Why an Energy efficient Home is important for you

What do you expect from your home? When you look at it, since time immemorial the home has been a secure place where one is protected from the elements and predators, a place where one could relax with ones own after an arduous day of work. Shelter from elements would have been a comfortable environ as well with a warm fire burning in the living area providing light, heat and a means for cooking. The picture is not much different even today except we need more energy and are more purpose specific in its usage.

Fuel available a plenty?

In those times the Homo sapiens would have found the available basic bio mass fuel was quite adequate for their community. The population and their needs were less though. The needs have changed today.

The mostly widely used fossil fuel production level is at an all time high globally. But the newly emerged buyers are waiting on the fringe competing neck to neck with the traditional buyer countries for what is siphoned up. The vast existing oil fields are past their peak production and fast drying up. True new fields too are being discovered regularly .But the fact remains today we need more energy at inflated cost mainly due to increased demand and shortages.

Energy- at what cost?

Just an year ago in 2008 the crude oil price hovered near $200 per barrel mark. The world is still reeling from the economic mess up that was created. Even today business conglomerates are shutting down making thousands lose their lively hood. Now that the crude price has come down to a rational level it is only a question of time when the next price hike will be. As this seems to boil down to a question of supply and demand with the rapid industrialization of the world's most populace region the Asian Continent and the global political instability there is no likely hood of prices remaining low for good. It has become therefore imperative to look for alternative solutions that are environmentally friendly too.

Alternative Solutions

The alternative solutions apparent are;

• Conservation and optimized usage of energy, and
• Replacing conventional power generation with that using Renewable Energy

This brings us to the question of an energy efficient home. An Energy-Efficient-Homes">energy efficient home therefore has to incorporate both the above aspects.

Conservation and Optimized energy usage

Energy can be conserved in a house with;

• Highly effective thermal insulation . An effective insulation installation will have;
  • Correct insulation materia l
  • Correct R and U factors for the insulation
  • Correct insulation thickness
  • Correct density of insulation material
  • Incorporation of a means for vapor sealing
  • Incorporation of a reflective film

The applied insulation may be in cavity walls, wall cladding, under floor and basement, attic or ceiling or the roof itself.

• Air tight insulated Windows with double or triple glazing. Low emissivity type offers best energy savings.
• Properly designed ventilation without depending on uncontrolled infiltration.
• An efficient heating (or air conditioning) system which may incorporate high efficiency condensing boilers, gasification boilers or biomass type boilers.
• The distribution and control of thermal energy for space heating and hot water incorporating proper insulation for air ducts (if any) and plumbing.
• Use of electrical energy efficiently for lighting (for e.g. with CFL s)
• Using efficient pumps and fans with optimized performance by system design,

In addition use of energy rated appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators etc. with (for example A++ ) will save quite an amount of home energy irrespective of the high investment.

Alternative Energy as a buffer

Alternative energy sources are renewable and sustainable. Presently the following are widely implemented systems. In micro generation for home usage the following are widely considered.

• Wind Turbines
• PV solar panels
• Micro Hydro power generation
• .Micro CHPs using Biomass, Natural gas, Propane or petroleum derived fuels.(Except for Biomass all the other fuels do not fall under renewable fuel category but exhibit other environmental friendly properties through CHPs high fuel efficiency demanding special consideration)

While the free energy from renewable fuels may not be consistent throughout the year, in a grid tied system one could complement the other where both parties would be benefitted.

A wide range of concessions is offered by SEI for retrofitting existing homes for energy efficiency. Micro generation also provides an additional avenue to cut down your energy bills and also recover your investment in an energy efficient home sooner by way of exporting the surplus to the utility grid. Further the BER rating too will be enhanced making your property value rise higher.