In the present situation, when there is heavy demand for energy and acute constraints in its availability, it is a great challenge to not only for home owners and tenants but also experts on energy sources to identify the areas of wastage in residential power consumption and energy leakages and their causes.

A saving of a thermal unit of combustible gas and a kilowatt of electricity means a corresponding reduction in the need to generate combustible gas and electricity. The requirement of water for turning turbines and the coal for the furnace would also be accordingly less. Hence, if we could make our home more energy efficient, we would reduce the burden of national power plants having to meet energy demand.

Effecting savings in residential power consumption has the advantage of slowing down the building ‘smoke piles’ and nuclear towers. Climatic conditions of the area where the residence is located, the features of the home and the daily routine of the inmates have an important bearing on residential energy inefficiency.

For instance, while wastage of heat may affect a residence in the North Dakota, wastage of energy in cooling is the highest in Texas. Water heating and lighting may be predominant in a high-rise apartment.

Inefficiency in power consumption affects every home and the following 8 factors contribute to the normal energy wastage.

1) Occupants energy consumption habits.

Residents and managers of apartments can assist in preventing wastage and reducing power consumption by about 50% through awareness and cooperative efforts. People can be motivated to take effective steps to reduce energy consumption by offering suitable incentives.

Residents can approach electricity supplier to help them with appropriate training and offer rebates. If the neighbors consume less electricity, it may be a good idea to get a few tips from them on saving energy.

2) Home electrical appliances.

Energy Star will facilitate appraisal of the present inefficiencies in usage of power so that one can get the most energy efficient models suitable to his requirements.

Refrigerators, water beds, lights, televisions, music systems, computers and washing machines and even fish tanks can cause considerable energy losses due to their outmoded designs and improper use. Energy Star appliances can contribute to a great extent to reduce power consumption.

3) Heat distribution system.

Heat distribution systems are other areas where wastages can occur. For example, air leaks in heating ducts cause a lot of wastage of energy. It is advisable to get the ducts sealed if one heating register blows a large amount of warmer air than the other register.

4) Solar gain from the sun.

Many homes consume much more power than required to cool the rooms as they get warmer due to heat from the sun warming their rooms and there is not enough shade for protection, which will be evident if we place our hands on any of the objects in the room. Gadgets like hair dryer also consume a lot of energy. It may be helpful to use a thermal curtain on the west side window.

5) Air conditioning systems.

Air conditioning systems consume abnormally high amount of power due to irregular and incorrect maintenance. In order to ensure that air conditioners operate efficiently, it is essential to enter into an annual maintenance contract. This will help in reducing energy consumption on A.C.

With outstanding advances in technology, numerous energy-efficient air conditioning systems are now available. Even after regular servicing, if the existing air conditioner consumes a lot of energy, it is better to replace it with a latest model of energy-efficient

6) Hot water heater.

Your home water heater also consumes plenty of energy. A water heater contributes to an energy loss of 40%. A proper insulation of water heaters and hot water distribution lines can minimize heat energy losses.

It is essential to set the water temperature below 120 degrees for optimum saving in energy. If ‘baseline’ electricity or gas consumption is excessive, it means that there may be a water heating problem.

7) Air leakage.

A blower door test can determine the cubic feet of air that leaks out and fills into the house per minute. It is quite common for an old house to let out 3000 cubic feet of air through the holes in a home every minute. Air sealing is the most cost-effective way to prevent the gush of air and reduce energy losses.

8) Heat loss.

The heat losses occur when heat passes through the air, cooled by an air conditioning system. Wood and several other construction materials are responsible for high consumption of energy.

This is due to thermal resistance of the structure of a home that considers ‘R-value’, thermal and air barriers, the effectiveness of doors and windows and design and quality of the structures.

A heat loss can be detected by touching the walls of the room. If they feel cold in a cold day, it means that it is a case of heat loss.

“Energy conservation” along with “Energy efficiency” forms a very effective combination. Energy conservation and energy efficiency are much more than merely turning off heat in winter and switching off air conditioner in summer.

Here are some of the effective strategies aimed at conserving power at residences and cut down on the monthly electricity bill.

1) Using a programmable digital thermostat.

A digital programmable thermostat is more precise than the earlier versions of thermostats. It can be set to different temperatures in a day and once programmed; temperatures will automatically get adjusted according to the settings.

In a few models of digital thermostats, you can program for two temperature settings, one for the working week when the members of the family are away from home and another for the weekend.

It is better to buy a more comprehensive model that facilitates setting different temperatures for each day of the week.

The Department of Energy recommends a temperature setting of 68 degrees for residences during winter and 72 degrees in summer. However, setting the temperature at 68 degrees, while everyone is either at work or school during the day, is not necessary. When no one is at home, there is no point turning on the air conditioner whilst wasting electricity.

On the other hand, you can program the temperature for 55 degrees while the family is away from home with a provision to automatically adjust it back to 68 degrees a little before everyone gets back home.

It is advisable to opt for a programmable thermostat for the home that is well-suited to both heating and cooling systems. Many local home improvement stores sell a range of brands of digital programmable thermostats.

2) Install a timer for your home hot water heater.

