By Deborah Williams
Editor’s note: Another practical action story that you can take to help tone down Climate Change. Williams is a UCSB lecturer in Environmental Studies.
Are you feeling cold in your home and spending too much money on your heating bills? Do you remember being too hot at home last summer?
About 52% of energy used in an average US household is for heating and cooling, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, This represents a significant amount of the United States’ total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Fortunately, there are many excellent strategies and programs to help reduce heating and cooling energy use – ranging from no-cost and inexpensive options to actions that require more up-front costs, but save money over time.
Thanks to the Federal Inflation Reduction Act and the State of California, now is an especially great time to reduce your heating and cooling carbon footprint, save dollars, enjoy tax credits and feel even more comfy at home.
Let’s start with free and inexpensive strategies for both renters and homeowners -- which cost very little or nothing to implement -- and will save energy, carbon emissions and dollars. Here are a few of my favorites, all of which we happily use.
Dress for it. Modifying what we wear for temperature comfort is the first best option. Wearing much warmer clothes around the house in the winter and cooler clothes in the summer provides a great feeling of personal control.
Venting is good for you. As the Department of Energy notes, when ducts are not functioning properly, they are “likely contributing to higher energy bills.” So, it makes sense to be sure that our heating and cooling air vents are not blocked by furniture or artwork.
Also, it’s energy efficient to vacuum vent registers to remove dust buildup. Furthermore, as needed, make minor duct repairs using readily available tips that can be found on Energy.gov.
Being Shady, Or Not. Smart summer management of window treatments can reduce heat gain by up to 77% and also save significant energy in the winter. The strategies are so simple. In winter, when the sun is out, keep blinds, drapes or shades on your south-facing windows open to allow sunlight to help warm your home and then close them at night to help keep the warmth in. During summer, keep blinds, drapes or shades closed during the day to block the sun’s heat, whenever possible.
This is a good way to get a little more exercise, too!
We all need (clean) filters. Replacing a dirty air conditioning filter can lower that unit’s energy use by 5 to 15%. For HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems, the same is true. It is also important to clean evaporator coils as needed. During smokey periods, replacement and cleaning will usually need to be more frequent.
Hooray for fans. Stand alone or ceiling fans use so much less energy than air conditioning and provide a lot of comfort. As reported by Southern California Edison, a typical central air conditioning system uses 3,500 watts to run, while an average ceiling fan uses only 60 watts. Portable tower fans, pedestal fans, and compact fans are also great, energy-saving options.
Now let’s explore other strategies: starting with windows.
Close to 30% of a home’s heating energy is typically lost through windows in the winter, and in the summer about 76% of the sunlight that falls on a conventional double-pane window enters your home to become heat. Here are some impactful actions to take:
DIY is Empowering. We can improve our home’s energy efficiency and reduce drafts by repairing and/or modifying our existing windows. For example, using caulk and/or weatherstripping to fix air leaks around windows is a great DIY project that doesn’t require specialized skills and also helps seal off access points for termites.
Another low-cost DIY option is installing plastic heat-shrink wraps over existing windows during winter, especially if the specific windows are not used very often. Energy Star has a great, on-line step-by-step guide.
Then there’s replacement. Replacing old windows with more efficient double or, even better, triple pane windows can significantly reduce energy losses, lower energy bills by an average of up to 13%, and make our homes more comfortable with fewer drafts. Federal tax credits for exterior windows are available for up to $600.
Up next…insulation. The Department of Energy estimates that, on average, by adding insulation and reducing air leaks, the average homeowner can reduce heating and cooling by 20%. According to Energy Star, 90% of US homes are under insulated and have significant air leaks. The Energy.gov website has an excellent general guide to adding insulation to our homes, which helps you decide what type of insulation to add, and the costs and payback of doing so. And, you can get a tax credit for 30% of your product cost for up to $1,200 in total tax credits.
Pump it Up. Finally, there are heat pumps. When it is time to replace your furnace, a heat pump is a very efficient option and can reduce your electricity use by approximately 75% over a typical electric furnace. Heat pumps transfer heat from a cool area to a warm area, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer; and, as described by the energy.gov website, there are lots of great options. We can get up to a $2,000 tax credit for converting to heat pumps.
Remember, with heat pumps and other energy efficiency and conservation options, it’s best to choose products that have the Energy Star rating. A list of Energy Star products is at this site. The Dept of Energy also provides a very helpful Home Improvement Expert Checklist to plan energy-related projects around your home.
And there’s more help: California has a Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) which provides funding to assist low-income households with managing and meeting immediate home heating and/or cooling needs. LIHEAP also has numerous programs and can provide free energy efficient upgrades.
For all the reasons discussed in this column, and more, there has never been a better time to get comfy at home, save energy costs, reduce our carbon footprint and get tax credits for improving the heating and cooling of our residences.