5 Home Features That Save Energy

5 Home Features That Save Energy

Sometimes the features that save the most energy aren’t in plain sight. Others you may use every day, but not think about how they affect your energy bill. Whether it’s flooring or insulation, these behind-the-scenes home features can make a big difference in the amount of energy used in your home.

Radiant Heating

Radiant floor heating is installed under the hard surface flooring and works to lower your heating bills by keeping rooms warmer. Chances are you’ve noticed how cold a tile or hardwood floor can be in the winter. With radiant floor heating, you can significantly reduce the cost of heating your home. Some people even place the heating in their walls and ceiling and rely on radiant heating rather than other heat forms. Radiant floor heating can be heated using air, electricity, or hot water. Believe it or not, hot water is the most popular and cost-effective method.

Programmable Thermostat

A deluxe programmable thermostat can save you a lot of energy. The key is to use the thermostat in a way that you never have to deal with adjusting the heating or cooling yourself. For example, if you want to come home to a warm house, but don’t want to heat your home all day, you can set the thermostat so that it raises the heat a half hour before you get home from work. You can even set it to adjust the temperature during the hours you’ll be sleeping and when you wake up as well. You will find the biggest savings if you set it and leave it. Turning your system on and off throughout the day could increase your energy usage.

Tankless Water Heaters

Standard water heaters waste tons of energy each year. The process of keeping water hot until you need it isn’t energy-efficient at all. With tankless water heaters, the water is heated when you need it. Not only does this save energy, but you’ll never run out of hot water. These systems may cost a little more than a traditional water heater. However, they will pay for themselves over time in the amount of energy saved.

Lighting Fixtures

Not only can you install energy-efficient light bulbs, but you can also install energy-efficient fixtures. These fixtures use a quarter of the energy used by standard fixtures and are designed to give off the most light in an even and efficient manner. Some even come with automatic daylight on and off features to help you conserve more energy.

Insulation

Unless you’re climbing around in the attic, you probably won’t think anything about insulation. The right insulation can make a huge difference in the amount of energy your home uses in heating and cooling. If your attic isn’t insulated, this is something you want to address right away. Visit your home improvement store and speak to someone in the insulation department about which products work best and save the most energy.

Your home may be saving or losing energy without you even knowing it. Many of the ways your home saves energy aren’t on display. Whether it’s the insulation in the attic or the heated flooring, a home can have energy-efficient features that you can’t see. To make it even sweeter, in many areas, many of these solutions will also qualify you for a rebate or incentive program.

At Gotelli Boilers & Heating we’re experts at installing radiant heat and tankless water heaters. So if you would like to find out if these are a good solution for your home, give us a call for a no-obligation quote.

*Serving the San Francisco and surrounding areas, Gotelli Boilers & Heating offers licensed and insured, full-service radiant heat and boiler solutions. We’re the trustworthy choice in the Bay Area, with over 20 years of experience, delivering incredible service and emergency repairs 24/7.