By Bryan Pavlovic

    Americans constitute only 5 percent of the world’s population but consume 24 percent of the world’s energy. Of the U.S. consumption of energy, the residential sector is the LEAST efficient. Here are some tips on how to reduce:

     Seal your ducts. They may leak at a rate of 25 percent or more.

     The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that homeowners can typically save up to 20 percent of heating and cooling costs (or up to 10 percent of total energy costs) by air sealing their homes and adding insulation in attics, floors over crawl spaces, and accessible basement rim joists.

 

 If every American home replaced just one light with a light that’s earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars.

     On a national level, in an average air-conditioned home, air conditioning consumes more than 2000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, causing power plants to emit about 3,500 pounds of carbon dioxide and 31 pounds of sulfur dioxide. Replacing with a more efficient unit will save money and reduce emissions.

     If all U.S. households installed water-efficient appliances, the country would save more than 3 trillion gallons of water and more than $18 billion dollars per year.

     Yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 26 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. That’s a lot of waste to send to landfills when it could become useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead.

    All facts taken from the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

 

A Hybrid Home, LLC, is located at 2824 E. Indian School Road, Suite 9, telephone 602-423-8886. Have an energy efficiency/eco-friendly question you want answered? E-mail your question to editor@northcentralnews.net.