Green Home Facts: How efficient is your home?

Water

• Americans use an average of 100 gallons of water each day; Surveys show 36 states anticipate water shortages by 2013.
• If all US residential homes installed water-efficient appliances, the country would save more than 3 Trillion Gallons of water and more than $18 Billion dollars per year!
• If 1 out of every 100 residential homes converted to water-efficient fixtures, we would roughly save 100 Million kWh of electricity per year and 80,000 Tons of GHG (GreenHouse Gas Emissions). That’s roughly taking 15,000 vehicles from the road for 1 year!

© iStockphoto.com/EricHood

• If your toilet is from 1992 or earlier, you probably have an inefficient model using at least 3.5 up to 6 Gallons per flush! Now you can install 1.3 Gallons per flush or Zero-Gallons per flush!
• Faucets generally flow 2 Gallons per minute. Save 8 gallons every time you brush your teeth by turning the faucet off.
• Today’s faucets run as low as 0.5 gallons per minute!
• Today’s showerheads run as low as 1.0 gallons per minute!
• 56 billion kWh per year – the amount of electricity consumed by public water supplying and treating facilities!
• Outdated washing machines use about 40 gallons per load
• Newer, efficient washing machines use less than 28 gallons per load

Heating & Cooling

• According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the average home spends $1,300/year on energy utility costs.
• 1/6th of total electricity consumed in the U.S. is used for cooling, costing $40 billion per year.

• Research in Florida showed that sealing ducts in existing homes reduced cooling costs by about 33%.
• In warm months, leaks bring in air filled with moisture. The cooling system has to run longer to take our the moisture, wasting energy and money.
• The US Department of Energy (DOE) studies show that 40% of your home’s energy is lost due to air infiltration. This air infiltrates the home in the form of drafts through walls, sockets, windows and doorways.
• A single open fireplace damper sends eight percent of your heating bill up the chimney.

If your home is not up to par, go green and consider getting a home energy survey. FPL will come out and evaluate your home for free! Check out more energy saving tips for your home on FPL's website by clicking here. In need of a more intensive home renovation? A 'green' retrofit may be a also suitable option. Click here to visit the U.S. Green Building Council's website to find out more.