If you are building a new home what factors should you consider to keep heating and cooling costs down?

The most important is heat gain and heat loss of the house, ie/ good windows and doors, along with plenty of insulation, it is also important to size your heating and cooling unit properly, oversized units can short cycle and run up costs. Don't go cheap on your hot water heater as hot water is also a high energy cost Another answer As a heating contractor the most important thing to keep enetgy cost low in a new home,or any home for that matter, is insulate, insulate, insulate. A well insulated home will have a much lower heat load than one not as well insulated.

Save ourself some money build a tight well insulated home and you will reap the rewards for decades Along with insulation, use any type of foil faced product to reflect radiant heat Use the best A/C unit (SEER) they make at the time of installation Another one all of the other answers sound great I would also check on a dual fuel system and zoning system the dual fuel most of the time is a heat pump with gas back up and the way it works is when the temp outside drops to a preset temp (default is 40 degrees f but 35 works great) your heat pump shuts down and your gas furnace turns on and this will cut your monthly cost down but the systems are not cheap as for the zoning system it works great with dual fuel to with it you can set back certain sections of your home that are not used often like basements,spare bedrooms,etc I hope this helps you I have a dual fuel in my house and my monthly bills are great Install a Radiant Barrier in Your Attic Studies have shown that up to 93% of ceiling heat gain in summer months occurs from radiant heat transfers from attics heated by radiant energy from the sun. Roof shingles and decking absorb radiant heat generated by the sun and transfer this heat into attic spaces heating up existing insulation. Once this existing insulation meets its saturation point, it then radiates this heat to all surfaces within the interior of the home (ceilings and walls) Radiant barrier products BLOCK almost ALL of this radiant heat RadiantGUARD®radiant barrier reflective foil insulation products can reduce attic temperatures by up to 30 degrees when installed to the underside of roof rafters.

Lowering attic temperatures provides a significant benefit by reducing air conditional loads and energy usage. Attic insulation radiant barriers can also: Reduce heat transfer from attic to living spaces by up to 50% Extend the life of air conditioning units, and Increase the comfort level of a home Another answer Nobody's mentioned one of the most important methods to reduce heat and cooling costs, that of locating the home correctly. Orientation should reduce summer heat load by reducing sun entering windows, etc.While permitting the winter sun which is lower in the sky to shine into the home thereby warming it somewhat.

You need to take advantage of exitsting vegetation, brush, trees, etc. To reduce the heat load during the summer while allowing the sun to shine on the house during the winter. We located our house so the sun is on the bedroom side in the morning and the "living" side in the evening. This allows the bedrooms to cool somewhat in the afternoon and evening making them more comfortable at night while the living side of the house cools at night making it more comfortable during the day Learn to work with nature - take care not to allow the contractor to automatically bulldoze any trees just because they'll be in the way and use the sun to your advantage Another answer Recommend insulation everywhere, energy efficient windows, doors and roof.

Also high ceilings in house.

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