Courtesy of  Washington Energy Services.

By now everyone knows that using EnergyStar rated appliances and windows will make a difference in energy use and utility bills, but here are three secrets you may not know about your house, its energy use, and what you can do to improve it. 

Your electrical outlets are making your house colder
Surprise, outlets and wall switches leak air and create heat loss. Caulking and sealing air leaks isn’t just for windows and duct work, you should do it wherever plumbing or electrical wiring penetrates through walls, floors or ceilings, and in recessed light fixtures. Most homes will see 2-4% air leakage this way, and it’s easy to fix. Caulking can be used or foam gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on the walls. Want to see this for yourself? Hold incense or a smoke source up to an outlet. If the smoke flows horizontally, you have air leaks. Or if you have a home energy audit, you’ll really see this effect when they do a blower door test to look at your air leakage.

Your furnace works harder than your car
Your furnace runs the car equivalent of 118,555 miles a year. It’s firing 4,268 hours on average each year, while the average car is driven 15,000 miles per year or about 540 hours. In fact, your furnace may average 1.8 million car equivalent miles in its 15 year lifetime. No wonder the furnace needs filter changes or cleaning twice a year and a tune up!

The number one thing to improve home energy efficiency is invisible
It’s insulation. Most homes, even newer ones, lack good insulation or enough of it.

Washington Energy Services reports that almost all of the 100 homes it has performed certified energy audits on in the past six months have had insulation deficiencies. According to the Department of Energy, “Inadequate insulation and air leakage are leading causes of energy waste in most homes….only 20% of homes built before 1980 are well insulated”¹. And according to EnergyStar, you could “save up to 10% of your total annual energy bill” just by sealing and insulating. While traditional rolls of fiberglass are still around, new types of foam insulation offer high quality and greater flexibility in tight spaces. Talk to a pro about local code requirements and recommendations for your area.

Read more about Washington Energy Services.

¹Department of Energy, May 2009, Energy Savers.

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