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Residential Energy Efficiency: Consumption There are four main energy-consuming areas in homes:
1) Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (or some form of cooling) typically accounts for more than half of a homeowner's annual energy bills. The size of the bill depends, on the type of cooling and heating system, the efficiency of those systems, window efficiency, the climate where the house is located, and the surrounding landscaping, among others. RMI estimates that homeowners can save anywhere from 30 to more than 50 percent on energy use in new and existing residential construction. 2) Water Heating Water heating is the second largest energy expense in a typical home. Water heating costs about $160–$200 a year for gas water heating or $260–$390 a year for electric water heating. The water heating bill can be reduced by half or more if a few simple and cost-effective improvements are made. Using water more efficiently is one of the simplest and most cost effective ways to reduce the hot water energy bill (and the water bill too!). Short of replacing the water heater, homeowners can improve the efficiency of their existing setup by wrapping the heater and hot water pipes in insulation. When it becomes time to replace the water heater, choose an energy efficient model. 3) Appliances The average family in the United States annually spends over $500 powering appliances, which adds up to $43 billion spent each year nationwide. Most households can reduce energy use by a third or more by replacing appliances and using energy saving settings. And if every household went a step further and replaced its old appliances with new energy efficient models, $15 billion could be saved every year, nationwide. Energy efficient appliances, such as those with the U.S. Government Energy Star label, provide the best energy savings for homeowners. The best time to replace appliances with energy efficient models is when they are at or near the end of their useful life. In some cases, though, the energy savings may be great enough and the payback short enough that it makes sense to replace appliances now. But if not, there are a number of things homeowners can do, such as using energy efficient settings and performing regular maintenance, to reduce energy consumption. 4) Lighting On average, lighting accounts for about 9 percent of a home’s electric bill (not total energy bill but electric bill). Depending on lighting needs and electricity prices, home lighting can cost single family homeowners anywhere from $40–$250 per year. These costs may be small compared to those for the other major home energy end uses, but lighting is the easiest and cheapest system to retrofit for energy efficiency, and the savings will be seen almost immediately  www.rmi.org/HEB |