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Breakdown of Energy Consumption in Homes |
Conservation: Where do you begin? In most homes, the first place to start is your heating and cooling system. As the above pie chart, “Breakdown of Energy Consumption in Homes,” indicates, heating and cooling a home represents 45-55 percent of your home’s energy usage and thus energy costs. It also impacts the comfort and durability of your home.
Whether you are building a new home or updating an existing home with a ducted or ductless distribution system, Minnesota Power and participating municipal utilities offer rebates on a variety of heating and cooling systems to meet your situational needs or requirements. We also recommend that you look at your home as an energy-efficient system that can be optimized through thermal integrity improvements—insulation and air sealing. This will complement the value of installing an energy-efficient heating and cooling system. If you are building a new home, we recommend you participate in our Triple E/ENERGY STAR® project. If you are updating your existing home, contact a building diagnostic contractor who focuses on identifying opportunities to reduce air leakage.
Work with a program-trained contractor to help determine the type of heating and cooling system that works best for your home and also meets your requirements. These energy-efficient heating and cooling options include the following:
These system options, along with individual items like the proper installation of a central air conditioner and installation of a qualifying high-efficiency furnace with an ECM fan motor, provide you with the tools to develop an action plan for addressing your energy, environmental, and comfort needs and requirements. Beyond the installation of a heating and cooling system, your Action Plan could include some of the following activities:
- Participate in the Triple E/ENERGY STAR project to optimize the energy efficiency of your new home.
- Air seal and insulate your existing home—identify air leaks through Building Diagnostics.
- Turn down the temperature in the winter, and turn up the temperature in the summer. Note: As a rule of thumb, you can save about two or more percent on heating usage for every degree you reduce the temperature in your home, so if you keep your temperature at 70 degrees rather than 72 degrees, you could save about 4 percent on your heating usage. There is a similar relationship for cooling your home. If you keep your home at 78 degrees rather than 76 degrees, you can save about 4 percent on your cooling costs.
- Make sure your installer shows you how to properly operate the heating and cooling system. How you operate your system can impact energy usage by as much as 50 percent.
- Make sure your heating and cooling system is properly installed. This would include proper sizing and refrigerant charge and air flow assessment. This is a requirement for contractors participating in Minnesota Power’s rebate program.
- Consider installing a drain water heat recovery (DWHR) system to enhance the efficiency of your electric water heater and optimize the use of water in your home.
- Complete an online home energy assessment (see Home Energy Calculator).
- Review Building Up newsletters for more information on energy efficient building practices and products.
When you ask the question, “Where do I begin to start saving energy and dollars, enhance comfort, and benefit the environment?” our response is, “It begins with you.” You have the power to determine how you use energy. We can provide you the tools to develop a Power of One Home Action Plan to help you achieve your goals based on your situational needs. Power of One … it begins with you.
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