The windows are single pain, old and leaky; the appliances are from the 1960's and 1970's ie refrigerator, hot water heater, dryer and washer and the Air conditioners are from the 1970's and early 1980's. Our family liked to fix things so everything needs to be replaced with better energy star technology.
So... where should we start? Which improvement would give us the biggest Bang for the Buck? Thanks for your suggestions.
whsgreenmom
Favorite Answer
It sounds like you have many items that will need to be replaced within a few years, I would decide on a budget, then go price items and replace as they break down or by most frequently used, or those that would impact your lifestyle most dramatically if it were to break down. It would be unfortunate to replace the working hot water heater only to have the a/c die during the heat of summer. However, you could easily line dry clothes if the dryer died. I've found it is harder to make a good long term decision when funds are short and the item is no longer working.
If I had to rank in order of energy savings, I would say a/c, dryer, refrigerator, then hot water heater. But it depends on usage.
MTRstudent
Can't tell you without knowing the details of all your individual pieces. Best way to do it (IMO) is to find the power consumption for each product, and the power consumption of the potential replacements. Then work out how long you use it for to work out the total energy use per year. Work out the energy savings and divide by the cost to get 'savings per buck'.
Refrigerator is a good place to start since it's always on, and technology has improved a lot!
Here's a comparison of two fridge freezers. First is from 1995 and is 'D' rated efficiency. Second is more recent and 'A' rated:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hotpoint-FF80-Fridge-Freezer-Combination/dp/B0000YVQ7M
http://householdappliances.kelkoo.co.uk/p-fridge-freezers-145801/indesit-ban12nf-14261410#selectedTab=specs
Getting the 'A' rated one uses 53% less electricity than the 'D' one, saving you about 372kWh electricity/year.
At UK prices that's about £37 and 152kg of CO2 savings a year. So £248 investment now, assuming a 10 year life span, gives you £370 and 1.5 tonnes of CO2 savings. Pretty good bang for the buck (ie negative money costs for big energy savings over 10 years...)
BeWaterWise Rep
Switching your old appliances to new energy efficient ones would be a good way to go green. It not only would save you money but also save energy. To add to this, you can also save water at home, and lower your water bills. Little things like taking shorter showers, washing full loads of laundry and fixing leaky faucets and sprinklers can save gallons of water every day. Here are some more water saving tips: http://www.bewaterwise.com/tips01.html Also, you can exchange your clothes washers, toilets, shower heads etc with more water efficient ones. In fact at http://www.bewaterwise.com/rebates01.html you could avail some cool discounts as well.
This is a great way to both save money and go green!
HomeHelper
Without knowing all of the details it sounds like both need to be replaced ASAP. However, since everyone else has spoken on the benefit of getting your appliances replaced, let me speak on the benefits of getting your windows replaced.
Based on my knowledge of the general type of windows you are describing, they may be contributing to 20-30% of the heat loss/gain that you are experiencing in your home. As a result your costs are skyrocketing.
My advice would be to download a copy of this complimentary resource at http://www.WindowHelpBook.com. There is nothing I have found that is easier to read and has more factual information about replacement windows in such a quick summary.