Taking a whole-house approach to energy efficiency means working closely with your architect and contractor to design a home that maximizes your family’s comfort while minimizing your energy costs. In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the role of cooling, ventilation, and insulation. In Part 2, we will focus on some additional components of complete home comfort systems, including lighting, windows and doors, water heating, and appliances. Carefully considering each of them as you build or renovate your house can boost energy efficiency and save you money.

Lighting constitutes 15 percent of the average household’s energy budget, but careful planning can help you to cut costs. Designing indoor lighting to maximize flexibility—for instance, by using lamps to focus light on particular parts of a room, and by linking individual lights to separate dimmer switches—will enable you to use less electricity for daily lighting needs. As dark colors absorb light, painting rooms in lighter colors will also help.

Natural light can also add to the comfort of your home. Poorly located windows and skylights can allow too much light and heat into your house at certain times, while admitting inadequate natural light at others. In contrast, strategically located units can provide consistent but indirect natural illumination throughout the day, lessening the need for artificial light and reducing cooling costs. Using EnergyStar-certified windows, skylights and doors will also help to keep your home cool.

Appliances are responsible for the remainder of the average energy bill. Water heaters alone can account for up to a quarter of energy costs. Selecting an energy-efficient water heater that uses a type of fuel abundant in your area, adding a timer to take advantage of off-peak energy costs, and adding insulation to your heater and pipes will all decrease your resource use. Similarly, installing high-efficiency dishwashers, refrigerators, washing machines, and dryers will also lower your energy bill.

To begin planning your complete home comfort system, feel free to call one of the professionals at Conditioned Air today.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about energy efficient homes and other HVAC topics, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Conditioned Air services Southwest Florida including cities Marco Island, Ft. Myers or anywhere in between.  To get started, check out our website or see our special offers.