Home Efficiency: 6 Ways to Improve Home Efficiency
Measuring a home's efficiency can be a confusing task for most homeowners. Even if you understand the importance of efficiency, you may still be unsure how to measure it. In fact, the process of examining any building's efficiency begins with feedback from the family living inside a home - the ones who know its strengths and weaknesses best. Once you draw a qualified contractor's attention to drafty rooms, high humidity and other performance issues, he'll run tests and suggest improvements that will dramatically improve your home's efficiency quotient.
Identifying a Home's Weaknesses
Complaints from homeowners often concern differing temperatures throughout a home. While the living room may be cozy at all hours, the dining room and upstairs bedrooms may be drafty and uncomfortable. A Building Performance Institute (BPI) professional from Reliable will look into your home's inner workings and outer shell when performing a full energy audit. Diagnostic tests include checking air duct leaks, insulation quality, carbon monoxide levels and any other factor that could be hampering efficiency. Rather than patching individual problems, technicians prepare a whole-home solution for increasing efficiency and comfort.
Improving Home Efficiency
Once the BPI inspector prepares a list of recommended upgrades, you can draw up a plan of attack. Many upgrades that technicians suggest are potential do-it-yourself projects, while others will require professional handling. Typical performance upgrades address the following areas:
- Poor insulation: Few homes have the proper insulation. Inexpensive upgrades to your home's protective shell create instant energy savings. Inspectors can tell you exactly what areas to target.
- Inefficient HVAC equipment: Heating and cooling equipment that dates back 10 years or more has probably become a drain on energy consumption. Replacing HVAC equipment with efficient models may even qualify you for local and Georgia state government rebates. These incentives help offset higher costs for industry-leading equipment, and the energy savings continue for years to come.
- High humidity: High moisture levels can affect air quality and lead to mold or mildew inside your home. Technicians can test humidity levels and recommend devices to bring moisture levels down.
- Old water heaters: Old water heaters are among the biggest energy wasters in Atlanta-area homes. Incentives over $500 may be available if you replace a gas water heater with a heat pump system. Tankless water heaters are another option that provide an unlimited supply of hot water on demand while reducing energy consumption.
- Leaky ductwork: The U.S. Department of Energy stresses the importance of sealing leaks in ducts in connection with insulation upgrades. You'll get a clear picture of your ductworks weaknesses when an energy audit is complete.
- Zone control: Why heat and cool your whole home when your family is spending most of your time in four or five rooms? HVAC zone control provides smart controls for a home so you don't waste energy on temperature control that you don't feel. It's the new standard of home efficiency.
Just because a home inspector recommends a fix doesn't mean you'll be required to do it immediately. You can plan for the short and long term when you have a picture of what your home needs to upgrade its overall performance. Improvements that address comfort levels and energy costs may be the most agreeable when you draw up your budget.
Reliable Heating & Air is a certified BPI professional contractor that can overhaul your home performance in just a few visits. Find out how you can start saving money through better home efficiency today.