If your house or building was built many years ago, its energy efficiency may not be as significant as it could be. Luckily, you can improve things pretty easily and by doing so, you’ll be able to reduce your energy bills every month. Here are a few simple optimizing tricks to make your building more efficient.
Tap aerators: save water, save money
A faucet aerator will only cost you a couple of bucks dollars but will help you save a significant amount of water. By incorporating air into the piping and augmenting the pressure, you can reduce up to 50% of your water loss. This also means great money savings – when you think about water heating. And that’s without even changing any of your lifestyle habits.
In a time where more and more citie are adopting water metering systems, tap aerators are almost essential for any type of building – commercial or residential.
Look for certified electronic products
High energy efficiency products offer a great performance. The ‘’ENERGY STAR’’ labeled ones often rank in the top 30% of their respective categories. For example, a certified front load washer will use 40% less water and half the energy of a regular top load washer. Plus, its spinning cycle is normally more effective – making you save time and energy on drying.
This applies to all electronics. A certified ‘’ENERGY STAR’’ computer will use up to 65% less electricity than a non-certified version. Think about the savings you could make for an entire office!
Optimize window performance with SketchNanoGard
A great part of a building’s energy loss is a result of aging or non-efficient windows. Statistics show that 71% of heat enters while 48% of heating escapes through windows, especially when they aren’t optimized. Glass is in fact a very poor insulant.
SketchNanoGard is an innovative nanotechnology window coating allowing people to enjoy natural sunlight, while greatly reducing the influence of exterior temperature on the ambient interior temperature of a building. In optimized summer conditions, temperature can be reduced by 5°C, resulting in great energy savings *. This also applies in the winter, since our thermal barrier keeps the heating inside. While optimizing your windows performance, our experts are taking care of everything, from start to finish. A true turnkey solution!
* According to Hydro-Quebec, you could save between 5% to 7% of your heating/AC costs just by reducing the ambient temperature by only 1 degree Celsius.
Optimize walls and roof insulation
In most buildings, around 30% of heating escapes through the roof. By optimizing and reinforcing its insulation, not only you will save money and be more energy efficient, but you will avoid eventual humidity-linked problems if, for example, too much air gets trapped between the walls and the insulation.
Fan VS air-conditioning
A fan only costs $0.01 for 2 hours of use, while the A/C costs between $0.67 and $1.00 for the same time span. Of course, you will save money, but most importantly, proper air circulation will help you avoid mold and humidity problems. Our recommendation would be to open up the windows at night or when it’s cooler – only use the air-conditioning when necessary.
No matter what your budget is, there are tons multiple of ways to optimize your building’s efficiency. In the end, you will save up energy and money, but most of all, you will make a great investment for the future. A smart choice for the planet AND your wallet.
