Some Energy Saving Tips to Help You Reduce

Here at Ecostar, we pride ourselves on not only being energy efficient, but helping others create environments that are as energy efficient as possible. So, in honor of Energy Awareness Month, we’ve put together this list of tips to help you reduce your carbon footprint. 

Swap out Incandescent Lighting for LED Lighting

You may have already changed out many of your incandescent light in your home for CFL or LED bulbs, but how about the outdoor lighting? 

The outdoor porch or post lamp is one of the highest used light fixtures in a home, and is the perfect place to install energy efficient light bulbs. LED bulbs will fit easily into existing porch lights. Adding a motion sensor that turns the light on only when someone is present or on at night takes things a step further. LED bulbs are also available with automated built-in sensors that automatically turn on and shut off based on whether or not there is daylight.

Adding Insulation? Make sure there’s no air gaps

Always find and seal air leaks before adding more insulation. Chimneys or furnace flues that penetrate your attic floor have holes or gaps around them that can allow the air in your home to escape through the attic, increasing your energy bill and causing more drafts. Around chimney and furnace flues that can get hot, cover the gaps with metal flashing and caulk small gaps with high temperature caulk. 

Make sure your attic hatch/door is air tight

Weather-strip and insulate your home’s attic hatch or door to help keep your home more comfortable and save energy. You can do this with weatherizing materials and insulation or with a pre-made attic cover available from local home improvement centers and on the web.

Invest in a cool roof

The term “cool roof” was coined to describe roofs that minimize heat build-up when exposed to solar radiation. The primary drivers for developing this technology are:

• Reducing energy consumption by lowering the load on air conditioners
• Mitigating the urban “heat island” effect, wherein the heat absorbed by city buildings elevates the temperature in the surrounding area significantly above what it would be in the absence of those buildings.
• Heat islands pose a health risk for those unable to escape the heat, and stress the electrical grid supplying power to all those air conditioners.

EcoStar offers a line of cool colors in all Empire products. EcoStar has three Energy Star® rated colors including Sea Salt, Drifting Dunes and Saratoga Sunset, which are available in multiple profiles including Traditional Slate, Niagara Slate, Shake and Shake Plus. 

Take a closer look at what a ‘Cool Roof’ can do for your energy usage, here.