Energy Savings for Your Green Home
January 17th, 2011 | Everyday GreenIt’s a simple idea: The amount of energy you have to use in your home has a direct effect on the money you pay for utilities. In other words, if you can use less energy, you will save more money. With a green home, the energy savings are already built in. You won’t have to spend time, money and energy winterizing an older home, or suffer through high heating and cooling bills in the brutal Chicago winter and hot Chicago summer. You’ll simply notice the dollars and cents you save in your green home adding up from the get go.
Green homes have superior quality wall and window insulation to keep the outside temperature, whatever it may be, from impacting the inside temperature of your home. The insulation also prevents the heat that’s generated inside the home from escaping. The hot water systems in many green homes use solar panels that capture energy from the sun to help heat hot water.
Energy Saving Appliances
Most green homes use ENERGY STAR appliances. ENERGY STAR is the trusted, government-backed symbol for energy efficiency that was established to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by an inefficient use of energy. The label also makes it easy for consumers to identify and purchase these energy-efficient products, which receive the ENERGY STAR label if they offer savings without sacrificing performance, features or comfort. ENERGY STAR appliances can include hot water heaters, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, ovens, washers and dryers. These models will conserve energy and save you money in the long run.
Longer Lasting Lights
The electricity in green homes often comes courtesy of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). CFLs can save 75% of the electricity used by incandescent light bulbs. And the lighting cost of the CFL is less than one-third of the cost of an incandescent. A CFL bulb will cost $2-3, but it lasts 10,000 hours and uses approximately 27 watts to generate as much light as a 100-watt incandescent bulb. A 100-watt bulb costs $0.50, but only lasts 1,000 hours.
