When people buy a new car, one factor that should be considered is its fuel economy. Unfortunately, when they want to buy a house, the house’s “fuel economy”, or the rating of energy efficiency is not taken into account. Usually, car manufacturers put the fuel economy label on the window. This action could be adapted easily by a house builder or developer. It is easy to determine the rate of energy efficiency of the house as easy as determining the fuel economy of the car.
House energy rating program includes a house’s building plans analysis and onsite inspections. Inspectors will conduct some tests consist of leaking on door and duct and other energy holes. When inspection and analysis have accomplished, the house will be rated by the inspectors on a certain scale, usually from zero to 100. Zero on the scale represents the best energy efficient, while 100 means the least energy efficient.
Determining the house’s energy efficiency rating is important for the current house owner. This rating is useful as a milestone before accomplishing a new design of the house to be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. By obtaining reports of the house’s energy rating, the house owner will be easier to identify the most influenced part of a house on energy consumption.
Why should we improve my energy efficiency rating at home? Have you thought this simple question? There are lots of advantages of increasing energy-efficient at home. It is not only reducing utility bills but also reducing greenhouse gas emissions or environmental pollution and conserving limited natural resources. By applying these energy efficiency strategies, you will get the greatest monetary benefits.
1. Insulation
Heat can be lost through a wall, roof, and under-floor, so it is necessary to insulate the house. In average, heating and cooling consume about half of the household’s energy demand. By installing proper insulation over the house as well as avoiding air leakage, energy consumption can be reduced by as much as 50%. The installation insulation project is quite expensive; however, a considerable reduction in heating bill makes this suggestion is well worth it. Therefore, saving can afford to finance this insulation project.
2. Windows and doors
Another part of a house in which energy might lose through it is a window. Double or triple-glass windows will enhance the level of energy-efficient than a high scope of house renovation. Double-glass windows will have a high performance when the emissivity level is low, avoiding the gas between the sheets of glass.
3. Energy-efficient lighting
It seems like the easiest way to improve the energy efficiency rate by installing energy-efficient lighting. It is also the most cost-effective approach in order to reduce the energy consumption of a house. LEDs as the newest energy-efficient light bulbs are not only reducing lighting costs significantly but also environmentally friendly.
4. Energy-Efficient equipment and appliances
Recently, in order to save energy, home appliances and equipment are considered to be less energy consumption. Many manufacturers are trying to produce appliances and equipment which are more energy-efficient than others.
Energy-efficient appliances help you to reduce your electricity bills every month. Some countries have introduced the rating system as guidance to customers on determining the highest energy savings. So, it is important to understand the energy rating that will guide us choosing more energy efficient products. As regulated by the government, any products must be labeled with the rating system which is the standards of energy consumption that have been set by the government.
This rating system has been applied for lots of home appliances, such as dishwasher, refrigerator, cooker, washing machine, microwave, air conditioning, TV and many others. Those home appliances are characterized by the number of energy of electricity that those appliances use in a certain period of operation. The number of energy of electricity could be in kilowatt-hours or joule. The appliances which have a smaller number indicate that those appliances are more efficient.
Some appliances have typical rating systems. For example, the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER) measures the level of efficiency of central air conditioners. In this case, the higher the number denotes the more efficient. While the Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) is used to rate the level of efficiency of room air conditioners. The unit with higher EER performs more efficient. Another rating system is Energy Factor (EF), which is used for rating the efficiency level of dishwashers and washing machines. This number represents how many cycles that can be done using one kilowatt-hour of energy. Customers should choose higher EF for more efficient appliances.
The price of high energy saving appliances may be more expensive; however, it is worth for long term of a lifetime.
5. Programmable Systems
Programmable systems are useful to minimize our energy bill by about 15%. The limits of temperature can be set to be lower and upper which maintain the temperature at a certain level. Consequently, it helps you increase savings.
6. Green energy habits
This is the cheapest investments in reducing energy consumptions. We do not need to install any new equipment or replace old appliances. What we need is only to change our habits. For instance, we can try to turn off appliances such as lights or air conditioners when not needed. Another try is to set the thermostat one or two degrees lower. At the first time, we may not be convenient whit these practices, however, they boost the rating of your house energy efficiency rating.
7. Use renewable energy resources
Usually, people use a boiler as the heating system. Unfortunately, the old model of boiler consumes a massive amount of energy. To deal with this problem, replacing an old boiler with renewable energy resources for heating systems such as solar panels, air and ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers would be an interesting option.
Conclusions
A bad energy efficiency rating indicates an expensive cost to run. However, implementing these recommendations will improve not only your energy efficiency rating but also the value of the property. Furthermore, this is a reasonable answer to why we should improve the energy efficiency rating at home.
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