What It Really Means To Be Energy Efficient: A Basic Guide
Everything that people do is somehow connected to the burning of energy in some form. Energy can fairly be characterized as the ability to do work. To accomplish things, people either rely upon their own energy, or they employ labor-saving devices which require energy to run. Energy, in the form of oil, electricity, natural gas and other sources propels everything that humans do.
What is Energy Efficient
Energy efficiency is a state of being where less energy is required to accomplish the same amount of work. Energy efficiency means doing more with less. Today, there are more energy efficient products available on the market than ever before. An example of this is the gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle which until recently has never before been available to the common man. More than anything else, energy efficiency is a lifestyle change and not a series of individual choices. For the individual, energy efficiency is about changing habits and making good product choices that reduce utility bills and support the environment.Strides in energy efficiency help the entire nation meet its growing demand for energy. For ordinary citizens, the whole-house systems approach to energy efficiency may be the exact right approach to take when seeking out monetary savings through better household management. The whole-house systems approach to energy savings looks at the entire household as one energy system that happens to possess many interdependent parts.
Average Home
For the average home, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is the area to target when one begins to analyze the energy profile of it. This is so because HVAC systems generally account for about half of all energy use in the average home.The whole-house systems approach to energy management recognizes the obvious interplay between windows, window treatments, insulation and ventilation, attics and basements, mechanical equipment, all other components and systems that go into making a house livable. Minor changes in some or just a few of these components and systems will greatly influence how well they will perform across time. The simple recognition of this fact provides a major economic advantage to homeowners able to apply appropriate measures. Advances in energy technology will lower utility bills and make a home more comfortable to live in. Both of these factors will from the standpoint of real estate lenders and buyers, make a home more valuable and marketable.People have no control over the weather and climate. What they can control is their own personal energy consumption and the costs associated with running a home, a business, an investment property or a vehicle.
People can control the energy efficiency of the appliances and machines that they buy, and in so doing, they can control their overall dependence on the nation’s energy grid.
