Ten Smart Home Energy Hacks

At SSV’s recent Sustain-a-Palooza! community event, several speakers provided a host of tips for home improvements that can save energy use in your home and help fight climate change. To help keep a lid on rising temperatures and the associated rise in storms, fires, and sea level, everyone from Bill Wehl with Climate Voice to a recent net-zero roadmap published by the International Energy Agency urges everyone to cut back on fossil fuel usage now, by being more energy efficient and using cleaner energy.

This article highlights some of the easiest and budget friendly items mentioned by the speakers.

  1. Start by tapping into your local non-profit community choice energy (CCE) provider, who is working hard to supply the highest mix of renewable energy to their customers. Unless you’ve opted out in favor of PG&E, they are your electricity provider across most of the Bay Area. Check your bill (which comes from PG&E, the billing contractor) for the heading “Details of (CCE Name) Electric Generation Charges.” My PG&E ‘energy statement’ has it on page 8 of 10, just before the gas information.

Find your Community Choice Provider: Click on the graphic above or go to  https://cal-cca.org/about/members/ 

Also, run your dishwasher, washing machine/dryer, and other energy consuming appliances outside of peak hours (4-9pm) when the energy mix includes more fossil fuels to meet surging demand and will be lower cost (Time of Use Rate Plans). 

2. Seal air leaks around doors, windows, and ducting, as well as upgrade home insulation for better comfort and improve energy efficiency by as much as 30%. 

3. Use LED light bulbs and power down electronics when not in use. 

4. Minimize use of your gas stove and oven.  This will mean cleaner indoor air and reduced fossil fuel emissions.  Low-cost electric cooking devices include microwave, toaster oven, crockpot, hotpot, countertop burners (resistance or induction), and convection oven. Using these small electric cooking devices will also help keep the house cooler in summertime.  

If a kitchen remodel is on the “front burner” (near term project) then consider upgrading to an electric induction range (cooktop and oven combo), which has lower power consumption and electrical wiring requirements. 

5. In summertime, close windows and temperature control window coverings during the day. Run the air conditioning earlier in the day to keep the house from heating up. More summertime energy saving tips are here.

6. In wintertime, set the thermostat to 68 degrees or lower, throw on a fleece or wool sweater, pull on some wool socks/sheepskin slippers, use a space heater or electric blanket for a targeted blast of warmth as needed. 

7. Upgrade a gas clothes dryer with an electric washer/dryer combo, save fossil fuel use, time transferring clothes between machines, and space occupied by laundry machines.   

8. Replace an aging gas water heater with a 120V electric heat pump water heater .

9. Replace an outdated gas heater with an electric heat pump HVAC system.

10. Check with CCE/A’s and BayREN for related financial incentives, cost/ROI estimates, and installation service providers.  Additionally, PG&E offers Home Electrification classes online.

Check out A Pocket Guide to All-Electric Retrofits of Single-Family Homes to get more ideas for electrifying your home, guidance on products, smart retrofit strategies, and costs estimates.

Check out these videos from Sustain-A-Palooza! for more information:

  • Representatives from Community Choice Energy/Aggregators and BayREN (Link)
    • Colleen McCamy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy @25:30
    • Carlos Moreno, Peninsula Clean Energy @8:45
    • Raul Hernandez of San José Clean Energy @16:00
    • Jeffery Liang, BayREN @29:45