How To Save Energy In Your Kitchen!

Whether you spend every night in the kitchen making dinner or its main use is warming up left overs, these tips can help you cut down your spending and energy use in the kitchen.

Pots, Pans, and dishes
Using a warped pan to cook can be an energy sucker. Using a warped pot to boil water can take longer and use 50% more energy! Not only does the state of the cookware matter but the material matters as well. Using a copper bottomed pan will cut the time of cooking down; they heat up much faster than some of the other options. Also, when using the oven it’s better to use glass or ceramic dishes rather than metal. If you use a metal dish you’ll need to turn your oven at least 25 degrees up to be finished cooking in the same about of time as you would with a glass dish.

Make leftovers
If you can, make double portions! You can freeze the extras and save them for later. It takes a lot less energy to reheat than it does to cook a meal twice.



Appliances
Trust me, when it comes to energy use, not all appliances are equal. Upgrading your appliances would be a great first step to lower your long term spending in the kitchen. Although the initial cost may be high, this change will make the biggest impact on your energy bills and has the potential to slash your spending. Aim for investing in energy star appliances because you’re guaranteed that they are the most energy efficient.

A convention is always preferred over a standard oven. Because the heated air is constantly circulating the temperature and cook time can both decrease. Making the switch to a convention oven, on average, will lower your ovens energy use by 20%.

Self-cleaning ovens are ideal because they’re built with better insulation.

Your burner pans
You know the metal bowl underneath the coil stove burners that catch water and crumbs while you’re cooking? Those are burner pans. Keeping your burner pans is crucial and so easy. Those pans are not meant just to catch whatever is overflowing your pots; they’re supposed to be a reflective surface!  That surface reflects heat up to the cookware and helps your stove work more efficiently.

Fix that leaky faucet
A leaky faucet, though it seems only small and annoying, can really add up! A faucet that drips once a second can waste up to 1,661 gallons of water each year! Not only is that a complete waste of water, it can cost you up to $35 in electricity and gas. 

It's the Little Things: 5 Small Energy Saving Tips

The energy efficiency of your house depends on all kinds of different factors, from replacing your ductwork system to turning off the lights when you leave the room. Even if you have all the big stuff covered, that doesn’t mean you get to slack off when it comes to using energy-saving habits. Remember: Every bit counts. Even if it doesn’t seem like much, each step you take still adds to a more energy efficient home and lifestyle. 

Unplug vampire appliances-

• While this is not an unknown way to save energy, it’s pretty easily forgotten.
• Energy vampires are appliances that don’t turn off. They either remain on “stand-by” mode or they simply stay on, but regardless, they suck out energy continuously from the lifeblood of your house. Hence the "energy vampires" name.
• Use smart power strips, which will turn off those pesky appliances for you by shutting down anything that goes into standby mode. You can also simply turn them off, or group them onto regular power strips for an easier time turning them off.

Keep doors open-

• When you keep doors in your house closed, it causes the air pressure to increase, which can possibly lead to your precious conditioned air to be sucked through any existing leaks into the attic, or even outside.
• This is an easy fix: keep your doors open! Your house will have a single air pressure throughout and you won't lose your cold air.

Change the thermostat-

• A programmable thermostat saves energy by allowing you to control the temperature remotely, and by adjusting the temperature by itself throughout the day in order to use the least amount of energy required. Some are advanced enough to learn your habits and adjust accordingly all on its own.
• If your thermostat has a “vacation” setting, use it! Only keep your thermostat on when you need it. 
• Even if a programmable thermostat isn’t an option for you, there’s still something you can do- keep this rule in mind: it is better to set the temperature higher during the day while you’re gone and bring it back down in the evenings when you need it than to consistently keep it cool. 

How you do laundry-

• Use cold water in your loads- almost all of the energy required to do your laundry is just from heating up the water.
• Wash only full loads.
• Only run the dryer for as long as necessary. Even running it a seemingly small extra 10 or 15 minutes wastes a significant amount of energy. Try to stop it from running as soon as your clothes are completely dry- and drying full loads should help with this too.

Ceiling fan details-

• Your ceiling fan should spin counter-clockwise, especially in summer. This will create a cooling, "wind chill" effect, as opposed to letting it run clockwise, which will cause the fan to recirculate warm air (which you might want in the winter, so don't forget where the direction switch is!).
• This will allow you to cool down a bit without touching the thermostat.

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Air Seal: The "Flu Shot" For Your Home

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Do you have problems with sickness, allergies, and asthma in your home?

Are you looking for a way to breathe easy and feel better without medication?

We have the solution:

Air seal your home!

We liken air sealing to getting a flu shot – it protects your health and saves you money in the long run.

Air that leaks through your home’s envelope not only wastes energy and increases costs, but creates an unhealthy (and potentially unsafe) environment for you and your family.

Air leakage occurs when outside air enters and conditioned air leaves uncontrollably through cracks and openings. This results in poor indoor air quality and moisture problems, both of which can affect the health of the occupants. In addition, sealing air leaks reduces outside noise; causes less pollen, dust, insects, and pests to enter the house; and controls humidity – all of which will improve your health in your home.         

