Energy efficient home improvements that will reduce utility bills

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By this point, you’ve surely heard that carbon emissions are one of the biggest threats to climate change and rising sea levels.

Carbon emissions also directly affect the health and habitats of humans and animals alike.

The benefits to making energy efficient home improvements by switching to sources of renewable energy or simply reducing your current energy use are two-fold: It helps the environment, and it helps your wallet.

It may sound daunting, but there are dozens of ways to reduce your personal carbon footprint and even become carbon neutral, especially at home.

If you plan to make large-scale changes to your home, such as switching to a renewable energy source like solar or wind, or installing a geothermal heat pump, installing more efficient insulation, or shopping for new appliances, the best place to start is with a home energy audit, where an assessor will identify how your home can become more efficient and less wasteful.

While installation of most renewable energy systems, like solar or wind, can require a significant investment up front, there are currently tax credits available for people making carbon-reducing home improvements, and ultimately, these kinds of installations will lower utility bills over time.

For those who aren't looking to overhaul their home's infrastructure, smaller changes, like reducing water usage, swapping out gas cooktops for induction, installing smart thermostats, and using the Energy Star rating when shopping for appliances, make a big difference in both carbon emissions and, as a result, utility bills. Plus, smaller steps are simple and much more affordable to employ.

Whether your concern is the environment or your bottom line, making any small changes to create an energy efficient home will have a positive impact. We’ve researched a few things you can do to cut your carbon footprint and reduce your utility bills.

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A home energy audit should be the first step toward deciding how your home can function more sustainably. A good audit can determine how you may choose to retrofit your home with new, more efficient appliances or fixtures, and identify weaknesses, such as air leaks, sources of indoor air pollution, and poorly insulated areas.

In a home energy audit, an energy assessor will perform a detailed examination of the residence, and they should also conduct a thorough examination of past utility bills to understand your typical energy use.

Using special tools, these assessors are trained to detect sources of energy loss and make recommendations that can improve your home's efficiency.

Often these recommendations include sealing or insulating areas of the home to prevent heat loss, installing smart thermostats, LED light bulbs, smart power strips, upgrading appliances to those with Energy Star ratings, installing solar panels or new heat pumps, all of which increase your home's efficiency while reducing energy costs in the long run.

A study published in January 2022 revealed that gas stoves, which are used in roughly 40 million American households, emit a slow leak of methane gas, one of the top gasses contributing to climate change. This leak occurs even when the stovetop is not in use.

The study revealed that the "annual methane emissions from all gas stoves in U.S. homes have a climate impact comparable to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 500,000 cars."

While not everyone can just get rid of a perfectly good range, if you are considering a new stove or cooktop in the near future, choosing an electric or induction model would be the safer and smarter choice when it comes to the environment.

(Unfamiliar with induction cooking? Our Induction Cooking 101 guide will tell you everything you need to know about it.)

If you’re considering an energy efficient upgrade to your home's HVAC system, a geothermal heat pump, also sometimes called a geoexchange system, is a clean way to heat and cool your home. It uses nothing more than a series of pipes, which transfer the consistently cool air from the ground into your home.

Alternatively, if geothermal energy is not an option, Reviewed's chief scientist David Ellerby suggests an air source heat pump, which is also highly efficient.

"These are more like an AC unit," says Ellerby. "They're not quite as efficient as geothermal, but they're still a very good option and there are fewer barriers to installation."

While most heat pumps are inherently more efficient than other more traditional heating methods, you can compare the efficiency of different heat pump brands and even sign up for rebates for certain models at the Energy Star website.

If reducing your carbon footprint and relying on clean, renewable energy is a goal, small wind systems and solar panels (also known as photovoltaics or PVs) are excellent choices to consider. Neither option produces greenhouse gasses, and they’re both a source of infinitely renewable energy.

Though solar panels do have a small carbon footprint due to their manufacturing process, that carbon production is far less significant than consistent use of fossil fuels. Solar also requires less water consumption than many other electricity sources.

Both solar and wind energy can be customized to fully power your home, or smaller systems may be installed to offset some of your electricity usage. While there are significant up-front installation costs associated with each of these systems, many of those costs are generally recovered over time.

There are also tax incentives available to cover some of the installation costs. With all of them, you’ll use less of the traditional electricity supply, which translates to a lower power bill.

We mentioned that using the Energy Star website when shopping for new heat pumps is an excellent way to research energy efficiency, but you can look for the Energy Star label for just about every kind of appliance you can think of.

