You would probably clutch your wallet if you knew how much energy waste was going on in your home. Leaks, unsealed windows and doors, dirty HVAC systems and HVAC systems that are so old they are sapping more energy but giving you poor results. It is not the end! You can unclench your wallet. Here, you can save your wallet by following these helpful steps.

The Hard Truths

You might have heard the tired saying from older generations,”old equipment works better, it was tougher,” somewhere along the lines. To be frank, it is all anecdotal. It is based on personal experience. Let’s put it this way: take any old piece of equipment, like an old cooling system and clean it up, maybe replace a few parts with stock pieces. It should run absolutely fine, might even give you a good few years. There is one problem though: it does not change a machine’s base efficiency.

Maintaining equipment is a must to keep it at peak performance, that goes with more modern equipment, too. Over time, the equipment falters in its performance and needs maintenance to get it back to snuff. What is does not do is improve the equipment past its factory peak.

Your energy bill is about 50 percent of your heating and cooling. Imagine reducing that bill anywhere from 7 to 24 percent. Would you do it? You can with windows that are labeled by ENERGY STAR. Considering the average American is spending about $2,200 on their energy bill every year, the average American could save anywhere from $154 to $528 a year. And that is just updating your windows.

You can save another 10 to 20 percent on your annual energy bill by insulating your home, especially your attic. Energy waste tends to escape your attic. Use 12 to 15 inches of insulation to reduce that.

Updating your HVAC System

This is certainly the most costly of the updates, but arguably the most important. If your heating and cooling system is pushing double-digits, it is time to toss it. Energy waste with an improperly installed system runs your bill into the ground another 30 percent.

For some, this may seem like a daunting task. Luckily, there are energy efficient services that can help put you on the right track so that, down the line, you can save money and be less energy wasteful.