A University of Michigan study estimated that the average American household could reduce its energy bills by 65 percent simply by maximizing energy efficiency.
Heating/Cooling
- Heating uses 30%, and cooling 10%, of the total energy (gas and electric) consumed by the average home in California
- For every degree you raise your cooling temperature you save 3-4% in cooling consumption and for every degree you lower your heating temperature you save 3% in heating consumption
- The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings estimates that a third of a home’s heat loss is through poorly sealed windows and doors, which translates to a national waste equaling all the oil carried by the Alaska pipeline
- Few owners realize about 30 percent of cold or hot air escapes through duct leaks
- Insulating the attic reduces the amount of energy loss in most houses by up to 20% (member contributed)
- Hot water uses 15% of the total energy (gas and electric) consumed by the average home in California
- Water heaters are the largest energy users in the home after heating and cooling
- Running the electric water heater of a single family home for one year creates more emissions than driving an automobile 12,000 miles
- Conventional water heaters run all the time to keep hot water on tap 24 hours per day, even while you’re sleeping, away for the weekend, or on vacation
- While incandescent bulbs continue to be the most common lighting source in homes today, they are actually the least efficient and shortest lasting option. 90% of all the energy used to power an incandescent bulb is actually released as heat instead of light. Only 10% of the energy is converted to light.
- Compact florescent (CFL) bulbs provide very comparable light quality, but use only 25% as much energy and last 5-7 years.
- If every U.S. household replaced its light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, the cumulative effect would lower our annual CO2 emissions by about 125 billion pounds
- You can save at least $90 over the life of a bulb by replacing a 100 watt incandescent bulb with a 25 watt fluorescent
- Food refrigeration uses 10% of the total energy (gas and electric) consumed by the average home in California
- Energy star refrigerators available today are on average more than three times more efficient than those purchased as recently as the early 1990s.
- Phantom load is the electricity consumed by a device when it is turned off. Nationally, phantom loads make up about 6% of our entire residential electricity consumption
- If all Americans switched to Energy Star appliances over the next 15 years, energy costs would be reduced by $100 billion, and the savings in greenhouse gas emissions would equal taking 17 million cars off the road
If you have a great "Did You Know" to add to this list, please send it to submit@sustainablelafayette.net
The facts listed above were found in various books, articles, and web sites that seemed credible and reliable, and also contributed by members of the network.