Making Your Home Energy Efficient

By Robert Robillard on Energy Saving

Sustainable and Green Initiatives

Many people believe in the importance of sustainability and green initiatives but will never get a chance to build a new home incorporating their beliefs. in this situation the best you can hope for is to focus on making your home energy efficient.

Many live in older homes that are inefficient when it comes to energy efficiency.

The Older House Problem

The typical house built before 1970 typically includes 2×4 wall construction with minimal wall insulation and if lucky has R-19 insulation under in the ceilings. Most of these homes may have changed out their single pane glass windows but many have not.

The problem is that many of these homes are currently using two to three times more energy than today’s more energy efficient homes. 
Making your home energy efficient can be done all at once or piece mail – either way many of these items car easy DIY projects.

Making Your Older Home More Energy Efficient

  1. Perform an Energy Audit
  2. The first step to making an existing dwelling energy efficient is to conduct an energy audit.Many communities and utility companies offer this service free of cost.
  3. Have a professional perform a blower-door test to help determine where the worst leaks are
  4. Replace all the windows with low-E, argon-filled units.
  5. Add insulation in the attic .
  6. Thoroughly seal all penetrations under the floors. Especially under the bathtub – this is usually the biggest opening in the house.
  7. Fill holes around masonry fireplaces, vent pipes and other obvious openings.
  8. Insulate all hot-water pipes and add more insulation under the floors, up to R-38, if there is room.
  9. Foam or caulk all penetrations in the ceilings and attic, around recessed can lights, light boxes, and other protrusions, and use spray-foam insulation on the underside of the roof deck.
  10. Remodeling projects using a ground-source heat pumps, which when combined with a solar hot water heater, could reduce utility bills by 87%.
  11. Use Energy Star-rated appliances.Appliances account for 15% to 20% of a home’s total energy consumption.

 

 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

About the author

Robert Robillard

Carpenter / Remodeler / Editor

Rob Robillard is “The Concord Carpenter” Rob is a builder, general contractor, carpenter, woodworker, and editor of Concord Carpenter and ToolBoxBuzz As a General Contractor and carpenter, Rob owns and operates Concord Carpenter LLC. A full-service remodeling and construction company. Rob is a recognized leader in home building best practices and a source for how-to information for building professionals. On this website, Rob covers all aspects of home construction, building science, home improvement, woodworking, remodeling, and some of the best product and tool reviews. Rob is in charge of our Tool and Product Review series - Concord Carpenter Videos where we post all of our tool reviews and video tutorials. Rob approaches remodeling and building construction with a pragmatic and problem-solving approach. He enjoys using his knowledge and experience to help and educate building professionals as well as DIYers on best practices in the construction and remodeling industry. He's a strong advocate for "raising the bar" in the construction trades and promoting the trades to youth. #BeAMentor #Green2Great Craftsmanship, quality, and pride guide his journey on this channel The Concord Carpenter's motto: "Well done is better than well said!" : Read more about Rob

All posts by Robert »

Not what you're looking for?

Search for more articles here. Enter keywords like roof leak, bookcase, deck, etc to find your topic.

© Copyright 2019 A Concord Carpenter · All Rights Reserved