Is it really possible for a neighborhood to be green? Absolutely! Our neighborhood was designed as a street-car suburb before the automobile era. The basic design and location of our neighborhood that made sense almost a hundred years ago makes it conducive to reducing energy consumption and the impact on our environment today.

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So, you know you need to do some things to tighten up your house and reduce your utility bills. Making your house more comfortable would be nice and reducing the impact on the environment is also important. The great thing is that you don’t need to give up any one of these things to get the others. Going green doesn’t mean shivering in a dark house with your coat on!

Getting started on reducing home energy use and environmental impact can seem overwhelming—there are so many things to consider. Eventually you will need to do an energy audit of your home to see where you are using energy and how to conserve. However, before you start the big projects, try doing these four simple things that are inexpensive and have a quick payback.

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In general, most of the energy wasted in heating and cooling a house is wasted due to air infiltration. This is simply cold air (in the winter) that gets into the house or heated air that gets out. Remember that any air that gets out of the house is replaced by unheated air from outside. Also, air infiltration makes the house feel drafty and cold. After doing the easy stuff, in our older homes, sealing the envelope of the house should be the next place to look to save significant amounts of energy and money.

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Doors and windows require special attention because they are a major source of air infiltration. They are also very important to the character of our homes – particularly those doors and windows facing the street. Too often people replace windows and doors with units that aren’t appropriate to the architectural style of the home and thus seriously detract from the value of the house.

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Many of our houses have working fireplaces and they add a great deal of charm and value to our homes. However, as a source of heat, a fireplace is typically very wasteful. When the flue damper is open, a tremendous amount of heated air goes up the chimney and must be replaced with cold, unheated air (air infiltration). It's like leaving the front door open! In addition, most flue dampers don’t close tightly when the fireplace is not in use.

Without getting into wood burning stoves or inserts, there are a couple of solutions to heat loss up the chimney that still allow for an occasional fire in the fireplace.

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Older gas furnaces, for example furnaces that still have a pilot light, have an efficiency of about 55-65% - almost 40% of your gas bill is wasted up the flue! Many of our older homes still have these furnaces in them.

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Tankless water heaters heat water on demand rather than storing hot water in a tank. The result is that you don’t ever run out of hot water. In addition, tankless water heaters are much smaller than a standard tank unit.

Tankless gas water heaters use about 38% less gas than a gas tank water heater. While they cost more than a standard 40 gal tank water heater, a tankless gas water heater with an energy factor of .82 or better qualifies for a 30% federal tax credit. In addition, Citizen's Gas regularly offers rebates on some of these same water heaters. Payback period will vary, but five years or less isn't unreasonable.

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