Conservation Measures--  
Adding things to your home to help save energy

Conservation measures are items you add to your home that will help it save energy no matter how you choose to operate it.  Typically, these begin with weatherization steps. Is your insulation, caulking, and weatherstripping adequate?

Other measures include changing out existing items (that heretofore were perfectly serviceable) but that a review of payback time suggests they should be replaced with better equipment.  

The list at the right displays items in increasing capital cost format.  Items near the bottom of the list should only be done if the previous items are present and/or satisfactory.  Note that adding renewables to achieve a certain energy reduction is folly unless the cheaper, simpler things have been done FIRST!

Common Conservation Measures
(Priority Order)

Boost weatherization: insulation, caulking, weatherstripping

Boost attic/roof venting

Consider window shading devices

Check and seal ductwork

Update thermostat controls for heating/cooling

Consider changeout of old windows, doors, appliances

Consider replacement of water heaters / furnaces / A-C

Consider installation of renewables (S, W, PV)

And, it should go without saying that any new building should touch all these bases in the planning stage

See more of the benefits of smart conservation measures by accessing video clips at the GeoExchange Forum.  This website carries government, commercial, and residential installations of ground source heat pump technology.  They are high quality video productions with good graphics and lengthy details, including how mortgages are increased to cover higher first cost measures that permanently reduce heating and cooling costs.

The role of Energy Guide Tags on appliances--

The U.S. government's program for tracking the energy consumption of household appliances has given millions of consumers the information they need to make purchase choices based on equipment capital cost along with an understanding of operational costs over the appliance's life cycle.  

Some might decry more government sponsorship of a "nanny-state," but the simple truth is that consumers have been empowered with economic choice and the information necessary to tailor their purchases to their own lifestyles.  The government does set efficiency standards.  Manufacturers need to meet (or exceed) those standards to sell equipment.  What models they produce is their business (and risk).  History has shown that consumers value efficient equipment and look at energy use differences when shopping for appliances.  California was instrumental in the 1970s in creating greater awareness of appliance efficiency which led to the EnergyGuide program.

When the pointer is at the far right, it's bad news on the efficiency front.  Far left represents a very efficient appliance.  The range from left-to-right represents the range of similar appliances of the same capacity among manufacturers whose products were tested.  The dishwasher on the left was not efficient.  The refrigerator on the right was the best in its class, and grew directly from the S.E.R.P. (Super Energy Efficient Refrigerator Program) in the early 90s, where $1million was awarded the manufacturer who produced the highest efficiency model.  These tags were on display in 1997.  Even then, the electricity cost used in the tags' calculations was low—particularly for California's utility prices.  California uses 50% less electricity per capita than the rest of the U.S.