Cut energy use and stay warm and save money | HomeWork

Q: What steps do you recommend taking to lower home-energy costs?

A: The Puget Sound areas mild, maritime climate makes it an ideal spot for drastically lowering your power consumption at home.

According to a recent study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the average energy bill for a typical single-family American home is approximately $2,200 per year.

But by following these tips and making smart choices, many local homeowners can come very close to eliminating their home-energy bills.

The first step is to lower your homes requirements for heating, cooling and lighting. This means carefully sealing and insulating the shell of your home.

A typical house leaks 475 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM) enough to fill a hot-air balloon in less than three hours. Todays most-efficient homes leak only 68 CFM.

Properly placed high-performance windows let in the warming rays of the sun in the winter, are shaded in the summer and can provide natural ventilation.

Another energy-saving choice is to install water-saving appliances and ultralow showerheads. Hot water equals energy down the drain, so this is important for reducing energy usage.

Once you have lowered your energy usage as much as is practical for your family and your lifestyle, the next step is install efficient equipment and systems.

While it may not be feasible to replace everything at once, you can make small changes that help.

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Cut energy use and stay warm and save money | HomeWork