If retrofitting your home with a new HVAC system isn't in the cards at the moment, and you just need to get a new air conditioner, finding one with and Energy Star rating is a great way to ensure you’re getting the most efficient model for your space,

The Energy Star rating system is backed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that provides consumers with unbiased information about the energy efficiency of products they’re purchasing.

Since the Energy Star program was introduced in 1992, it has helped to reduce nationwide energy costs by $450 billion and has resulted in 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.

Energy Star-rated ACs typically use 9% less energy than non-Energy Star models, saving you money on your electricity bills. The Energy Star website offers side-by-side energy usage comparisons for most models of air conditioner, and displays rankings of the year's most efficient appliances.

Similarly, you can use the Energy Star site to compare everything from boilers to light bulbs, meaning that even the smallest purchases can significantly reduce your energy use.

Smart thermostats are not only a great way to control your energy use, but to actually start to learn about when and why you’re using the most electricity.

Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats allow you to remotely control the temperature in your home, as well as monitor and save energy with more efficient heating/cooling.

Our top pick for a smart thermostat, the Nest Learning Thermostat, will even pick up on your daily habits and adjust the temperature of your home automatically.

These features are both convenient and great for saving energy, as the thermostat will adjust your temperature when no one is home. It can even alert you if your HVAC filter needs to be changed — yet another way to make sure your home-cooling stays efficient.

There are a few ways to make sure that your home stays cool in summer and warm in winter. One of the most important is identifying whether your windows and doors are properly insulated and leak-proof.

Windows are a major source of heat loss in winter and cold air loss in summer. By installing newer models that have double-paned glass and special spectrally selective coatings that let in light but not heat, you can reduce heat gain inside your home during summer months.

You can also buy rolls of heat-blocking window film if you’d prefer not to replace every window in the house.

Andersen 200 Series Double Hung Wood Clad Insulated Window with White Exterior

This window with Low-E insulated glass is energy efficient to keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter while reducing your energy bills.

If your windows and doors are prone to drafts, it means that the temperature-controlled air your AC or heat pump is cranking out is likely finding its way outside.

Seal those cracks with weather stripping like door seals, window insulating foam tape, caulking, or insulation.

You can also compare products to find the ones that are right for you on the Energy Star website.

In addition to windows and doors, ensuring that your home is well-insulated means you won't have to adjust the thermostat as much when the weather shifts.

If you live in a warm climate, consider installing radiant barriers, which are a form of insulation that are typically installed in attics to reduce summer heat gains in the home and reduce cooling costs.

These barriers consist of a highly reflective material that reflects radiant heat rather than absorbing it.

If you live in cooler climates, adding insulation to your home can cost effectively reduce your heating bill by up to 15% according to the EPA.

Whether you choose DIY installation, such as adding additional blanket-style insulation or you have a professional spray your home with foam insulation to seal cracks and leaks, there are several ways to protect your home from the elements while protecting your heating bill as well.

While most of our suggestions for reducing utility bills focus on home heating and electricity, don't count out all the ways you can save on your water bill. Water is a finite resource, and reducing water use is a common sense approach to preserving perhaps our most precious natural resource.

In the same way that the Energy Star label helps identify efficient appliances and electronics, the WaterSense label can help when shopping for sinks, toilets, and showerheads. The label identifies products that are at least 20% more water efficient than their standard counterparts.

Hot water heating accounts for 18% of all household energy use, so having an efficient hot water heater will also help reduce your energy output significantly.

While traditional hot water heaters hold a reserve of water that's always hot and ready for use, they’re inefficient and often waste energy keeping hot water hot even when it's not needed. Tankless water heaters, which heat water on demand, are much more effective and can heat up water as it travels through pipes without wasting energy by keeping it hot all the time.

Heat pump hot water heaters (also called hybrid electric water heaters) and solar hot water heaters are both also much more efficient at heating water in residential applications than traditional hot water heaters. Since they use the heat from either the ground or the sun to help heat water, they run on renewable, clean energy.

In addition, creating a water-smart outdoor landscape with native plants, a rain garden and/or swale, and utilizing a rain barrel to catch rainwater for reuse in your garden or lawn can significantly cut down on your outdoor water use.

Additionally, make sure any leaks, whether in faucets, toilets, hoses, or outdoor irrigation systems are fixed and plumbing is properly maintained to prevent water — and money — from being wasted.

Though it may seem like water isn't a huge concern or expense, assessing and understanding your personal water use can reduce your bills significantly over time.

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