Celebrate Earth Day by monitoring your home’s energy use

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For homeowners, Earth Day 2013 should be about more than simply making sure you’re taking out the recycling. You can really make an impact this April 22 by paying closer attention to your home’s energy consumption.

These days, there are several tools and resources at your disposal?even a country-wide initiative?that can assist you in monitoring your home’s energy use.

Green Button

The?Green Button?initiative is a national effort?supported by the?White House? to ?provide electricity customers with easy access to their energy usage data in a consumer-friendly and computer-friendly format via a ?Green Button’ on electric utilities’ website.?

The idea is that with more information on how much electricity homeowners use and when they’re using it, homeowners will be more likely to alter their usage habits in order to save energy and money.

Only a handful of energy providers?have implemented the Green Button on their websites, however, nine major utilities and electricity suppliers and approximately 27 million households will are able to access their own energy information.

Most utility providers will continue to voluntarily make energy data more available in this common, machine-readable format to help assist consumers make better, more efficient energy usage decisions.

Other Energy Monitoring Services You Can Use

Since participation in the Green Button initiative is so limited at this time, homeowners will need to find other tools and resources to monitor their home’s energy usage.

Websites like?MyEnergy.com?provide energy tips as well as detailing your energy usage (after you provide access to your utility companies). In addition to online resources, there are several products on the market that can monitor how much energy a specific item in your home is using.

According to?, there are other devices a homeowner can use to monitor their energy use. ?The costs of these devices vary, ranging from the $20 ?P3 International ?Kill A Watt? Electricity Usage Monitor,?to the $120 ?e2 classic 2.0? made by efergy, to the nearly?$500 ?TED 5004-C.?

A lot of home owners can get an overall assessment of their energy use. ?Here locally, LGE provides a fairly clear break down of our monthly usage. ?However, what most consumers don’t see, is the ?vampire energy? .” they are using in their home. ?Many times household items – like power strips, coffee makers, television sets, etc. – can use a lot of energy even when the devices are turned off. Just remember to turn off the power strip when leaving home for a trip to help save some energy and money.

Now that you have had your initial home inspection where the structure and safety of the home were ensured, make this Earth Day an excellent time to have your home’s energy consumption reviewed. ?You may be surprised what you are able to cut back on in your home!

Saving money is something all homeowners are interested in, and monitoring your home’s energy is one way to do it this Earth Day.

 

louisville home inspections

If you would like to have your home professionally inspected for energy loss and prevention, visit our website at www.homemd.com