Yes, summer is coming. Here in Southern California, we have already had a little taste or two of it.
If you are like me, you are not looking forward to those big energy bills that come with keeping your house cool enough to live in. Like many of you may do, I work out of my home. With four computers, two printers, and various other heat producing electrical items, my office would soon turn into a sauna if I didn't run the air conditioning. The downside of running it is a large increase in energy use.
A little information about energy transfer to think about. The laws of Thermodynamics.
Essentially, nature abhors imbalance. Energy will always attempt to equalize when an imbalance exists. A higher state of energy, in our case heat, will always move towards a lower state of energy, cold. Simply put, heat moves to cold.
Energy, in this case heat energy, moves or transfers in one of several ways:
- Convection: Convection occurs primarily due to the difference in density of the medium, be it liquid or a gas like air. Warm air (less dense) rises. Cold air (more dense) settles or sinks.
- Conduction: Conduction is the process of energy transfer through solid materials. Think of a cold interior metal window frame when it's freezing outside.
- Radiation: Radiation occurs when energy transfer is from a solid material into the surrounding space. Think of the heat that you feel radiating off a hot object.
How does this apply to heating and cooling your home? Can you do anything about this?
Yes, in many cases you can. There are several low-cost/no-cost things that you can do to reduce your energy consumption and the bills that go with it.
The first thing one needs to do is to actually be aware of the environment of your home.
Solar heat gain is one of the biggest enemies we all face. Take the time to observe just how the sun shines on your house at various parts of the day. Make note of the window areas in the parts of the house of the sun shines on. Notice the angle of shadows or shading on your house's exterior walls and roof.
As the seasons change, the angle at which the sunlight strikes your house also changes. During the fall and winter months the sun's angle is relatively low compared to the horizon. In the summer, just the opposite is true, the sun's angle is quite high. You can take advantage of the phenomenon in a number of ways.
- Trees, especially deciduous varieties (those that lose their leaves in the wintertime) can be an effective solar control method. During the winter months, when the sun angle is low, the leafless trees allow the sun to shine on and into your house providing free solar heating. Free is good, right? During the spring and summer months when these trees now have their leaves and the sun angle is high, these trees provide wonderful shade that blocks much of the solar heat gain that you don't want .
- Awnings: Did you ever wonder why many of the older homes you see have awnings? They weren't just an architectural device put there for the "look". They actually served a purpose! A properly designed and placed awning takes advantage of the high summer sun angle and blocks much of the solar gain that would be impacting the interior of the house were they not there. Awnings can do the job effectively without impeding the view from the window. Nice!
- Window treatments: If you can't take advantage of nice mature trees and you don't like the look of awnings you may still be able to do something effective to cut down on the solar gain. Some ways are more effective than others. The most preferable way to block the greenhouse effect from heating up your rooms is to apply a "radiant barrier film" on the inside of the windows. This will stop some but not all of the solar heat gain and still allow you to get natural lighting and to be able to see out of the window. Another way is to install "thermal" blinds or shades on the insides of the Windows. Curtains can also help if you remember to close them.
Changing your habits.
- Lighting and equipment: Were you aware that most large commercial office buildings need to run air-conditioning systems year-round due to the heat load produced by occupancy and operating equipment like lighting, computers, printers and copy machines. It is for this reason that most current commercial energy codes do not permit incandescent lighting these days. Switching out your existing incandescent lighting for compact fluorescent lighting can go a long way towards reducing the heat load. Turning off lights in rooms that you are not actively occupying or better yet, installing timers or motion detector devices to turn them off after a period of time. Turning off electrical equipment that is not being used will also help. Most of today's computer equipment, printers and copy machines have an "auto sleep" mode that puts them into standby after a set period of time of inactivity. These time periods are often adjustable.
Spend a little money to save a lot!
- Insulation: Properly insulating your attic, if you have one, can generate substantial energy saving. For a very graphic illustration of this concept, visit my webpage at Magic Leak Finders. Or here: Thermal-Diagnostics. These are thermal images of the ceilings around my home. The attic is insulated but it was poorly done and not as effective as it should be. The "hot spots" are radiating a substantial amount of heat into this space at the same time I'm paying to cool it! Not very cost effective.
- Weather-stripping: Preventing infiltration/ex-filtration of conditioned air is another way to save energy. Having loose fitting doors and windows that are not properly sealed is allowing the cool air provided by your air conditioner to escape and the hot air from outside to get in.
- Replacement windows: While this option is a bit more expensive and brings with it a longer ROI, over time replacing old, leaky and inefficient single pane windows with new wood or vinyl double pane windows with "low-E" glass can save on your heating and cooling costs.
- High efficiency heating/cooling system: This option can be one of the most expensive but can realize substantial savings over a longer period of time. If you are in an older home that has an older system installed, it is consuming a lot more energy to heat and cool your home than is necessary. Replacing these old inefficient systems with new high SEER (seasonal energy efficiency rating) units will save a lot of energy use.
I hope this article will open a few eyes and point you down the path of energy savings and lower utility bills. It's not that hard and "picking the low hanging fruit" options such as landscaping, weather-stripping, window coverings, change of habits, and replacing inefficient heat generating incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent lighting don't cost all that much and, in combination, may generate a big savings on your utility bills this summer. If you would like help evaluating your residence or office for potential energy savings please contact me via the above listed websites.
Thanks
Dana Bostick
Certified Level 1 Thermographer at http://www.thermal-diagnostics.com
