We are about to buy a large two story home built in 1900. The furnace is brand new so it is already energy efficient. All new windows as well. What other things can I do save some money?
2006-08-09 04:11:46 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Front loading washing machine.
European dishwasher.
Flow restrictors on your shower heads.
If you have 1 or 2 showers in the house, a gas fired tankless water heater or if you live in a colder climate an indirect water heater fed by your boiler. (in case of someone reading this that doesn't have a furnace)
A ridge vent or attic fan on your roof, soffit vents if you have soffits.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Insulation on your water heater pipes and in your attic.
Saving money on energy costs a lot short term.
2006-08-10 02:49:34 · answer #1 · answered by Dave 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Get an energy audit. The people that preform these will do a whole bunch of test around your house seeing how energy efficient it is. After words they'll send you a report rating your house on a scale of 100 and the report will list all the places you can improve your score breaking the repairs into major and minor ones and specifying how much of an impact each will have. If you live in Canada the cost of getting one is subsidized so it costs $100. After you've made the repair the auditor comes back and does another audit and gives you a new score. If it's improved by a large enough margin the Canadian government will pay for a part of the repair bills. If you live the states it's still worth doing because you can still save a ton of money in the long run and it's probably that the United also has some sort of subsidy.
2006-08-09 04:23:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Be sure to insulate the house very good attic(if there is one) and walls.
Also you could install a programmable thermostat which automatically sets the furnace back a few °'s at night and when you are away from the house(like at work). You can get a pretty decent programmable t-stat at Lowes for like $50.
If you have a central Air conditioning system you could replace it with a new system. Just this year the standards changed making it so they are all more efficient now.
Good Luck and happy savings!
2006-08-09 07:08:10 · answer #3 · answered by Scott M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My husband and I live in a home built in 1914. We are working on making our home energy efficient, too.
Where do you live? If you live up north, you may want to consider putting plastic on your windows anyway (on the inside). Also, check into caulking around the windows inside and out.
Make sure you change the filters in your furnace every month.
Weather stripping around the doors helps, too.
If you have a Lowe's or Home Depot near where you live, check the classes offered there. Usually in the fall, both stores offer "classes" on making homes more energy efficient. They will show you products that help with this. They will also give handouts, too.
Good luck.
2006-08-09 04:23:13 · answer #4 · answered by Malika 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My home is built 1932. I purchased LG Steamwasher front load systems that use less water and heat the water instead of using the hot water that runs throught the pipes and efficiency is much much bettter. Also make sure your refrigerator is less than 5 years old. I also replaced my lighting controls with a master system that dims and turns off after non use. BIG ENERGY SAVER! Use your ceiling fans to cirulate top and bottom air. There are also paints that you can use on interior walls to even help insulate to a certain degree. Not sure what they are called but it's pretty awsome and looking into it myself.
2006-08-09 04:18:00 · answer #5 · answered by Karrien Sim Peters 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I also live in a house that's 100 years old. One thing to consider the insulation in the house. My house is insulated with the original insulation ....sawdust! can you believe it? This sawdust over 100 years has settled down and now there is not much for insulation toward the top of my walls. I'm not sure how much it has settled down, and how much of my walls is uninsulated. But we were concerned about this a few years ago, and happened to need new siding then too. So we had vinyl siding put on our home and an extra layer of foam insulation under the siding. This has REALLY helped keep our house more insulated, without having to tear into all of the walls and replace insulation on the inside.
A friend of mine had an older home that was insulated with NEWSPAPER. We could not believe it! So insulation in your walls is something you will want to find out about.
Good luck and congratulations on the new home. Old homes and their history's are so neat!
2006-08-09 04:21:04 · answer #6 · answered by julzbaby 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have insulation blown in your walls & attic. You can rent a blower & have the whole house done in a day. Also, set your thermostat on a comfortable setting & LEAVE IT ALONE. Moving it up & down uses a lot of energy. Try natural light as opposed to leaving lights on in unused rooms. Make sure your appliances are energy effecient as well. A full refridgorater runs less often than an empty one. Hope this helps
2006-08-09 04:21:44 · answer #7 · answered by amee2you 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to college and take a energy efficient course that is in the construction and architecture technology cirrculum.....Worked for me.
2006-08-09 04:15:50 · answer #8 · answered by CJJERICHO 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Lots of insulation it the Attic. (Heat rises)
2006-08-09 04:19:34 · answer #9 · answered by bill a 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