Your DIY home energy audit checklist

Written by: Emmanuel

By liking what we do and living our meaning, we're in harmony with everyone and everything. Emmanuel van der Meulen. CEO, Peace Evolution.

Published: December 31, 2023

Do you know how much money you could save by going green? You may be aware that eco friendly lifestyle houses are cheaper to run. Retrofitting your existing home or buying a new eco friendly lifestyle home can be pricey. How can you be sure that the money you save will help to pay for such an expensive investment? You’ll only be able to calculate the return on your investment if you know exactly how much you’re spending to run your home now.

An energy audit will help you understand where and how you use energy in your home. Once you know that, you’ll be able to work out how much you can save by switching to green and eco friendly living. Or, at the very least you can identify areas where you can reduce your consumption and costs.

Although a professional energy audit will be more thorough, doing it yourself will give a rough idea of the costs and the opportunity to understand your energy consumption better. Keep this checklist handy and make notes as you go through every room in your house.

Calculating the costs of your appliances and devices

Kitchens are filled with appliances that rely on electricity, so it’s a good idea to start your energy audit here. To begin with, you’ll need to determine the wattage of your machines. You can find this information on the wattage label or check the user manual. Once you have that information, work out how many hours a day you use the appliance. For example, your fridge runs all day while your washing machine may only work for 2 – 3 hours at a time.

These are the other appliances that you should take note of:

  • Oven and stove
  • Washing machine
  • Dishwasher
  • Microwave
  • Kettle
  • Coffee maker
  • Toaster

Now you can start to calculate your energy consumption. For example, let’s take a washing machine with a wattage of 350 that works around 3 hours a day:

Step 1:  Multiply the unit’s wattage by the number of hours you use it to find the number of watt-hours consumed per day.

350 x 3 = 1050 watt-hours per day

Step 2:  The electricity on your monthly bill is measured in kilowatts, so you’ll need to convert your watts-per day figure. All you have to do is divide this figure by 1000.

1050/1000 = 1.05kWh per day

Step 3:  Now you need to calculate how much power your washing machine uses in a month. Just take the previous figure and multiply it by 30.

1.05 x 30 = 31.5 kWh per month

Step 4:  Use your last electricity bill to see how much you were charged per kWh. For the sake of this example, let’s use the figure of say $1 per kWh.

31.5 kWh per month x $1 = $31.50 per month.

There you have it; you’ll have to perform this calculation for every appliance in the kitchen, and once you’re done you’ll have a clearer idea of how much each one contributes to your monthly energy bill.

Once you’ve finished in the kitchen, move on to your living room and work out the costs for the following items:

  • TV and decoder
  • DVD player
  • Game consoles
  • Ceiling fan
  • Music centre

If you have a study or home office, work out the costs of your equipment such as:

  • Computer
  • Laptop
  • Tablet
  • Cell phone
  • Printer
  • Fax machine

You’ll be amazed at just how many of the gadgets you own use power once you start adding them up.  These will only account for a percentage of your energy bill. You also have to account for seasonal differences. In winter, your power bill surges because you rely on heaters to keep your home warm and cosy. Don’t forget to work out the power consumption for these:

  • Heaters
  • Electric blankets

Aside from your electronic devices, there are other ways you use power that contribute to your final bill. We’ll look at these next.

Adding up the costs of lighting and heating water

Energy for lighting accounts for around 10% of your energy bill. You can work out exactly how much you spend on keeping the lights on using the same calculation as you did for your appliances. Find out the wattage of your globes and average how many hours they on every day.

When it comes to heating water for bathing and cleaning, you’ll need to work things out a little differently. The most difficult part is calculating how much hot water you use in a day. As an example, let’s assume that you shower every day.

A standard shower uses 16 – 20 litres of water a minute. If you shower for 5 minutes that means you use a total of 80 – 100 litres of water. Now you should know that it takes 1kWh to heat 36 litres of water to a temperature of 40°. So a five minute shower would use about 2.5kWh of power.

To work out the total cost of your shower we’ll assume that 1kWh costs $1—remember to check your account to see how much you pay per kWh in your area. The final calculation will look like this:

2.5KWh x $1 = $2.50 per shower

If you shower every day, multiply $2.50 by 30 to get your total for a month which would come to $75. Now multiply that number by how many people in the house shower every day.

