Whole House Energy Efficiency

At Elite Service, we take a whole house approach to heating and air conditioning.  By using a whole house approach, we are able to assess the efficiency of the home's entire envelope rather than just the HVAC system.  By doing this, we can find areas of energy leakage in your home.  This allows us to properly size your equipment for maximum efficiency and energy reduction instead of installing a larger system that will simply cover up existing problems, resulting in higher energy bills.  

There are many ways your home can lose energy:

• Hot air coming in the windows makes the new HVAC system work harder to cool the house in summer.
• Heat loss through an un-insulated attic makes it work harder to heat the home in winter. 
• Gaps in the aging ductwork make the system work harder all year round.

However, that efficiency will not be as high as it could be unless you fix leaky windows, increase attic insulation, and make repairs to aging ductwork. 

How Does a Whole House Approach Benefit Me?

The whole house systems approach is important for many reasons:

• Knowing about and being able to correct the energy wasters in your home's envelope help to create a home that is comfortable year round.
• Higher efficiency means less energy usage, which saves money by lowering utility bills.
• With lower energy use, the home is drawing on less non-renewable resources, thus reducing your carbon footprint.
• Sealing areas of air infiltration and installing a more efficient HVAC system will dramatically lower the dust and allergens in your home, creating a healthier living environment for your family.

How the Whole House Approach Works

Each home is a unique combination of factors which influence the efficiency of the entire home. When taking a whole house approach, it is important to consider these factors in making decisions to increase your home's efficiency levels. The important factors include the home site, its orientation and the local climate. It also involves the home's current appliances, electronics, insulation levels, air sealing, lighting, HVAC systems, water heating and openings in the home's envelope.

Making a home more efficient involves making incremental changes while keeping the budget in mind. Here is a sample plan for improving your home's efficiency:

• You will need to address openings in the home's building envelope. Check your windows and doors for leaks. Use caulk and weatherstripping to close those gaps. Also check your home's exterior for places where pipes and wires enter the house. Make sure those have adequate insulation and covering.
• Check for problems with your HVAC ductwork. Older ducts can have gaps in the seams. They may have loose joints or not fit the vent openings properly.  They may be completely detached from the system.   
• Check the level of insulation you have in the attic, exterior walls and crawl space. If the insulation isn't at recommended levels, add more.
• Make sure to have the HVAC system checked and tuned once a year. This helps it work at a more efficient level.
•  As your old incandescent light bulbs burn out, replace them with more efficient compact fluorescent lamps or LED bulbs.
• Ceiling fans help the home feel cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Select Energy Star-rated fans for the most energy efficiency.
• Choose a double-pane window with a low-E value made from wood or vinyl-covered wood.
• As the water heater nears its end of life, replace the older unit with a higher efficiency model. Energy Star rated ones are best.
• As old appliances die off one by one, replace them with Energy Star-rated options.
• Upgrade your HVAC system. Over the past couple of decades, manufacturers have made incremental improvements to the efficiency levels of furnaces, heat pumps and other HVAC equipment. 

The list may seem overwhelming, but that's where Elite comes in.  If you are thinking of making energy improvements to your home, consider having one of Elite perform an energy audit for you.  One of our certified energy auditors will evaluate your home and provide you with a consultation based on his findings, taking all of the guesswork out of the process.  After the consultation, you will be provided with a report that will give you suggestions for energy improvements.  

For more information on improving your home's energy efficiency, contact Elite at 918.610.7300.