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Your
Home's/Company's Energy Use
The first step to taking a whole-house/company energy efficiency approach
is to find out which parts of your house/company use the most energy. A
home/company energy audit will show you where these are and suggest the
most effective measures for reducing your energy costs. You can conduct a
simple home/company energy audit yourself, or you can call an
independent energy auditor for a more
comprehensive examination.
Formulating Your Plan
After you have identified places where your home/company is losing energy,
assign priorities to your energy needs by asking yourself a few important
questions:
- How much money do you spend on energy?
- Where are your greatest energy losses?
- How long will it take for an investment in energy efficiency to pay for
itself in energy savings?
- Can you do the job yourself, or will you need to hire a contractor?
- What is your budget and how much time do you have to spend on
maintenance and repair?
Once you assign priorities to your energy needs, you can form a whole-house/company
efficiency plan. Your plan will provide you with a strategy for making
smart purchases and home/company improvements that maximize energy
efficiency and save the most money.
Another option is to get the advice of a
professional. Many utilities conduct
energy audits for free or for a nominal charge. For a fee, a professional
contractor will analyze how your home's/company's energy systems work
together as a system and compare the analysis against your utility bills.
He or she will use a variety of equipment such as stack gas analyser,
datalogger, U value calculator, multimeter and surface thermometers to
find inefficiencies that cannot be detected by a visual inspection.
Finally, they will give you a list of recommendations for cost-effective
energy improvements and enhanced comfort and safety.
Energy Auditing Tips for Homes
Check the level of insulation in your exterior and basement walls,
ceilings, attic, floors, and crawl spaces. Contact your energy counsellor
for advice on how to check your insulation levels.
Check for holes or cracks around your walls, ceilings, windows, doors,
light and plumbing fixtures, switches, and electrical outlets that can
leak air into or out of your home.
Make sure your appliances and heating and cooling systems are properly
maintained.
Study your family's lighting needs and use patterns, paying special
attention to high-use areas such as the living room, kitchen, and exterior
lighting. Look for ways to use daylighting, reduce the time the lights are
on, and replace incandescent bulbs and fixtures with compact fluorescent
lamps (CFL's) or standard fluorescent lamps.
Save Energy, Save Money
The nice thing about energy efficiency is that it usually pays for itself
in energy savings. Many of the applications are inexpensive or free. Other
actions, such as adding insulation, can take as many as 5 years to pay for
themselves, but if you keep your house/company for longer than that,
you'll continue to pocket the energy savings for the life of the house/company.
Even if you sell your house/company, the added insulation helps the resale
value of the house/company, and the lower energy bills make the home/company
more attractive to buyers.
Although nearly every application will pay for itself eventually, you
should start with the cheapest and easiest steps that will save you the
most energy, and then work your way toward the more difficult projects.
Some considerations, like whether you should upgrade your boiler or
insulate your walls, attic and foundation or a new compansation unit may
require the advice of an energy expert, who can analyze the costs and
savings for your home. |
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