When new parents fine-tune everything – from feeding schedules to sleep windows to the positioning of diaper stations – the home often remains an afterthought on the agenda until a midnight crisis arises. Eight steps toward improved home efficiency take this system and reframe it as a means of maintaining order in the new parental universe.
1. Change the thermostat settings around the baby, not the job
The previous thermostat schedule, calibrated to a 9-to-5 workday, makes less sense now that naps occur at 10 and 2 and the nursery must be kept at a reasonable temperature.
A programmable thermostat can be used to schedule temperature adjustments around the new sleep schedule, as opposed to running the air conditioning or furnace all day. Run the system harder when occupants are present and relax it when nobody’s home. You can save energy by creating a setback that’s consistent throughout the day when nobody’s actually home.
The same set-back window can be used to adjust the temperature during the middle of the day when the parents are likely to spend more time in the living room, with only a brief setback during the baby’s morning wake-up window.
2. Walk the nursery and seal up the leaks
A cold nursery isn’t just an efficiency issue – if cold air is infiltrating through cracks around the window frames or through gaps at the baseboards, the room will have a harder time maintaining its temperature and the HVAC system may run more often as a result.
Solutions are as simple as the problems, even if they don’t leap to mind at first.
This weekend, take a walk around the nursery and get a feel for the places where the most heat is escaping: window frames, door frames, receptacle boxes in exterior walls, baseboard trim, and in particular the area around the window. Weatherstripping for windows and doors is relatively inexpensive and easy to install. Outlet gaskets behind faceplate covers on exterior walls are another measure that’s likely to have gone unnoticed until now, and sealing the space under a swinging door is yet another simple way to limit infiltration of cold air.
An attic hatch above a hallway or a few feet away from the nursery may also be a source of considerable heat loss, if the cover isn’t well-sealed. Foam tape along the frame and a rigid layer of insulation on the hatch cover itself can help reduce heat loss. While up in the attic, ensure that the attic is insulated to local specifications – an under-insulated attic allows a great deal of heat to travel between conditioned and unconditioned space, defeating the purpose of a well-insulated, well-sealed room.
3. Maintain the HVAC system before it needs you
The home’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system is one of the first things new parents will notice when it goes down. An outage in the summer or the winter with a newborn is not only inconvenient – it’s a crisis requiring an emergency service call in the middle of the night while sleep-deprived and clutching an infant.
Two simple habits can reduce the likelihood of an emergency service call. First, replace the air filter on a regular schedule – every one to three months, depending on the type of filter and the amount of time the household spends indoors. If the household is spending more time indoors than usual, the filter may need to be replaced more often, as a dirty filter restricts airflow throughout the system, causing the blower motor to work harder than it should.
Second, schedule a professional maintenance call if possible before bringing the baby home, or as soon as feasible afterwards. A professional can spot issues like a failing capacitor or low refrigerant that don’t appear on a homeowner’s DIY maintenance checklist but could leave the system inoperable at the worst possible time.
No amount of preventive maintenance can keep an HVAC system running forever. If an HVAC or electrical issue exceeds the scope of a homeowner’s abilities, Smartchoice is a resource for professional repair and maintenance as opposed to leaving it to the homeowner to research and troubleshoot an emergency HVAC call in the middle of the night.
4. Turn down the water heater and flush it once a year
New parents may be using more hot water than before, with the addition of washing baby bottles, extra laundry and bathing the baby. Setting the water heater temperature too high or failing to flush out sediment can cause it to consume more energy while providing the same amount of heat.
If the water heater thermostat is set above 120 degrees, consult the manufacturer’s recommendations before making any adjustments. The appropriate setting depends on the type of water heater, and on the household’s needs – it’s better to err on the side of caution and follow the manufacturer’s recommended setting rather than guesswork.
Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for flushing the tank and removing sediment from the system. If the task seems too daunting or dangerous, hire a professional to do it. If an older water heater is already approaching replacement, consult with a professional about whether a heat pump water heater would suit the home.
5. Eliminate vampire loads in the nursery
Video monitors, white-noise machines, cell phone chargers and nightlights in the nursery can contribute to standby electricity use when they’re plugged in around the clock. A smart power strip can be used to power these devices so that non-essential vampire loads can be turned off without unplugging the monitor or the white noise machine.
It’s not a huge win, but the change removes a low-priority task from the new parents’ mental to-do list, particularly if they’re operating on limited sleep.
6. Change the laundry routine
Parents are likely to be doing a great deal more laundry than before, with onesies and burp cloths and sleep sacks and changing pad covers to wash and replace. The washing machine may see noticeably more use once the baby arrives.
As with any laundry, suitable items should be washed in cold water if the care label so indicates. Modern detergents are often formulated for cold water use, and avoiding the hot water cycle can save significant amounts of energy.
Run reasonably full loads, without overloading the washing machine, before beginning the cycle – parents may be too busy to notice, but this is common sense nevertheless. With dryers, avoid using the machine for small loads whenever possible, and use the moisture sensor setting if available. A timed dry cycle can use a considerable amount of energy keeping clothes warm after they’ve been dried, with no benefit. The lint trap should be emptied before every load of laundry, as a clogged lint trap restricts the dryer’s airflow, increasing the time required to dry clothes and posing a serious fire hazard.
7. Consider the utility’s rate structure and change load patterns accordingly
Most people sign up for automatic payments and don’t think about their utility’s rate structure, which is completely understandable. However, if the utility offers time-of-use plans, it’s worth taking the time to understand how the rate structure works, particularly if the family’s new schedule means they have more flexibility than they did working a traditional 9-to-5.
Time-of-use plans charge more for electricity during peak hours and less during off-peak periods, and a more flexible schedule may allow the parents to take advantage of the lower off-peak rates. The dishwasher can be run during an off-peak period, for example, and the washing machine can be set to delay the start of a load if that will allow it to finish during an off-peak window. If the utility offers demand-response programs that allow the thermostat to be adjusted slightly during peak periods in exchange for a discount on the bill, these programs generally use a smart thermostat and don’t involve any sort of manual intervention on the part of the homeowner.
8. Get a complete energy audit and create a maintenance list
It’s a good idea for homeowners to schedule a complete energy audit within the first year, particularly if it includes a blower door test to identify air leaks. A thorough energy audit will reveal the sources of infiltration and exfiltration that weren’t apparent during the visual inspection – the places where air is leaking through drywall cavities or around light fixtures or the recessed can lights.
A good audit will also provide a prioritized list of possible improvements based on the impact of each change, so homeowners don’t have to guess at which items to address first and which changes will have little effect. Some changes can likely be made by the homeowner, provided they have the right tools and materials, while others will require the assistance of a contractor and a small investment of money.
At minimum, the audit will make the homeowner aware of the most impactful measures and allow planning to occur ahead of time. Use the audit as a reference to create a simple maintenance calendar: record how often the HVAC filters need changing, when the water heater should be flushed, when to check the refrigerator door seal and coils, and when to clean the dryer vent. The refrigerator door seal, if it no longer holds a piece of paper in place, should be replaced as the compromised seal will cause the compressor to work harder to maintain the desired temperature, so should appear on the maintenance list as well. The dryer vent should be cleaned periodically to remove lint that restricts airflow and reduces the dryer’s efficiency.
The most critical systems are those that homeowners stop thinking about until they stop working. A scheduled maintenance procedure keeps them running smoothly in the background, where they belong when there’s a baby to take care of.