This information is from The US Department of Energy. Find this article and many others online at The DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website.
Heating and cooling your home uses more energy and drains more energy dollars
than any other system in your home. Typically, 44%
of your utility bill goes for heating and cooling. What's more, heating and
cooling systems in the United States together emit over a half billion tons of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, adding to global
warming. They also generate about 24% of the nation's sulfur dioxide and 12%
of the nitrogen oxides, the chief ingredients in acid
rain.
No matter what kind of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system you
have in your house, you can save money and increase comfort by properly
maintaining and upgrading your equipment. But remember, an energy-efficient
furnace alone will not have as great an impact on your energy bills as using the
whole-house approach. By combining proper equipment maintenance and upgrades
with appropriate insulation, weatherization, and thermostat settings, you can
cut your energy bills and your pollution output in half.
Household
Heating Systems
Although there are several different types of fuels available to heat our homes,
about half of us use natural gas.
Ducts
One of the most important systems in your home, though it's
hidden beneath your feet and over your head, may be wasting a lot of your energy
dollars. Your home's duct system, a branching network of tubes in the walls,
floors, and ceilings, carries the air from your home's furnace and central air
conditioner to each room. Ducts are made of sheet metal, fiber glass, or other
materials.
Unfortunately, many duct systems are poorly insulated or not insulated
properly. Ducts that leak heated air into unheated spaces can add hundreds of
dollars a year to your heating and cooling bills. Insulating ducts that are in
unconditioned spaces is usually very cost effective. If you are buying a new
duct system, consider one that comes with insulation already installed.
Ducts—Out of Sight, Out of Mind
The unsealed ducts in your attics and crawl spaces lose air—uninsulated ducts
lose heat, wasting energy and money.
Sealing your ducts to prevent leaks is even more important if the ducts are
located in an unconditioned area such as an attic or vented crawl space. If the
supply ducts are leaking, heated or cooled air can be forced out unsealed joints
and lost. In addition, unconditioned air can also be drawn into return ducts
through unsealed joints. In the summer, hot attic air can be drawn in,
increasing the load on the air conditioner. In the winter, your furnace will
have to work longer to keep your house comfortable. Either way, your energy
losses cost you money.
Although minor duct repairs are easy to accomplish, ducts in unconditioned
spaces should be sealed and insulated by qualified
professionals using the appropriate sealing materials. Here are a few simple
tips to help with minor duct repairs.
Heat Pumps
If you use electricity to heat your home, consider installing
an energy-efficient heat
pump system. Heat pumps are the most efficient form of electric heating in
moderate climates, providing three times more heating than the equivalent amount
of energy they consume in electricity. There are three types of heat pumps:
air-to-air, water source, and ground source. They collect heat from the air,
water, or ground outside your home and concentrate it for use inside. Heat pumps
do double duty as a central air conditioner. They can also cool your home by
collecting the heat inside your house and effectively pumping it outside. A heat
pump can trim the amount of electricity you use for heating as much as 30% to
40%.
Look for the ENERGY STAR®
label when buying a heat pump.
Solar Heating and Cooling
Using passive solar design techniques to heat and cool your
home can be both environmentally friendly and cost effective. Passive solar
heating techniques include placing larger, insulated windows on south-facing
walls and locating thermal mass, such as a concrete slab floor or a
heat-absorbing wall, close to the windows. In many cases, you can cut your
heating costs by more than 50% compared to the cost of heating the same house
that does not include passive solar design.
Passive solar design can also help reduce your cooling costs. Passive solar
cooling techniques include carefully designed overhangs, windows with reflective
coatings, and the use of reflective coatings on exterior walls and the roof.
However, a passive solar house also requires careful design and site
orientation, which depend on the local climate. So, if you are considering
passive solar design for new construction or a major remodeling, you should
consult an architect familiar with passive solar techniques.
Fireplaces
When you cozy up next to a crackling fire on a cold winter day,
you probably don't realize that your fireplace is one of the most inefficient
heat sources you can possibly use. It literally sends your energy dollars right
up the chimney along with volumes of warm air. A roaring fire can exhaust as
much as 24,000 cubic feet of air per hour to the outside, which must be replaced
by cold air coming into the house from the outside. Your heating system must
warm up this air, which is then exhausted through your chimney. If you use your
conventional fireplace while your central heating system is on, these tips can
help reduce energy losses.
Gas and Oil Heating Systems
If you plan to buy a new heating system, ask your local utility
or state energy office for
information about the latest technologies available to consumers. They can
advise you about more efficient systems on the market today. For example, many
newer models incorporate designs for burners and heat
exchangers that result in higher efficiencies during operation and reduce
heat loss when the equipment is off. Check the Shopping
Guide under Major Appliances for additional information on how to understand
heating system ratings.
Look for the ENERGY STAR®
and EnergyGuide
labels.
Air Conditioners
It might surprise you to know that buying a bigger room
air-conditioning unit won't necessarily make you feel more comfortable during
the hot summer months. In fact, a room air conditioner that's too big for the
area it is supposed to cool will perform less efficiently and less effectively
than a smaller, properly sized unit. This is because room units work better if
they run for relatively long periods of time than if they are continually,
switching off and on. Longer run times allow air conditioners to maintain a more
constant room temperature.
Sizing is equally important for central air-conditioning systems, which need
to be sized by professionals.
If you have a central air system in your home, set the fan to shut off at the
same time as the cooling unit (compressor). In other words, don't use the
system's central fan to provide circulation, but instead use circulating fans in
individual rooms.
The shopping guide in the back of this booklet will help you find the right
size unit for your needs. Look for the ENERGY
STAR® and EnergyGuide
labels.
Programmable Thermostats
You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling
bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours. You can do
this automatically without sacrificing comfort by installing an automatic
setback or programmable thermostat.
Using a programmable thermostat, you can adjust the times you turn on the
heating or air-conditioning according to a pre-set schedule. As a result, you
don't operate the equipment as much when you are asleep or when the house or
part of the house is not occupied. (These thermostats are not meant to be used
with heat pumps.) Programmable thermostats can store and repeat multiple daily
settings (six or more temperature settings a day) that you can manually override
without affecting the rest of the daily or weekly program. When shopping for a
programmable thermostat, be sure to look for the ENERGY
STAR® label.
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