Assessing your home energy use

A home energy assessment is the first step to assess how much energy your home consumes. It allows you to evaluate what you can do to make your home more energy efficient. First make a list of obvious air leaks (drafts). You can save potentially 5% to 30% per year by reducing drafts in your home. Air leakage occurs when outside air enters a house uncontrollably through cracks and openings. You should look for gaps around pipes and wires, electrical outlets, foundation seals, and mail slots. Also it's a good idea to check the caulking and weather stripping. There should be no gaps or cracks.

Hybrid Energy for the Home

Everyone is concerned about the rising costs of energy and what it means for our future. We are all grid tied and therefore at the mercy of those who would control when and how we get our energy. We need to be able to heat and cool our homes, power our lights and keep our communications devices online. Here I will give some common sense advice about the things you can do to lessen your reliance on the energy companies and even build a system for energy independence.