Our homes work like an energy economy. Our appliances consume electricity that sustains our daily lives. We need energy to cook our food, take a bath, watch television, and browse the Internet. We even consume energy when we sleep through our home heaters.
Since we consume electricity especially at home, we have to make sure that our homes are built to be energy efficient. Some solutions that can increase our home’s energy efficiency include increasing insulation in homes, replacing wasteful appliances with energy-efficient appliances, and by subscribing to cutting edge energy-efficient technologies such as solar panels and smart-grid software. Most importantly, we can save energy and the environment by consuming less and turning off gadgets and appliances that are not in use.
Energy Star Appliances
One of the leading energy technologies widely recommended by the government is energy star appliances. Energy Star appliances incorporate advanced technologies that use 10% to 50% less energy and water than standard models. These appliances have the latest designs to save as much energy as they can.
Household appliances make up the bulk of our household wastes. Wastewater is generated when we use clothes washers, dishwashers, and air-conditioners. Thus, you can find similar items with Energy Star labels to help you save on the cost of energy while giving the environment a great service. Energy Star appliances include lighting, home electronics, and heating/cooling equipment.
Improving Home Sealing
Our homes are designed to keep out noise, cold, and heat while insulating a stable environment inside. We can say that our home acts like a shell that is made of outer walls, ceilings, windows, and floors. Sometimes, this shell is poorly maintained, which leads to rooms that are either too hot or too cold. This exhausts our heating and cooling bills and increases our energy consumption. We can increase the overall comfort of the house by checking air leaks and adding insulation in our homes. There are new energy technologies that improve home insulation and keep energy inside our homes.
Contrary to popular belief, it does not take much to change the layout of your home and keep it insulated. First, you have to buy the right cooling and heating equipment for your home. Bigger is not always better when it comes to energy efficiency. Larger heating and cooling equipment will lead to more frequent on/off cycling. Larger equipment can also lead to more stress on system components and shorten the life of the equipment. By keeping your equipment at the right size, you do not have to worry much about higher energy bills.
Another way to save energy and the environment is to ensure that the house is properly sealed with duct tape. There are new duct sealants developed to last for hundred of years. An energy efficient home should have a duct sealant with metal-backed foil, or an aerosol sealant to keep the seams sealed. Ducts should also be wrapped with advanced material to increase insulation.
Programmable Software To Monitor Energy Consumption
Home appliances are becoming more functional and smarter, thanks to the addition of network connectivity that allows home appliances to communicate with each other. Now, your computer can monitor the energy consumption of your appliances with the help of smartmeter software.
The newest smartmeter software that can make inroads in solving the energy and environment problem is Google PowerMeter. This web application displays home energy consumption broken down by appliance. Home appliances will tell your computer how much energy they consume every minute.
Software development for home use is part of the growing initiative of companies to use the smart-grid. By giving access to energy consumption data, users can look at their usage and see what appliances add the most to their energy consumption. Once they have all the data that they need, users can modify their usage, so they can cut their energy costs.
A rough test by Google employees saw energy savings by as much as 64 percent over the past year, just by replacing inefficient appliances as seen from Google Powermeter. Studies have shown that regularly viewing real time energy data will push people to cut energy by an average of 15%. Unlike traditional grid monitors that are only available to enterprises, Google will appeal directly to home consumers, so they can monitor their consumption and save money in the process.
Smart-grids and software like Google Powermeter can help America’s energy-hungry economy by keeping manufacturers honest with their products’ energy consumption. This could lead to more energy efficient appliances now that users have a way to monitor energy consumption in real time.
Other smart software that you can use to save energy and the environment in general are programmable thermostats. These specialized thermostats are used to monitor the temperature of homes, and then command the heating/cooling equipment while saving energy in the process.
Energy Efficient Lighting Products
Lighting accounts for about 20% of a household’s electric bill. Since lighting is used at all times, homeowners can drastically save money by installing energy-efficient lights.
Energy Star has a comprehensive list of energy-efficient lights that you can use in your home. Inefficient incandescent light bulbs are hotter in addition to using more energy. Fluorescent lights or CFL lights with the Energy Star labels can save you hundreds of dollars in energy cost per month, not only by using better technology, but also by helping your home maintain temperature balance.
We can all do our part to save energy and the environment. The little things that we do to keep our energy consumption low will go a long way to help the environment recover the lost energy while reducing waste generated by our homes. These leading energy technologies will need significant investments, but these small investments will eventually pay off to make energy efficient homes.
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