Saving Money with Trees

Everybody is looking for ways to cut energy costs these days. According to the Department of Energy, strategic planting of as few as three trees can provide the average household with an energy savings of between $100-$250 annually. How can you use trees to save energy?

First, understanding how our homes are heated or cooled by temperatures outside is important. During the winter, homes can gain warmth through the sun and south facing windows due to the sun being low in the sky. East and west windows will also provide small amounts of sunlight into your home in the winter. This free energy can represent 5% to 20% of the energy needed to heat your home. Cutting out wind and air leaks can also help maintain the warmth in your home.

As for the summer, blocking out unwanted heat is the secret to maintaining a comfortable home. This is where planting trees that create shade can help you conserve energy. To know where to strategically plant your trees, identify these conditions:

•    Figure out which side of your house faces north.
•    Draw your house on a piece of paper with north facing the top of page. Show on the house drawing the approximate location of east and west-facing windows.
•    Draw in the approximate location of the major features of your yard: driveway, property lines, power lines, existing trees.
•    Find north exposure.  Note shadows in your drawing.
•    Evaluate where trees will be most beneficial
•    Look at planting shade trees due west of west-facing windows.
•    Look at planting an evergreen windbreak tree to the north and west.
•    Select and mark your best planting site so that it doesn’t conflict with existing trees, wires, etc.

Planting trees strategically is important. For the most shade, plant near west and east windows while avoiding planting trees in front of south windows. Select trees that can be planted within twenty feet of the window and that will grow at least ten feet taller than the window. When space permits, use as many trees as needed to create a continuous planting along all major west and east facing windows. Deciduous trees will provide maximum summer shade while minimizing winter shade.

Besides creating shade, your trees also can serve as a windbreak.  Trees are ideal wind filters; they bend gently with its force slowing down turbulence. For maximum wind protection, you need enough trees along with trees that are dense and tall enough. The ideal windbreak tree is a dense evergreen whose branches extend from ground level to a height at least twice as tall as the building being sheltered. Windbreak trees need to be clustered together to reduce wind going between the trees. The most efficient way to do this is to plant trees in rows perpendicular to the primary winter wind direction—usually running along the west and north sides of the property. Since the wind will increase some at the edges of the windbreak, not only should the trees be taller, but the windbreak should be much longer than the buildings being sheltered. To keep dense branches to the ground, evergreens need full sun that means they must not be overcrowded.

Trees do a lot more than help you lower your energy costs and provide birds with a place to perch. Trees increase the value of your home, reduce air pollutants, and make life comfortable all while saving people on their energy bills.