A normal electric heater keeps plenty of water heated throughout the day even if no one in the family needs it, thereby resulting in huge electricity bills. You can save a lot of money by installing a timer on the electric water heater. It is a compact gadget that allows choosing particular off and on times to run the water heater.

There can be any number of options. You can set the water heater in such a way that hot water is available early in the morning for shower, late in the afternoon for laundry work or evening for using dishwater.

You should switch on the timer one hour before using the hot water heater. If hot water heater with a timer devise is used and water is heated only when it is required there will be a drastic reduction in power bills.

Local home improvement stores usually sell different models of electric water heater timers. The Little Gray Box is among the most popular electric water heater timer available.

3) Have a maintenance schedule for all home appliances.

All electrical appliances in the home require regular maintenance in order that they operate at an optimum efficiency. Filters on heating and air conditioning systems should be thoroughly cleaned frequently and they should be changed whenever necessary.

The manufacturer’s instruction booklet provides all the information required for specific maintenance procedures. A diary should be maintained indicating the dates on which the previous maintenance was carried out and when it is due again. It is also necessary to vacuum clean refrigerator’s coils periodically.

The efficiency of the refrigerator goes down and considerably increase costs of cooling, if dust gets accumulated on the coils. By clearing the heavy accumulation of dust using a vacuum cleaner and softly wiping the remaining dust with the help of a brush will make the coils clean.

You should undertake these routine maintenance tasks once in every three months that will enhance considerably the refrigerator’s operating efficiency, thereby facilitating reduction in monthly utility bills. However, cleaning of coils in appliances once a month is necessary if there are pets in the home.

The three strategies such as installing digital programming thermostat, fixing a timer on electric water heater and periodical maintenance of electric appliances helps in conserving substantial units of energy and contributes to huge savings in monthly power bills.

Most people would be delighted to see that their homes appear clean and appealing. They would like to make the best use of their living space and are motivated to do all the home improvement jobs by themselves in view of considerable cost savings.

However, high costs of Do It Yourself (DIY) tools these days deter them to undertake these jobs by themselves. Nevertheless, in order to make costs of home improvement jobs affordable, numerous varieties of inexpensive tools are available in the market.

Here are some of the most useful tools that make home improvement jobs ‘cost effective’.

The Hammer

Hammer is available in different shapes and sizes and is an important hand tool useful for variety of jobs. It is a multipurpose and an inexpensive tool and most suitable for driving nails into the wall for hanging pictures, for keeping furniture together and many other jobs like fixing carpets on the floor.

It is always better to purchase a couple of hammers in two different sizes, such as mid-size and large-size, instead of a single piece. While mid-size hammer is useful where the item to be nailed is of lower or medium height, the large size is meant for bigger objects and for areas on large items that are difficult to reach.

Laser Levelers

Laser levelers are portable tools useful for adjustment of measurements and alignments and are inexpensive. For example, a laser leveler can be used to adjust measurements for objects like pictures hanging on walls and adjust heights in alignment with furniture and long distance accuracy.

Laser levelers are also useful to position shelves in line with the rest of the room. The laser targeted level can help in measuring the room properly in order to ensure that art work and wall picture frames are fixed in such a way that they are perfectly in line with furniture and other objects in the room. Level levelers can make a room appear elegant and appealing.

Hand Pliers

Pliers are very useful for securely holding several different articles together and can be adjusted depending upon the work requirements. There is wide-range of pliers in the market useful for holding metal and electric wires. One can get a set of pliers for less than $10.

Measuring Tape

Measuring tape is also a very low-priced item and is useful to take correct measurement of an area or for measuring distance between 2 objects.

For example, if a bookcase is to be placed in the corner of a room for which the place has already been allocated, one can use measuring tape to measure the area correctly matching the dimensions of the bookcase.

While laser levelers are complex set of hand tools, a measuring tape is a very handy tool that facilitates the calculation of the size of the object and the size of the area in relation to the other items in the room.

Screwdrivers

Screwdrivers are not costly and if a screwdriver kit set is bought, you can attach different heads instead of purchasing various types and sizes of screwdrivers.

A screwdriver is such an important tool that no job can be completed without it. Screwdrivers are useful for tightening and loosening of any type of screws.

Power Drills

The jobs of tightening and loosening screws can be made much simpler with an electric powered drill. With a cordless power drill, you can accomplish the job of drilling multiple size holes anywhere with the power source from Li-ion battery pack.

Hand Saw

There are different types and sizes of hand saws in the market. However, the hand saw is a very useful tool for many home improvement jobs that require the use of wood. A small saw is useful for cutting shelving, roof support members, edges of wooden doors window panels etc. They are also not very costly.

Goggles & Safety Accessories

Goggles offer protection to your eyes from rubble and dust and should be put on as a safety measure when working with power tools. There are other small accessories like particle mask, protective gloves and foam ear plugs that can protect your hand, ear and nose.

A particle mask offers protection against inhalation of dust and fumes coming out from power tools at the time of cutting wood. Protective gloves are used while working with various cutting tools and prevent fingers from getting severed or slashed. Working with power tools is very noisy and the excessive noise may affect your ears. For this, foam ear plugs are very useful.

All these safety accessories are as important as other tools and are inexpensive as well. Although many conventional hand tools and power tools used for home improvement works are not costly, it is still worthwhile to shop around to compare the prices of the tools to getting the best deal.