Lowering Your Utility Bills, Part 1: Energy Efficiency

The Practical Matter of Controlling the Operating Costs of Your Utility Bills Part 1: Energy Efficiency

In order for a homeowner to control the operating costs of their energy consumption, let’s start with separating energy consumption from a building’s inherent energy efficiency. The person paying the utility bills likely has control of their own and their families’ energy consumption habits. They have the ability to control their utility costs simply by committing to best practices of using heating, AC,lighting and appliances in a more reasoned way. An easy way to start is to replace incandescent light bulbs with equivalent CFL or LED lamps. Installing a programmable thermostat can help a automatically adjust their heating and AC units to consume less energy when no one is home. Unplugging that second refrigerator that only is used for the holidays is a no-brainer.

A building’s energy efficiency performance has an even more significant impact on the rate-payer’s utility costs.  An energy assessment of your home is recommended to help you understand your home's energy performance. The assessment should address the tightness of your building envelope, the homes heating and cooling systems and lighting. A high performance building can significantly cut operating costs; in fact, some net zero buildings are designed so efficiently that they have the ability to negate utility costs entirely.

It is important to note that a rate-payer whose energy consumption habits are poor can have a negative impact on a high performance building, as well as the fact that excellent end-user consumption habits can mitigate the effects of a low performance building. In terms of relieving rate-payer, environmental and regional grid stress, however, nothing compares to a high performance building occupied by an end-user who is committed to lowering their energy consumption.