Energy Performance : How to Save Energy?

What if you could regain control over your home's energy consumption, reduce your expenses, and create a more sustainable living space? High electricity or heating consumption is often due to thermal losses, energy-intensive appliances, or consumption habits that could be optimized. By adopting a progressive and well-thought-out approach, you can not only lower your expenses and improve your quality of life but also reduce your environmental footprint and contribute to the preservation of our planet’s resources.

In this article, discover how to structure your approach in two essential steps: energy conservation to reduce losses and energy optimization to improve overall efficiency. You will also find concrete examples of measures to adopt, helping you understand the priorities for improvement and enhance your home's energy performance.

Ready to take action? Here’s how to set your priorities to achieve meaningful and lasting results.

Your Action Plan for a More Efficient and Eco-Friendly Home

Energy performance refers to a home’s ability to use energy efficiently while maintaining optimal comfort and minimizing losses. This involves evaluating key factors that influence performance, such as insulation, heating, and lighting.

The good news is that you can take action on two levels: energy conservation, which focuses on reducing waste and unnecessary usage, and energy optimization, which involves using efficient equipment. Just like building a solid house, it is essential to lay reliable foundations before undertaking more ambitious improvements. Some actions are simple and inexpensive, delivering immediate results, while others require a greater investment but ensure long-term savings and increased comfort.

Step 1 : The Foundation of the Energy Performance

Understanding Consumption and Adjusting Habits

Why start here?

Before carrying out renovations, it is crucial to observe how your home consumes energy and adopt simple habits that can make a significant difference.

Actions to Take

• Assess your energy consumption: Track your habits and use monitoring tools like Hydro-Québec’s energy performance tool to detect peak usage times.

• Adjust the thermostat: Lower the temperature by 2°C at night or when you are away.

• Reduce phantom consumption: Turn off devices on standby and use smart power strips.

  
  

💡 Immediate Impact

These small changes can reduce your annual energy consumption by up to 10% without requiring a major investment.

Step 2 : Energy Conservation

Reducing Losses and Managing Consumption

The goal of energy conservation is to minimize energy waste without requiring radical changes. Each step—sealing, insulation, and upgrading windows—demands increasing levels of time and financial investment but provides proportionally greater impact on your home’s overall energy efficiency. Behavioral adjustments should come first, as they are free, easy to adopt, and complement all other efforts. Heating, at the core of this process, represents the most significant investment but offers the greatest energy performance gains. Here’s how you can apply these strategies at home.

Responsable Habits

Simple actions can make a difference without requiring major expenses.

Recommended Actions

• Use programmable thermostats to adjust the temperature according to your schedule.

• Close curtains or blinds at night in winter to retain heat.

• Adjust the temperature of your water heater.

• Turn off lights and appliances when not in use.

• Air-dry clothes on a clothesline instead of using a dryer.

• Use smaller appliances like the microwave instead of the oven for cooking.

  
  

💡 Immediate Impact

During the cold season, lowering the thermostat by just 1°C can save between 5% and 7% on your annual heating costs (Hydro-Québec).

Sealing and Air Tightness

Why is this essential ?

Air leaks significantly increase heating costs by allowing warm air to escape and cold air to enter through small gaps in walls, doors, and windows. This forces heating systems to work harder to warm the incoming cold air.

Recommended Actions

• Caulk doors and windows, both inside and outside.

• Add or replace weather stripping around doors and windows.

• Seal wall, floor, and ceiling joints to prevent drafts.

• Install plastic insulation film on windows during winter.

  
  

💡 Practical Tip

Air leaks can account for up to 25% of heat loss in a home (Hydro-Québec).An easy way to detect leaks is by passing a candle near windows and doors—if the flame flickers, it’s a sign of a draft that needs to be sealed.

Doors and Windows

Why is this essential ?

Windows are often weak points in a home's thermal envelope. Why? Windows are one of the primary weak spots in thermal insulation. For comparison, a standard window has an R-value of around 3, whereas a well-insulated wall has an R-value of 20. This significant difference explains the substantial heat loss during winter.

Improving window performance by opting for triple glazing or better-insulated frames can potentially double the energy efficiency of your windows, which has a major impact on overall energy consumption. To achieve significant energy savings, it’s best to target the weak points of your home’s envelope first.

Solutions to Consider

• Replace existing windows with double or triple-glazed models featuring a low-emissivity (Low-E) coating.

• Install thermal blinds or curtains to reduce heat transfer.

• Ensure proper sealing around window frames by filling cracks and installing weather stripping.

  
  

💡 Impact

Up to 25% reduction in energy loss, leading to better thermal comfort and substantial savings (Hydro-Québec).

High-performance windows, such as Passivhaus-certified models, can also eliminate the cold sensation caused by radiation near less efficient windows in winter—another crucial factor for indoor comfort.

Insulation

Why is insulation crucial?

A poorly insulated home loses a large amount of heat, forcing the heating system to work harder.

Key Areas to Insulate:

• Attic and roof spaces

• Foundation walls and basement slab

• Exterior walls

• Exposed floors

• Junctions between floors and exterior walls

  
  

👉 Result

Poor thermal insulation of walls, attics, and foundations can cause heat losses of up to 40% (Hydro-Québec).

To learn more about the different insulation solutions and their impact on your home's energy performance, check out our dedicated article on residential insulation types and their benefits.

Step 3 : Energy Optimization

Maximizing Efficiency and Making Every Kilowatt Count

Energy optimization aims to improve system efficiency and make the best use of consumed energy. This goes beyond merely reducing losses—it involves integrating sustainable and high-performance solutions. An added benefit is enhanced indoor comfort.

Heating

Upgrading Equipment for More Efficient Consumption

Why is this important ?

Even with good insulation, inefficient heating systems can still result in high electricity bills. Replacing fossil fuel-based systems with cleaner electric solutions reduces your home’s carbon footprint while improving energy efficiency.

Recommended Actions

• Install a heat pump, which efficiently heats and cools your home compared to traditional systems.

• Use dual-flow ventilation systems to recover heat from extracted air and improve indoor air quality.

• Replace oil or gas heating systems with electric heat pumps.

• Use low-energy electric space heaters for less frequently used areas.

• Adopt smart thermostats for precise energy consumption control.

💡  Impact

A significant reduction in energy consumption, with a fast return on investment.

Conclusion : Your Plan for an Energy-Efficient Home

To sustainably optimize your home’s energy performance:

✔ Adjust your habits to eliminate unnecessary consumption.

✔ Improve sealing and lighting to reduce invisible losses.

✔ Upgrade your equipment for optimal operation.

✔ Strengthen insulation to create an effective thermal barrier.

✔ Invest in renewable energy for greater autonomy.

By applying these strategies, you now have the keys to optimizing your home’s energy consumption. Every improvement, from simple thermostat adjustments to major insulation upgrades, contributes to lowering your expenses and improving your comfort.

Where to begin?

For a customized plan and to maximize your return on investment, consult a specialized architect. They will help you prioritize and implement sustainable and effective renovations.