Home energy efficiency is a hot topic these days, as more and more people become concerned not only with saving money on energy but on saving energy to help save the environment. As energy costs continue to rise it becomes increasingly difficult for those on a limited income to pay their energy bills, meaning that they may need help in finding ways to keep their energy costs more affordable. More people are turning to energy audits as a way to find ways to lower costs and increase home energy efficiency. Energy audits can help to identify the areas of your home that are the causes of the most energy loss, and can help you to identify where energy retrofits will do you the most amount of good. Many people do not realize that many weatherization improvements will not only not pay off but will in the end cost you more money than they save. An energy audit can help you to focus on the most cost effective ways to increase your homes energy efficiency. There are many different improvements you can make now to help your home energy efficiency with just a little bit of money and some extra time. These improvements do not take a lot of either, but done together can realize a significant savings on your energy costs. Installing low flow shower heads and faucets and aerators is the best water conservation method you can employ you will use 25% less water by employing these inexpensive retrofits.

Using a water dam in your toilet tank will also save on water usage. Decreasing your hot water heating by installing a hot water tank blanket and insulation on hot water pipes, this can be especially effective if your tank and pipes are in an unheated area of the house. Turning your hot water heater down a few degrees will also help to improve your home energy efficiency as well. Heating and cooling systems should be cleaned and serviced every year and filters should be replaced at the beginning of the heating and cooling season. A dirty filter will cause a decrease in airflow causing the unit to work much harder and increasing the amount of energy needed to heat the same amount of space.

Another way to significantly increase home energy efficiency is to replace all incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs. Compact fluorescents are the most common, but LED's are beginning to gain in popularity and are become more affordable and easy to find. Putting weather stripping on all doors and windows, plastic over drafty windows and door sweeps on the bottoms of your doors can help to reduce drafts significantly resulting in less heating. Home energy efficiency does not have to be expensive to be effective. While there are many more expensive improvements that can be done, these improvements will make a significant difference in your power bill and can be done in a weekend. If you would like to know more about home energy efficiency and energy audits then check out Save Money on Energy, their goal is to help responsible home owners help themselves by lowering their energy bills.