Project Recommendations - Whole House

When you are renovating a house, it is an ideal time to incorporate energy savings measures. The older the home, the more likely it needs some updating. Sealing air leaks and properly installing the correct level of insulation will create significant energy savings and improve comfort. Replacing windows, appliances, lighting, or heating and cooling equipment? Install ENERGY STAR qualified products to maximize savings.

If your water heater is nearing the end of its life, replace it with a new, energy efficient model. Install low flow fixtures for additional savings on your energy, water and sewer bills.

Before starting a whole house remodeling project you should contact an ENERGY STAR representative or a Certified Rater so that the project can benefit from the additional services of inspections, certification, and rebates, where available. When planning your renovations, consider the following measures and their many benefits.

If you are remodeling or restoring an historic building, click here for energy efficient recommendations that affect the outside appearance of such buildings.

Implementing the top five measures listed below can save you about $785 on your energy bill per year!

The following data reflect the incremental cost, including both labor and materials, and savings produced by installing the recommended energy-efficient measure on a typical 2,000 square foot house, compared with the minimum required by the International Energy Conservation Code or Federal Regulations.

Programmable Thermostat - Install an ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostat.		$45		183 $/yr		0.2 years
Heating System Tune-up - Have a professional tune up your heating system if it has not received a tune-up in the last year. If your heating system is more than 15 years old consider replacing it with a high efficiency system (see below).		$104		133 $/yr		0.8 years
Windows and Skylights - When replacing your windows or skylights, choose ENERGY STAR qualified windows with a U-Factor of 0.30 or less and skylights with a 0.55 or less.		$180		172 $/yr		1 years
Seal Duct Leaks - Have your ducts professionally sealed to reduce leakage to the ENERGY STAR specification of 10% maximum.		$483		390 $/yr		1.2 years
Insulate Ducts - Increase the insulation on your ducts to a minimum of R-6.		$483		229 $/yr		2.1 years
Seal Air Leaks - Have a professional seal your home's air leaks. Typically, this reduces air leakage by 25%.		$604		268 $/yr		2.3 years
Insulate Walls - Insulate all exterior walls to at least R-13.		$705		207 $/yr		3.4 years
Water Heater Replacement - When replacing your oil water heater, choose one with an EF of .62 or higher and a recovery efficiency of .75. Also consider going solar. The majority of states offer financial incentives for using solar technologies, increasing their cost effectiveness.		$144		40 $/yr		3.6 years
Insulate Ceilings - Insulate your ceilings to at least R-49. Install vapor retarders in non-vented framed ceilings.		$1,214		220 $/yr		5.5 years
Furnace Replacement- When replacing your oil furnace, choose a model with a minimum of 90 AFUE.		$767		115 $/yr		6.7 years

Lighting - Lighting accounts for about 12% of residential energy expenditures. Choosing ENERGY STAR qualified lighting options offers significant savings.

Compact Fluorescent Lighting - CFL bulbs use 66% less energy and last up to ten times as long as incandescent bulbs.
Lighting Fixtures - Replace your standard lighting fixtures with ENERGY STAR qualified models.
Ceiling Fans - ENERGY STAR qualified ceiling fans move a greater volume of air with less power by taking advantage of advanced motor features and deign. Some models also incorporate CFLs for even greater energy savings.

Appliances - When replacing old appliances, look for models with the ENERGY STAR label. ENERGY STAR qualified appliances use 10-50% less energy than standard appliances.

Refrigerator - ENERGY STAR qualified models use at least 10% less energy than required by current federal standards, and 40% less energy than the conventional models sold in 2001.		$30		14 $/yr		2.1 years
Clothes Washer - Replace an old clothes washer with an ENERGY STAR model. It uses 50% less energy than standard washers and saves about 8,600 gallons of water per year for the average household.		$200		51 $/yr		3.9 years
Dishwasher - ENERGY STAR qualified dishwashers use 25% less energy than the federal minimum standard and save about 800 gallons of water per year for the average household.		$		37 $/yr		0 years

Low Flow Fixtures - Energy and money aren't the only thing you can save when remodeling your bathroom. When installing new shower heads, faucets or a new toilet, consider choosing low flow models to save a significant amount of water too.

Faucets - Low flow faucets have aerators in them to cut your water usage. These faucets use as much as 40% less water than conventional faucets, or about 2.5 gallons per minute compared to 4.
Showers - Low flow shower heads save about 50% of the water a conventional shower requires, or about 2.5 gallons per minute as compared to the conventional 4 or 5 gallons per minute. This also saves energy because less water must be heated for the shower.
Toilets - Older toilets use about 3.5 to 7 gallons per flush. Low flow toilets use only 1.6 gallons per flush and save your family between 8,000 and 20,000 gallons of water per year, per toilet.

Note: Cost, savings and payback data are representative of a typical building in your climate region. This information is provided as a realistic illustration of typical results; however, actual figures may vary based on your specific climate, building components, construction type, age, fuel type, etc. Users are encouraged to have an energy professional conduct a thorough energy audit for precise results.

View additional Earth Friendly Measures for your rehab project.

Provide specific inputs to Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory's Home Energy Saver on-line calculator to get a list of recommended whole house improvements and savings for your home. This link will take you off the Rehab Advisor site.

Be careful of lead and asbestos during your remodeling project.