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October 13, 2008
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Energy Checklist For Homes
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MSU Extension
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What's in this article
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 Introduction
Site
House Design
Construction and Insulation
Heating and Cooling System
Color and Lighting
For more information
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 Return to the Knowledge Base
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East and especially west windows are kept to a
minimum and/or provided with shade trees and tall shrubs,
fences, awnings, tinted glass or other shading devices
(to keep out early morning and late afternoon sun in the
summer).
Amount of window area is no more than 10 to 15
percent of floor area (there is more heat loss through
glass, even double or triple glazing, than through an
insulated wall). Note: Before you decide to eliminate
certain openings, keep in mind that local building codes
may require that certain rooms of the house have windows
or doors to the outside. This is for safety's sake,
especially fire safety. Check with the building inspector
in your local area or county to be certain of
requirements.
Operable windows are placed so that cooling air can
travel through the house in summer and escape at a high
point of interior space (example: an operable window in
an upstairs hallway will draw off warm air from the
inside).
Attic ventilators are placed so air is drawn from
cooler, shady parts of house (under eaves for inlet of
cool air) and exhausted as high as possible (along ridge
of roof or at attic gable ends). Vents allow the escape
of unwanted moisture from attic in winter and lessen
attic heat build-up in summer (be sure ventilation is
adequate; at least one square foot of eave inlet and one
square foot of gable outlet for EACH 150 feet of ceiling
area is recommended. Periodically check vents, especially
eave vents, to see they are not obstructed by insulation
or other building materials.)
Chimney for fireplace is placed on an inside rather
than an outside wall (so heat is lost to inside of
house).
Fireplace is designed to heat the room (such as a
circulating type with a glass fire screen door to prevent
heat from the room being lost up the chimney) and has an
outside air intake for combustion of wood to prevent
furnace heated air from being used for combustion (newer
fireplace systems can be designed so duct-work connected
to the system provides outside air for combustion; check
with fireplace dealers in your area).
Plumbing fixtures are located close to water
heater(s) (to reduce heat loss from water as it moves
from tank to point of use).
Water heater is located in a heated space (even a
well-insulated heater loses more heat when placed in an
unheated area).
Stair wells to second floor or basement have tightly
sealed doors either at top or bottom of the stairs (to
prevent "chimney" effect and loss of heat to upper area).
Multi-family housing has "extra" energy saving
potential In this type of housing, each dwelling shares
one or more walls with other dwelling units (in
townhouses, duplexes, or apartments in mid- or high-rise
buildings, less wall space in each unit is exposed to the
outside, thus greatly reducing the amount of heat loss
from each unit through its walls, or ceiling and floor in
some cases).
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Copyright ©2008 by Renovators, a TB Systems company. All rights reserved. Privacy policy.
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