Making your Salt Lake City Utah home green, inside and out. Utah green homes.

Making your home green - where to start*

Filed Under Xeriscaping, green housing |

There is so much information going around now about going green. We hear it in so many different places and in so many different ways - it can get a little overwhelming. So I’ve tried to simplify and make a list of where to start inside and outside of your home to get going with a green lifestyle. The list is in no particular order - just all good things.

1. Replace the lightbulbs. This one is obvious and easy to do, and will save you a bit of money on your power bill. Chances are you’ve been buying the cheapest bulbs at the store, but their lifespan is usually terrible. The kind you will want to buy are ‘compact fluorescent light bulbs’. They cost a few dollars more, but you’ll save a lot in the end. For more in depth info, look at this Lowe’s light bulb buying guide.

2. Replace your shower head and faucets with low flow versions. This is a great way to save money on water bills, and you don’t have to pay very much for the fixtures. Some people think that low flow means barely any water pressure, but you can find faucets and shower heads that don’t sacrifice any pressure, while still saving water. If you want to go even further, there are toilets that save on water too, although you may have to pay a bit more to replace those. Before you make your decision on which ones to buy, look at this Consumer Reports appliance rating page from the Utah Division of Water Resources.

3. That last link also had reviews of washers, which brings me to the next point. If you are buying appliances for a new home, or you have enough money to replace existing appliances, Buy Energy-Star appliances. You can find them everywhere now, and they’ll save you 10%-30% on your bills. Refrigerators, air conditioners, furnaces, water heaters - they all come in energy efficient models. Also remember to have furnaces and heaters checked every few years to make sure they’re running their best. Change the filters often too. Here is another link to a really good page that will guide you through energy efficient appliances: Lowe’s Energy-Star informational page.

4. Eliminate the drafts. Heating or cooling will decrease energy efficiency if there are drafts or air leaks in the house. Air leaks in windows can be remedied with caulk and weather stripping. The front door might also have problems, in which case you may need a door blower test to find any cracks that are letting out air. In addition, make sure your insulation is sufficient, especially if you own an older home. Many older homes don’t have insulation in the attic, so start there. In sum, any spots in the home where you feel air might be getting in or out, should be looked at and fixed.

Moving outdoors:

5. Xeriscape some of your yard. Xeriscaping saves a lot of water by removing moisture sucking grasses and plants and planting native water-wise plants. Most people love at least a little grass - I do too - but it’s not necessary in every corner of your yard. Many people have opted for water-wise plants in their parking strips or in front yards where there is not a lot of use for the grass. By cutting down on grass, you save water, gas from the lawn mower, and time used up by mowing.

And before you get the idea that your yard wouldn’t look as beautiful without all that grass and water-sucking plant life, look here at some Utah water conservation gardens and see how nice it really can look.

6. Plant a shade tree. This will protect your home from some wind and will cool it in the summer. This is kind of a sore subject for me since the house my parents live in in South Jordan had a huge Cottonwood shade tree for 25+ years until last winter when they had to cut it down. It was a sad day because I love shade trees. I think you would too.

7. Don’t turn on the sprinklers in the middle of a hot day, or right after it has rained. How many times do you see sprinklers spraying away on a 100 degree day in the middle of the afternoon? Instead, turn them on at night when the water won’t all evaporate instantly. And if it rained nicely the day before, there’s no need for the sprinklers.

That’s all I can think of right now, but let me know if you can think of anything else. For more help with any of the indoor stuff, there are great people at Lowe’s who know a lot. For the outdoors, you won’t find more knowledgeable people than those at Red Butte Garden and Cactus and Tropicals.

*My service doesn’t stop here! In addition to maintaining The Salt Lake City Utah Real Estate Blog, I also help people buy and sell homes in Utah. When you need help with either of these, contact me!

Tags: Green Utah homes,going green,xeriscape,water wise plants,energy efficiency

Comments

3 Responses to “Making your home green - where to start*”

Mark D. Tyrol on March 25th, 2008 3:54 am

How To Reduce Your Energy Bills / Energy Conservation Begins at Home

Imagine leaving a window open all winter long — the heat loss, cold drafts and wasted energy! If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan or AC Return, a fireplace or a clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home every day.

These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause heat to pour out and the cold outside air to rush in — costing you higher heating bills.

Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits caulk and weatherstripping provide to minimize heat loss and cold drafts.

But what can you do about the four largest “holes” in your home — the folding attic stair, the whole house fan or AC return, the fireplace, and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.

Attic Stairs

When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.

Your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors. In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood.

Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door — do you see any light coming through? These are gaps add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day. This is like leaving a window open all year round.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.

Whole House Fans and AC Returns

Much like attic stairs above, when whole house fans are installed, a large hole (up to 16 square feet or larger) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only leaky ceiling shutter between the house and the outdoors.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a whole house fan cover. Installed from the attic side, the whole house fan cover is invisible. Cover the fan to reduce heating and air-conditioning loss, remove it when use of the fan is desired.

If attic access is inconvenient, or for AC returns, a ceiling shutter cover is another option for reducing heat loss through the ceiling shutter and AC return. Made from R-8, textured, thin, white flexible insulation, and installed from the house side over the ceiling shutter with Velcro, a whole house fan shutter cover is easily installed and removed.

Fireplaces

Sixty-five percent, or approximately 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.

Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.

A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.

Why does a home with a fireplace have higher heating bills? Hot air rises. Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking the heated air from your house.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, a fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.

Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts

In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.

Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.

If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan, an AC return, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.

Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover, an attic access door, and is the U.S. distributor of the fireplace draftstopper. To learn more visit http://www.batticdoor.com
Explore St. George Utah on April 3rd, 2008 3:42 pm

This is interesting. I hear of this thing a lot in the automotive industry and otherwise, but not really in homes. Good ideas. I wish I had more to add to your list, but I am very unfamiliar with going green in your home.
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