William
Mesa, AZ
I was a Home air conditioning installer for 24 years. I have found these small things that any homeowner can do are as follows:
1)remove recepticle and switch covers then caulk around the box.
2)remove a/c registers and caulk around these boxes.
3)have your air conditioner and heater checked yearly. 1 pound of refrigerant loss can cause upto a 3% increase in power consumption.
4)make sure the insulation in your attic is up to an R-36 leve. It is less costly having the proper insulation put in than what your power consumption would be.
5)install creeping vines 8-12" away from any sun facing walls, training them to a lattice structure. This will allow air to pass between the vines and the wall giving you up to an R-36 equivelant and make your yard look nice, inviting hummingbirds, plus the plants will help with creating oxygen.