I recently started looking into ways where I could find out if I was leaving any money on the table regarding my monthly heating and cooling bills. I don’t think that I pay a whole lot for electricity in the summer, but my gas bills in the winter can really be through the roof sometimes. From my novice experience, I think I have a fairly energy efficient home, but I am just not sure. What I wanted was to have some professional come to my house to give it the “once over” and make appropriate recommendations.

Where to Look?

I had envisioned getting a list of HVAC experts and getting a list of estimates and then making my choice. It was then that I found a “gem.” A diamond in the rough so to speak.

What I found out was that in most states…

Your energy provider will come out and do an energy audit of your home for free.

Yes, free. At first I didn’t believe it. My thought always was that these companies would want you to use as much energy as possible to drive up their profits. It seems the opposite is true. What I learned was that as we the consumer use more and more energy, it requires energy providers to have to go out and build more power plants. This is the last thing that they want to do.

So I had one scheduled, they came out and did it yesterday, and I‘d like to outline for you how it works and what they found.

One Phone Call

All it really involved was making a simple phone call to my electricity supplier and scheduling an appointment. These audits normally take about an hour, but depending on how thorough you want them to be, they can take less time or more. Mine lasted right about an hour.

A Consultation

It started off with a consultation. The rep came in and asked me a series of questions, mostly about where I thought I was losing money and anything in particular that he wanted me to focus on. He brought with him a print out of my energy usage for the last several months and a basic comparison for other houses of my size. As it turns out, I was pretty much on spot. My electricity use in the summer was quite good; my energy usage in the winter time was high.

A Walk Through

He then performed a walkthrough of my house. He checked the general condition and workability of my AC unit, my hot water heater, the condition of my windows, and so on. He made several notes along the way about smaller things he noticed in the house, and then went upstairs to check out my insulation. All the while making verbal recommendations and giving me the costs of different repairs and improvements that I could potentially make.

The Report

He then put together a pretty comprehensive report, along with booklets and brochures on various pieces of equipment. To make one thing clear, he was not there to sell me anything. He made his recommendations without promoting any particular product or company.

The Results

I was very impressed with the results. I have outlined here what he came up with for my particular energy audit.

• Buy Energy Star appliances only.
• Switch to energy efficient bulbs.
• Check all exterior doors for proper weather stripping and replace where needed.
• Check all window frames and other potential “crevices” for proper caulking. Caulk as needed.
• Keep AC unit as free and clear from any obstructions as possible. Also, keep it clean.
• Change the air filter in your AC unit regularly—every three months is recommended.
• Lower hot water heater to 120 degrees or lower.
• Keep thermostat at 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter, or as close as you can.
• Seriously consider adding more insulation in my attic.
• Consider installing a programmable thermostat.
• Seal minor leaks in duct work stemming from AC.

Just Do It!

I would highly recommend you check and see if your energy company offers this service, and if they do it for free I would jump all over it. They may find much more glaring opportunities in your home, or they may find minor repairs that potentially could be fixed for pennies on the dollar. That’s what he found with my home. Of all the actual repairs or replacing of things in my home, he said that I could do most of them for a total cost of less than $100, and I would make this up in savings in the first year. To me, that’s a no-brainer. Adding insulation in my attic is a little more expensive and time consuming, but he also said that I would make up that cost in about a year as well, especially in the winter time, and after that I would see increased savings on my winter heating bills.

All in all, I couldn’t have been more impressed. I got a wealth of common sense and low cost recommendations to save on the energy costs in my home given by an expert for free.

What else could one ask for?

Have you had an energy audit of your home? What did they find? Feel free to share.

(photo credit: rockinfree)

The tiki torch gas cans, the old paint canisters, that unused TV, and the ancient computer… they are all sitting in my garage needing to be disposed. So why are they still sitting there?

Like many other people, I am not quite sure how to dispose them. But I finally got tired of them taking up space in my garage. So, I took it upon myself to find the proper ways to dispose of these items and lending a hand to keeping them out of the landfills.

Like that old TV, I found a place that takes them, fixes them up, and resells ‘em. The old computer… the drop location was at my local thrift store. So, I was able to bring those bags of clothing, too.

Learn how you can reduce, reuse, and recycle with these best recycling websites:

Earth’s 911
Earth911.com is your one-stop shop for all you need to know about reducing your impact, reusing what you’ve got and recycling your trash. With their recycling database, they can help you find over 100,000 recycling locations across the country. With information provided by local governments, industry insiders, organizations and everyday consumers, you can recycle hundreds of products from packing peanuts to computers. Earth 911 knows where you need to go to get things done.

EPA Wastes
Each year, Americans generate millions of tons of waste in our homes and communities. EPA is challenging all citizens to conserve our natural resources by committing to reduce, reuse, and recycle at home, in your community, and at the office. Learn what you can do to make a difference.

1-800-Recycling

1-800-Recycling.com is a dynamic recycling and green living-focused website that makes recycling, conserving, reusing and living wisely easy. The site features comprehensive recycling location database that gives the user the ability to easily assemble a recycling to-do list. The database is location based, and aims to make your recycling needs as easy as possible, whether you’re clearing out the house during spring cleaning or simply looking to recycle a few shopping bags.

Money Funk’s Pick: The 1-800-Recycling website makes it very easy to find out how to recycle items; it really is a dynamic recycling website!

One Man’s trash is another Man’s Treasure:

Try reusing and exchanging

FreeCycle
The Freecycle Network is made up of 4,793 groups with 7,208,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of the people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.

Thred UP
You don’t wear 25% of the clothes in your closet. Join thredUP and start exchanging them for some that you will! And now there is ThredUP for kids clothes – the way America’s busies families conveniently exchange kids clothing online.

Recycle Unwanted Electronics

For Money

Gazelle
Gazelle wants to change the world – one cell phone, one laptop, one iPod at a time. It is their purpose – and their promise – to provide a practical, rewarding way for people to finally rid themselves of all those old cell phones, digital cameras, and gaming systems that they no longer use, but can’t seem to find a way to let go of.

For items that they can’t offer any money for or don’t currently accept online, check out their Recycle Network Directory. It’s a a network of local recyclers to help you recycle those items.

Costco.com Trade-In Program
*Costco Member Exclusive
Trade-in your electronics and receive Costco Cash Cards! Costco has teamed up with Gazelle, the industry leader in electronics trade-in, to offer this program. Costco’s Trade-In Program now puts more money in your wallet. Trade-in electronic gadgets in more than 15 categories (such as laptops, cell phones, LCD monitors, digital cameras, MP3 players, gaming systems & more) for Costco Cash good for anything in Costco warehouses or at Costco.com.

Non-Monetary

You could also recycle electronics at Best Buy, Office Depot, and Staples.

Do you know of a great way to recycle or reuse an item? Or know of another great recycling website to add to this list? Please share in the comment section below.

Example: Beer/Soda tabs make great picture hangers for frames (yes, if you look at the many frames hanging on my walls, you will see I use tabs specifically for this use. Please, don’t drop the frame when you come over to check it out. )