                                                                         

Fumes from household and garden chemicals, insulation particles, and dust can enter your duct system, aggravating asthma and allergy problems. Sealing ducts can help improve indoor air quality by reducing the amount of pollutants entering ducts and circulating through your home.

During normal operation, gas appliances such as water heaters, clothes dryers, and furnaces release combustion gases (like carbon monoxide) through their ventilation systems. Leaky ductwork in your heating and cooling system may cause “backdrafting,” where these gases are drawn back into the living space, rather than expelled to the outdoors. Sealing leaks can minimize this risk.

In addition to the health aspect, leaky ducts can reduce heating and cooling system efficiency by as much as 20 percent. Sealing and insulating ducts increases efficiency, lowers your energy bills, and can often pay for itself in energy savings. Plus, if you’re planning to install new heating and cooling equipment, a well-designed and sealed duct system may allow you to downsize to a smaller, less costly heating and cooling system that will provide better dehumidification.

For more information about how you can live healthier in your home, be more comfortable, and save money, contact Green ID at (602) 926-1650 today. Ask us how you can get started with air sealing – the flu shot for your home. Protect yourself and your family!

Getting to Know Radiant Barriers

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The purpose of a radiant barrier is to reduce summer heat gain and reduce cooling costs. This is achieved by installing the highly reflective material, normally in your attic, so that it can reflect the radiant heat rather than absorbing it.

A radiant barrier’s effectiveness is dependent on both the type of radiant barrier and the proper installation. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimates the air-conditioning cost savings can range from about $150 annually for very hot climates to only $40 for cold climates and installing the barrier incorrectly or choosing the wrong product can prevent you from reaping those savings. Some consumers end up disappointed with the effectiveness of their radiant barrier and this is mostly because of improper installation and poor choice in product so it’s important to do your research.

It is best to use a certified installer but if you choose to do the installation yourself, carefully study and follow the manufacturer’s instructions and safety precautions and check your local building and fire codes. The reflective insulation trade association also offers installation tips.

The most important decision in the process of installing a radiant barrier in your home is the product that you choose to invest in. Radiant barrier paint, radiant barrier chips and radiant barrier foil are the three types of radiant barriers.  We do not support radiant barrier paint or radiant barrier chips but do support the use of radiant barrier foil.

Radiant barrier paint

Radiant barrier paint is meant to be a paint that is reflective and can simply be painted onto a surface to reflect radian heat. There are a few flaws to the product. Radiant barrier paint can be diluted in the field with water and will lose its effectiveness when applied.  I’ve seen many houses where the radiant paint looks more like gray paint rather than a reflective paint, which is a sign of dilution. In fact, radiant barrier paint is technically not even a radiant barrier, because its reflectance is only 75%.  Radiant barrier paints also has lower performance standards with higher emittance values and lower reflectance values than traditional radiant barrier foils.

Radiant barrier chips

Radiant barrier chips are flakes of a reflective material that is scattered throughout the attic. The problem with radiant barrier chips is that installers usually do not install them with enough density to cover the entire surface area of the attic. The chips need to be several layers deep and must be evenly spread which bring us to the other issue of the chips being very easily moved. 

Radiant barrier foil/sheathing

Radiant barrier foil is a sheet or board that is covered with reflective material. The radiant barrier foil comes either in single or double sided. Some foil may be breathable with ventilation holes. Some radiant barrier foil may also have a foam core with some insulation value to it. This type of radiant barriers, meeting certain criteria, can in fact be classified as insulation under the EPA, qualifying them as ENERGY STAR products.  We support this method of radiant barrier because it’s the most effective, maintenance free, long lasting, and reliable. 

Common Insulation Mistakes

The most common insulation mistakes that are easily avoided…

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As a homeowner your goal is to make your home comfortable, no matter what the season, at a reasonable price. Insulating your home is a great way of achieving that, if it’s done right. Here are a few common mistakes that will prevent you from experiencing the perks that come with an insulated home…

Using duct tapes without any insulation

Using duct tapes through an attic space that is unconditioned is one of the biggest mistakes that can be made during the insulation process. Duct tapes should only be used in conditioned spaces. If the room is conditioned then cover the duct tapes with Energy Star’s recommended home insulation R-value thickness (you can find that here).

Neglecting the role of natural light

Understanding and taking advantage of the natural light in your home is vital. Using natural light allows for natural heating in the winter months. Things like south facing windows, skylights, and tubular skylights will allow warmth into your home naturally and will also illuminate dark rooms.

Ignoring air leakage in your home

Insulation can only do so much to sustain a comfortable temperature in your home. If there are issues like air leakage you’ll be using more energy to keep a steady temperature. Leaks can cause energy loss up to 40%. Going through the home one time to seal these can save you a significant amount of money on energy bills.

Rushing through the insulation process

There are many steps and aspects that go into the process of insulating a home so it’s important to take your time to insure that all your bases are being covered and that all your options are being considered. It may be better to spend a little extra money and time if it means doing things right and saving energy as well as money long term.