Before you make an energy-saving investment — a few bucks for caulking or thousands for a new furnace — it pays to know how your household consumes it. After all, why add more insulation in the attic where the last inch costs as much as the first if there's only a marginal improvement in fuel savings?
According to The Chicago Tribune, the best returns come in two areas: weak links, for example, a pull-down attic stair that has no insulation blanket, and the biggest users, space heating and cooling. An HVAC engineer could provide an analysis. Most local utility companies will conduct an energy audit at low or no cost. Some HVAC contractors have infrared scanners that can pinpoint energy leaks.
On-site audits help because every household is different, and some use a lot more energy than others. But your costs are probably distributed according to this rundown of national usage by the Department of Energy. Taking into account all fuels sources, almost half of the budget, 45 percent, goes for conditioning living spaces — 32 percent for space heating and 13 percent for cooling. No other category comes close. The next largest is water heating at 15 percent. Working down the list, lighting accounts for 10 percent, refrigeration 8 percent, electronics (televisions and other appliances) 7 percent, cooking 5 percent, wet cleaning (clothes washers and dryers, and dishwashers) 4 percent, and computers 2 percent. All other categories are marginal and not broken out individually by the DOE.
For more information, see our Energy Efficient Heating & Cooling research center.
