Good Investment for Saving Energy

Programmable Thermostat

• Install an ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostat – It can save up to $100 per year in coastal areas and over $150 inland and pays for itself in less than 12 months. Make sure to install it away from natural cool and hot spots.

Seal Your Ducts

• Have your heating and cooling ducts professionally sealed to save up to $120 in coastal areas and up to $190 inland per year.

Seal Your Home

• Seal your home's envelope – walls, floor, ceiling and roof – to save up to 10% on your annual energy bill:
• Add weather stripping around windows and doors to reduce drafts.
• Use caulking to seal around ducts, plumbing and any other openings in walls, floors and ceilings to reduce air leakage. Begin in the attic, a common place for warm air to escape.
• Seal larger gaps that cannot be covered with caulk or with expanding foam.

Insulate, Insulate, Insulate

• After air sealing, determine the current level of insulation. In the attic, measure the depth of existing insulation using a ruler. If there is less than R-22 (7 inches of fiber glass or rock wool or 6 inches of cellulose) you could probably benefit by adding more. Most U.S. homes should have between R-22 and R-49 insulation in the attic. Insulating ceilings, walls, attics, floors, crawl spaces and basements to recommended standards can reduce heating and cooling costs by 5% to 25%.

Upgrade Your Heating System

• Replace heating equipment more than 15 years old with new ENERGY STAR qualified models. Equipment must be sized and installed properly.
• Old furnaces cost more to operate per year than new, ENERGY STAR qualified models that are 15% more efficient than standard models.
• An ENERGY STAR qualified electric heat pump is 20% more efficient and can save you about $130 annually.
• An ENERGY STAR qualified boiler uses features like electric ignition and new combustion technologies that extract more heat from the same amount of fuel, to be 10% more efficient than a new, standard model.

Maintain Your Cooling System

• Have your air conditioning unit serviced to cut 15% of cooling costs.

Windows

• Install high efficiency windows, which are 40% more efficient than standard windows. Consider replacing single-pane windows with double-pane windows that are gas-filled with high performance glass (e.g., low emissivity or "low-e" glass). ENERGY STAR qualified windows may help reduce your heating and cooling costs by up to 15%. The windows must be sized and installed properly.