Top 5 Winter Home Energy Savings Measures

[CU Boulder Independent Learning]

By Andy Mazal of Inhabit Consulting in Boulder Colorado.

Solar panels, carbon credits, wind turbines or remodeling the place you live are some of the most common things we are served up when asked what we can do to begin the process of being more environmentally responsible in our day-to-day living. These options are great if you can afford a $10,000 solar installation or $15,000 for new windows, let alone a $100,000 home renovation, but for most people who really do want to make changes in how they are living, these are simply not realistic options. Yet the fact is that most of us live in structures that were not designed to function in synergy with their environment: they are oriented in the wrong direction, have poor insulation, improperly placed windows, leaks in the duct work, inefficient appliances and generally work against us despite our desire to shift into the green.

Great news: You’ve still got options. There are very viable, relatively inexpensive and simple changes you can make to your home or apartment to increase its energy efficiency and save yourself real money on your energy bills (and help to save the planet, while you’re at it). Because winter is quickly approaching we’ll concentrate on things you can do now to reduce your energy bills during the coming winter. Energy usage in winter is dominated in most parts of North America by heating, we’ll focus on those things you can do to keep that expensive heat inside and keep the cold outside, where it belongs. Here are five things that you can get started on today to prepare your house for the winter heating season:

1. Get a Home Energy Audit

2. Check your attic insulation

3. Repair leaks in duct work

4. Check the weather stripping on your doors and windows

5. Replace or clean the air filters in your furnace

Read the entire article at EcoTimes.com