How Can We Prevent Energy Loss?

Energy loss refers to the waste of energy resources, typically in the form of heat loss from buildings. It matters because wasted energy leads to higher utility bills, more greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and unnecessary strain on energy infrastructure. The main ways that energy can be lost from buildings include poor insulation, air leaks, inefficient appliances and lighting, and waste heat from equipment. Preventing energy loss is crucial for improving energy efficiency, saving money, reducing environmental impacts, and ensuring reliable energy supply.

This article will examine the key areas where buildings lose energy and provide recommendations for preventing that loss through building upgrades, technology, and behavior change.

Table of Contents

Building Envelopes

Heat can easily escape from homes and buildings through poorly insulated walls, roofs, floors, and foundations. This heat loss can account for 25-40% of a building’s energy costs for heating and cooling. Effective insulation in the building envelope is critical for energy efficiency.

Insulation materials like fiberglass, cellulose, and foam work by trapping air pockets, which resist heat flow. The higher the R-value of insulation, the better it insulates. For walls, aim for R-13 to R-20 insulation, and for attics, R-30 or more. Ensure insulation fills gaps and surrounds pipes, ducts, and other penetrations. Use weather stripping around doors and windows and seal air leaks with caulk. Pay special attention to insulating exterior walls, ceilings below unheated spaces, and floors over unheated spaces like garages or basements.

Also consider a reflective barrier or radiant barrier to reduce heat transfer through the building envelope. These are installed facing open air spaces and reflect heat rather than absorbing it. Careful air sealing and insulation installation according to building codes is key for an effective thermal envelope.

Windows

Windows can be a major source of heat loss in homes. This is because the glass and frames used in standard windows tend to be poorly insulated compared to walls, allowing more heat to escape. Approximately 10-25% of a home’s heating energy is lost through windows.

There are several energy efficient window options to reduce this heat loss:

Double or triple paned windows have two or three panes of glass separated by air or gas filled spaces, which insulate better than a single pane.

Low-emissivity (Low-e) coatings on glass reflect infrared light and insulate windows.
Gas fills like argon or krypton in between window panes insulate better than plain air.
Insulated window frames made of materials like vinyl, wood, composite or fiberglass reduce conduction heat loss.

High performance glazing with special coatings can further reduce radiant heat transfer.

Replacing old single pane windows with new double or triple glazed energy efficient windows can reduce heat loss by up to 50%. Investing in energy efficient windows helps retain heat in the winter and improves home comfort.

Doors

Doors can be a major source of heat loss in homes, especially around the edges where air can leak through. When a door is closed, air leaks around the edges and through any gaps between the door and its frame. This allows warm air from inside the home to escape to the colder outside, wasting energy.

Weatherstripping doors is an effective way to seal these gaps and prevent drafts. Weatherstripping is a seal made of various materials such as vinyl, rubber, felt or foam that is installed around the edges of the door to block air leaks. Quality weatherstripping will make the door air tight and reduce energy loss while also making the home more comfortable.

In addition to weatherstripping, you can also install door sweeps, which seal the gap between the bottom of the door and the threshold or floor. Adjustable thresholds can also help seal this gap. For extra protection, door seals can be added around the entire perimeter of the door.

Replacing old doors with newer, high efficiency doors can also help reduce energy loss. Energy efficient doors have improved weatherstripping, thicker insulation and tighter construction to prevent leaks.

By properly weatherstripping and sealing doors, heat loss can be minimized for greater energy savings and comfort.

Air Leakage

One significant source of energy loss in buildings is air leakage through gaps, cracks, and penetrations in the building envelope. When openings in the building envelope allow conditioned air to escape and outside air to infiltrate, it can account for up to 30% of heating and cooling costs. Areas around windows, doors, electrical outlets, plumbing penetrations, attic hatches, and unfinished basements or crawlspaces are common sources of air leakage.

Sealing these gaps and penetrations with caulk, spray foam, weather stripping, and other sealants can dramatically reduce air leakage. Caulk forms a durable seal for cracks and joints under 1/4 inch. Expanding spray foam is useful for sealing larger gaps and penetrations over 1/4 inch. Weather stripping installed around movable joints like doors and windows also helps minimize infiltration. Air sealing combined with proper ventilation and humidity control creates a more comfortable and energy efficient indoor environment.

Ventilation

Proper ventilation is crucial in any home or building to provide fresh air and remove indoor pollutants. However, traditional ventilation methods can lead to significant heat loss in cold weather. There are two main strategies to minimize energy loss while ventilating: balanced ventilation and heat recovery ventilation.