Keep in mind that your geyser doesn’t only use electricity when you turn on the hot water tap. It uses power throughout the day so that warm water is always available. Calculating how much energy it uses when not in use gets tricky. Refer to the rating on your geyser to give you a rough idea.

Size (Litres) 25 50 75 100 150 200 250
Category Standing losses: kWh per day
A 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.0
B 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
C 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.8 1.9
D 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5
E 1.6 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.7 3.0 3.2
F 2.0 2.4 2.7 3.0 3.4 3.7 4.0
G 2.2 2.7 3.0 3.3 3.7 4.1 4.4

Let’s assume you have a 200 litre capacity geyser with an E energy rating. Your geyser will use approximately 3kWh per day to keep warm. Add this to the total kilowatt hours you use for showering in a month and you’ll have a total of 165kWh. At $1 per kWh your total for the month is $165.

Adding up the costs

It may take you a bit of time to work out all the costs; once you have the final figures you’ll be glad you made the effort. You’ll be able to compare the running costs of a traditional home against those offered by eco friendly lifestyle homes and see just how quickly you could recoup your investment. You’ll get to know why greener and eco friendlier living saves you money.

Making the change to living green and eco friendly

With a clear picture of your energy consumption start making small changes to your home. Try some of the following tips and then watch what a difference it will make to your next electricity bill.

  • Turn down the thermostat on your geyser: You can drop the temperature of your hot water by a few degrees and save a lot of money. You won’t really notice the difference, but you will see the results on your monthly bills.
  • Invest in a geyser blanket: They’re not that expensive and they make your geyser more efficient at retaining heat without gobbling up power.
  • Install low-flow shower heads: You’ll still get clean and enjoy your showers, and save precious water and electricity.
  • Replace your incandescent light bulbs: Switch your old-fashioned light bulbs out for energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). They last longer too.
  • Wait for a full load: Before you turn on the dishwasher or washing machine, making sure you have a full load of dishes or laundry. Don’t waste power and water on small loads; rather do them by hand if you can’t wait.
  • Skip the pre-rinse cycle: Again, this applies to your dishwasher and your washing machine. Unless your dishes or clothes are heavily soiled, there’s no need to rinse them before you wash them.
  • Don’t make your fridge too cold: Though you need to stop your food from spoiling, you don’t have to set your fridge to the coldest temperature available. That will only increase its power consumption.
  • Don’t waste cold water: Collect the cold water when you run the hot tap and use it for your kettle or watering your garden.
  • Switch off at the plug: Don’t leave your electronic devices plugged in when you aren’t using them or charging them. Even in standby mode they’ll use small amounts of electricity. This contributes to your bill at the end of the month.
  • Insulate your home: To reduce your heating costs in the colder months, make sure your house is properly insulated. Seal up the gaps in window and door frames to keep the heat inside.

All it really takes is being mindful about the way you use power in your home. Once you know the true costs, it will be easier to adopt habits that can help you save. Green and eco friendly living isn’t just for the eco-conscious. Saving resources and money benefits everyone, even the planet.

The benefits of eco friendly lifestyle houses

If you’re serious about reducing your living expenses you’ll find that it’s worth investing in eco friendly lifestyle homes. They are purpose built to make the most of natural resources such as sunlight and rainwater. They take greener and eco friendlier living to the next level with features such as photovoltaic solar panels and rainwater harvesting tanks. They make living green and eco friendly just as comfortable because they’re fully insulated and use a Hydronics Radiant heating and cooling system to keep your home warm in winter and cool in summer.

Eco friendly lifestyle homes require less maintenance and are cheaper to run. Your initial investment is much higher, though with the money you save on monthly costs, paying it off won’t be as long as you may think. If you try out some of the tips above, you’ll see immediately that greener and eco friendlier living makes a difference to your pocket. And with eco friendly lifestyle homes, you save even more.

Another advantage of green and eco friendly living that you rely less on the grid for power and water. When load shedding or water restrictions happen—your impact will be less. That’s something people don’t always factor in about green and eco friendly living. It is more cost effective, most comfortable and more convenient than living in a traditional home.

Try the home energy audit for yourself. Though it takes a little effort, you’ll be glad you did it. Even if you’re not ready to make the move to an eco friendly lifestyle house just yet, you’ll find ways to save on energy while still living comfortably. Going green isn’t about making sacrifices. It’s about finding ways to use resources wisely. Get the most out of your electricity supply and save! 

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