Your Most Important
Energy Efficiency Decisions

For years, environmentalists have told people to think about the impact of their small everyday decisions. And indeed, small daily actions, such as turning off unnecessary lights or recycling aluminum cans, can add up to make a meaningful difference. But the time when you have the biggest environmental impact and can make the largest difference is when you make major, out-of-the-ordinary purchases or decisions.

Make Energy-Efficiency a Factor When Buying a Car
Choose Your Home Carefully
Target Heating Hot Water, and Air Conditioning
Look for Efficient Appliances

Make Energy Efficiency a Factor When Buying a Car

Every year, the average American household uses over 1,000 gallons of gasoline for their cars. Not only does this generate considerable air pollution and more than 20,000 pounds of the global warming gas carbon dioxide, but it keeps America dependent on foreign oil suppliers and exacerbates the nation’s trade deficit. If the average car was just 25% more efficient, each household would save more than 200 gallons of gasoline and about $350 annually.

It is surprisingly easy to increase vehicle efficiency by this amount. Instead of choosing a mid-size car that gets 20 miles per gallon, look for one that achieves 25 miles per gallon. Among SUVs, select one that gets 20 miles per gallon rather than 16. Of course, if you select a highly efficient vehicle, such as one of the new hybrid-electric cars that get over 45 miles per gallon, you will reduce your environmental impact even further.

It is certainly desirable to try also to take steps to reduce the number of miles you drive in order to save energy, but most people will likely have a hard time eliminating as much as 25% of their car trips. Yet the simple one-time decision to purchase a vehicle that is 25% more efficient will have the same impact.

Choose Your Home Carefully

Where you live plays a big role in determining how much energy you consume. Here are some factors to consider if you want to limit your energy use:

Avoid a house that’s bigger than you need. All other things being equal (such as the amount of insulation in the walls), annual fuel or electricity use for climate conditioning is approximately proportional to floor area. Thus, if you pick a house that is 25% larger than you need, your fuel bills, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollutant emissions will be about 25% higher than they could be. In addition, larger houses require more materials and energy inputs to build than smaller houses.

Choose a home that reduces the need to drive. If you choose a home convenient to work, stores, recreation, and mass transit, you won’t have to drive as much. Don’t think of this as an all-or-nothing proposition, since seemingly small differences can add up to a lot. For example, if you have an average car, even a five-mile difference in the length of your commute to work translates into about 120 gallons of gasoline each year.

Find out how energy-efficient your new apartment or house will be. Look for one that won’t take a lot of energy and money to heat, cool, and light. If you are moving to an apartment, try to get the landlord to make improvements—insulation, weather-stripping, storm windows—that will both save you money on your utility bills and help the environment. If you are purchasing a new house from a developer, look for one that is Energy Star qualified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (www.energystarhomes.com), which means that it has been independently verified to be at least 15% more efficient than the Massachusetts state energy code. If you are lucky enough to be buying a custom-built house, you make a huge difference by insisting that the architect or builder install superefficient features. State-of-the-art energy-efficient houses can require less than a quarter as much energy for heating and cooling as most existing houses. You can also consider incorporating solar features into the house. Passive solar design can improve the attractiveness and comfort of your house, while lowering operating costs. Solar hot water may be cost-effective, especially if you can incorporate the cost into your mortgage. Solar electricity will help advance the use of renewable energy.

Target Heating, Hot Water, and Air Conditioning

Many Massachusetts households spend well more than $1,000 per year for the energy that provides them with heat, hot water, and air conditioning. In the process, they burn large quantities of polluting fossil fuels. It is well worth considering whether you can significantly reduce these costs and pollution. A good starting point is to visit your electric or gas utility’s website to find out whether you qualify for a free home energy audit to assess your current systems and to make recommendations for improvements. Especially if you are a lower-income customer, they may even install some energy conservation measures for free.

Even without having an audit, if you have an old heating or hot water system, you might consider installing a new, efficient one. If the home you live in has a very old furnace of steam boiler (one installed more than 25 years ago), it is probably not very efficient and not only produces more pollution and carbon dioxide than it should but also adds unnecessarily to your heating bills. A new furnace or boiler could cost $2,500 or more (installed), but if it substantially improves the efficiency of your heating system, you might save $200 ore more annually on your heating bills, and you will certainly reduce your household’s environmental impact. There are less expensive tricks you can use to improve the efficiency of an older heating system without replacing the furnace or boiler, such as installing flue dampers to keep heat from escaping out of the house when the furnace or boiler switches off.

Weatherstripping and insulation are effective ways to reduce your need for heat. Especially in older buildings, weatherstripping is almost always both low-cost and cost-effective. An energy audit is a good way to find out whether larger insulation projects make sense. Your electric or gas utility may be able to cover some of the costs of insulation.

Look for Efficient Appliances

The most efficient new 22-cubic foot-refrigerator from a major manufacturer uses 20% less electricity than refrigerators that merely meet the current federal efficiency standard. Yet they keep food just as cold and are just as attractive. They save considerably more electricity than you could achieve by taking ongoing conservation measures, such as regularly vacuuming refrigerator condenser coils or making sure not to unnecessarily open the door. That doesn’t mean that you should ignore or abandon such everyday actions, but the moment at which you produce the largest effect—either positive or negative—is when you buy a new model.

To find energy-efficient appliances—clothes washers, dishwashers, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers as well as refrigerators, look for ones with the federal government’s Energy Star label, which means they are significantly more efficient than minimum government standards. You can do even better than this by looking at the Energy Star website (www.energystar.gov) and finding the best of the efficient appliances. In the case of refrigerators and freezers, even if you have not been planning to replace your existing ones, it may make sense to go out and buy a new efficient model. A new Energy Star refrigerator uses only half as much electricity as a typical 10-year-old one of the same size and with the same features. If your refrigerator is 15 or 20 years old, the savings will likely be even greater. By buying an efficient replacement model, you will likely save $50 or more annually on your electric bills and significantly reduce your electricity use.