set your temperature control a couple degrees higher in the Summer, and a couple degrees cooler in the Winter. ;) But if we can cut our energy consumption and heating/cooling bill by more than half, I'm sure you can too. Might take some up-front investment! But think of it more as paying a little more now to save later. Especially since the cost of electricity/natural gas/_________ won't be getting cheaper anytime soon.

 
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My energy bills are down 20-25 percent since I put a new HVAC unit in. I'm all electric which sucks, but the house has great windows and good installation. I added a few things like an attic containment tent, rubber stopper for the doors, and fixed the kitchen window which didn't fully secure. I think overall it's a mix of big things and little things but as long as you are cognizant of the issues, you can cure them one by one.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
eoMMan said:
Where do you live? Temps?

16 years is a long life span of an A/C unit. Upgrading to a new one will definitely help. For that, you are looking at $3k to $6k. Make sure it's 16 SEER or higher.
Click to expand...
Georgia, so hot and humid in the summer, up-and-down weather the other three seasons (this Spring, so far, it has been cold for a day or two, and by "cold" I mean by Georgia standards, in the 30's and 40's, and then in the 70's and 80's for a few days). The downstairs, which can be used as a bonus room or a 4th bedroom, does not heat/cool whatsoever, so it's freezing cold during the winter (have to break out a small heater) and roasting during the summer.

I'm hoping to hold off on an AC unit, but yeah, I definitely realize that we are on borrowed time on it. It was the same for our hot water heater, that the plumber guy laughed when I told him how long we had had our previous one (before installing a new one). He was floored when I told him it was 15 years old. :D

 
GamerBoy61 said:
How much insulation is in the attic? How drafty are the windows - are they single pane or insulated glass?
Click to expand...
This was one thing I told my wife the other day that we should look into. The insulation is a mess in the small attic area. Looks like a bunch of kids went through tossing it all up in the air and let it land wherever... was thinking of looking into replacing it. Anything in particular to look for that isn't too costly?

As for windows.. single pane.

One thing I HAVE noticed is the front and back glass-doors have slight cracks at the bottom, so I'm quite sure it's letting in some hot/cold air through that on some days, so we'd definitely need to look into replacing/fixing those.

 
datonn said:
Insulating your hot water pipes would be one thing to do that wouldn't cost nearly as much as replacing an under-performing furnace or AC unit. Getting really GOOD windows will probably work wonders too...if what you have isn't up to snuff. Increasing the R-value of your insulation in your attic and walls would help a TON as well. Even the color of your home/roof will make a big difference on the amount of heat that is absorbed/retained. So depending upon whether you have more heating or cooling needs throughout the year, that's something to consider as well.

The other thing? Caulk. My wife and I bought a 100-year old home that had been neglected for a decade prior...so much so that birds and bats had taken up residence in the attic. And I think I probably caused the stock price in certain caulk manufacturers to go up a penny or two on my own those first couple years. :) But our heating/cooling bill was cut by over 50% after all our work:

- 63 new energy-efficient windows

- sealing up any cracks and gaps we could find

- new boiler

- new AC unit

- landscaping around the house (raised the level of the ground ~14-16 inches around the entire perimeter of the home

- new, lighter-color roof (less heat absorption in the Summer)

- skylight in my third floor office (natural light vs. artificial, a chance to release heat from the third floor into the air, as heat rises, while cooler air falls)

- installed the handler/distributor (I think that's what you call it?) for the AC unit in the attic. Again, using the fact that cooler air falls to have our home to consume less electricity to cool our home.

- new hot water pipes (insulated) and cold water pipes

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. And of course, another GREAT thing you can do is set your temperature control a couple degrees higher in the Summer, and a couple degrees cooler in the Winter. ;) But if we can cut our energy consumption and heating/cooling bill by more than half, I'm sure you can too. Might take some up-front investment! But think of it more as paying a little more now to save later. Especially since the cost of electricity/natural gas/_________ won't be getting cheaper anytime soon.
Click to expand...
Great suggestions. Thanks.

 
Storm doors with built in screens. Will really seal the area around your doors but also allow great ventilation so you can avoid the AC as much as possible.

 
Instead of AC at night while you're sleeping, I'd look into going with a whole house fan. If you install it in the right place, you'll generate a nice breeze though out your bedrooms which will be more than sufficient while sleep.

 
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