Climate Action Quiz: Home Energy

Quiz Questions

• 1.
  What do you value most in home energy measures?

  • A.
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    Cost-saving
  • B.
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    Helping the environment
  • C.
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    Convenience
• 2.
  Which best describes you?

  • A.
    Homeowner 
  • B.
    Renter
  • C.
    Dorm/College Living
• 3.
  Have You Already Solarized your Home?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 4.
  Have You Weatherized your Home?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 5.
  Do You Have a Smart Thermostat?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 6.
  Do You Use LED Lightbulbs?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 7.
  Do you have money to spend on an environmental project?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 8.
  Is your house suitable for solarizing?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
  • C.
    Unsure

Quiz Outcomes

• 1.
  Solarize Your Home

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  Based on your responses you should consider solarizing your home! For an average household, converting to solar energy would save 8,460 lbs of CO2 - equivalent to 432 gallons of gas, which would be like taking your car off the road for almost an entire year! While it does have initial start up cost of about $10,000 in 7.9 – 10.7 years you will start seeing a return on your investment leading to $30,000 dollars in savings after 20 years. Learn more about NH solar here!
• 2.
  Reduce Home Energy Use

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  Many of us don't actually know what how much carbon we are emitting through our household energy use. However, you will know your emissions from how much money you are spending on utilities. Through lowering your natural gas and electricity bill, you can also lower your carbon emissions. It see how much carbon your household is emitting per year based on your bill, calculate it here.You can then convert your pounds of CO2 emissions into something more tangible here.
• 3.
  Invest in a Smart Thermostat

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  Smart thermostats reveal where you are wasting energy and money in order to help reduce your fossil fuel use. In the US, 9% of carbon emissions come from residential heating and cooling, making it one of the highest areas to make significant carbon reductions. If we had widespread adoption of smart thermostats by 2050, it would be equivalent 19 mil cars off the road. Buying guide for smart thermostats here.
• 4.
  Unplug "Vampire Appliances"

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  Vampire appliance are appliances that use electricity even when they are “off” like TVs or still plugged in like your phone or computer charger. According to the Department of Energy, for an average home, vampire appliances account for as much as 10% of the energy used inside the home. Standby power can account for about 20% of your energy bill. According to EarthDay.org, in the US alone, more than 100 billion kilowatt hours are wasted every year because of vampire energy, which costs American consumers over $11 billion! This means that average US home pays $120 every year on vampire energy. In terms of climate impact, these 100 billion kilowatt hours of vampire energy per year produce nearly 80 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of the annual carbon emissions from about 15 million cars.
• 5.
  Hang out your Clothes Instead of Tumble Drying

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  Hanging out your wash is a simple way to reduce your energy use and help the environment. It will save about 153kg CO2 a year - that's $68 each year, based on 150 cycles a year.
• 6.
  Turn down the heating by 2⁰F

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  Reducing your heating by 2⁰F (~1⁰C) can reduce your energy consumption by 8%. For an average household gas bill of 12,500kWh, this will reduce your CO2 emissions by 184kg and reduce your spending by approximately $55 a year.
• 7.
  Switch to LED Lightbulbs

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  If we had widespread adoption of LED lights by 2050, it would be equivalent to taking 56.6 mil cars off the road.
• 8.
  Weatherize your Home

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  Weatherizing your home can help you save money by saving energy, it can improve the comfort of your home, and help the environment. Protect the environment by reducing national residential and power plant emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2.65 metric ton/year per home.
• 9.
  Reduce your Hot Water Use or Switch to a Sustainable Water Heater

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  Water heating makes up 14% of residential electricity consumption, and by cutting your household’s time in the shower in half, you can save 13.16 million british thermal units of energy per year. Reducing your time in the shower is a cheaper and easier option than upgrading your water heater. If you have already solarized your home or switched to a renewable energy source it is most efficient to install an electric water heater.
• 10.
  Hang your Clothes to Dry

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  Hanging your clothes to dry helps reduce electricity use by replacing highly energy intensive dryers. Appliances account for 21% of home energy use, with dryers making a major and avoidable contribution to the total. Air drying some or all of your clothes can lead to easy and impactful electricity savings.