The EnerScope team recently wrapped up a collaboration project with the Roots Collaborative and we’ve learnt a number of things in our satisfying series of workshops about houses and home energy reduction. The main take away from the entire series is that energy use in any scenario is not static and is constantly changing and evolving as quickly as you replace the products that furnish your home.

The second thing is that there are few systems in your home that are static and are most likely to consume the largest amount of energy ion your bill each year. The most impactful (and sometimes unpredictable) variable left in the equation, is weather. Our research pointed us towards the main consumers the average home:

• Lighting

Considering in winter months that lights average being on for over 12 hours per day, it makes financial sense to ensure we lights are energy efficient and most comfortable for you. We suggest reading here for a guide.

• Thermostats

The difference between managing your furnace well and having a winter nightmare lies here. Our research also pointed out that WiFi integrated programmable units yield best results.

• Weatherization & Insulation

The envelope/shell of your building is directly linked to how mush energy one will consume for heating. Another modern option that may be viable for some houses is outlined in our earlier work.

• Hot Water Insulation

The big tank of hot water sitting in your basement is a huge energy sink. Depending on where you live it may even be illegal. We’ve also touched on this in our earlier work but consider the instantaneous.

• Phantom load

There is nothing like that good old ghost load taking over your energy bills. That’s why we’ve suggested several solutions for you here if you are facing this problem.