Balanced ventilation works by supplying and exhausting equal amounts of air to create equilibrium in the building’s air pressure. This prevents drafts and uncontrolled air leakage through cracks and openings. Supply and exhaust are controlled through fans and ductwork to target areas with high pollutants or humidity. Balanced systems are more complex but can reduce heat loss by up to 80% compared to traditional ventilation.

Heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) and energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) are even more efficient. They work by exchanging heat between the inbound and outbound airstreams through a heat exchanger, without mixing the air. The warm exhaust air preheats the incoming cold air. HRVs recover heat, while ERVs also transfer moisture. This enables fresh air ventilation with minimal thermal energy loss. HRVs/ERVs can achieve over 90% heat recovery efficiency. While more expensive initially, they offer great energy savings over time.

Appliances

Appliances like refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers can be major sources of energy loss in homes. Heat escapes through thin walls or poorly insulated doors, consuming more electricity to maintain interior temperatures. Upgrading to Energy Star certified models with better insulation, tighter door gaskets, and high-efficiency compressors can reduce appliance energy use by 15-50%.

Regular maintenance like cleaning coils, replacing worn door seals, and cleaning vents improves efficiency over time. Locating appliances away from heat sources like ovens or direct sunlight also minimizes the workload to maintain interior temperatures. Turning down refrigerator temperatures closer to 37°F and only running dishwasher cycles with full loads are easy ways to prevent energy waste day-to-day.

Behavior

There are many behavioral ways we can prevent wasting energy in our homes. Simple actions like maintaining reasonable temperatures, utilizing window coverings, and turning off lights when not in use can have a big impact.

Heating and cooling accounts for a large portion of a home’s energy use. By keeping the thermostat at 68°F in the winter and 78°F in the summer while you’re home, and bumping it up or down 10 degrees when away, you can drastically reduce energy consumption. Wearing extra layers in the winter and lighter clothes in summer helps make those more moderate temperatures feel comfortable.

Opening curtains, drapes and blinds during the day lets sunlight naturally heat homes, reducing the need for heating. Closing them at night locks in heat. This simple step can reduce heating and cooling bills by up to 25 percent. Make sure windows are properly sealed and insulated for maximum efficiency.

Lights produce heat and account for nearly 12% of home energy use. Simply turning off lights when leaving a room can reduce lighting-based energy use by 45%. Using dimmers, motion sensors, and natural light whenever possible also helps decrease lighting energy demands.

Our daily habits and behaviors have a significant influence on how much energy our homes consume. By making conscientious choices, we can prevent substantial energy loss and drastically reduce associated utility costs.

Technology

Smart home technology can help prevent energy loss in a number of ways. One of the most impactful is programmable and smart thermostats. Unlike old-fashioned thermostats that maintain a constant temperature, programmable thermostats allow you to set different temperatures for different times of day. For example, you can set a lower temperature when you are away at work or asleep at night. Studies have shown that programmable thermostats can reduce heating costs by 10% and cooling costs by 15% compared to non-programmable models.

Smart thermostats like the Nest take this a step further by using occupancy sensors, learning your schedule automatically, and enabling remote temperature control via smartphone. This makes it effortless to set an energy-efficient temperature schedule. Smart thermostats can save approximately 15% on heating bills and 11% on cooling bills.

Other smart home devices like motion sensors, temperature sensors, and timers allow you to automatically turn off lights, appliances, and electronics when not in use. This prevents wasted energy from phantom load and standby power. Smart plugs that cut power to appliances when not needed can reduce standby electricity consumption by up to 40%.

Overall, smart home technology gives homeowners convenient control to minimize energy waste from heating, cooling, lighting, and appliances when spaces are unoccupied. The energy savings can quickly payback the upfront costs of installing these intelligent efficiency systems.

Conclusion

In summary, there are many ways we can help prevent energy loss in buildings. Improving insulation in walls, floors and attics reduces conduction and convection losses. Upgrading to energy efficient windows and doors with proper weather-stripping limits air infiltration. Ensuring appliances are ENERGY STAR certified reduces waste when in standby mode. Adjusting thermostats, turning off lights, and utilizing smart technology controls usage. Most importantly, being conscious of our energy behaviors and habits makes the biggest impact. With some strategic upgrades and changes, we can maintain comfortable indoor environments while also conserving energy and saving money. The steps outlined here provide a roadmap to start reducing energy losses, but please consult additional resources like the Department of Energy for further guidance.