Energy is one of the most important aspects of a home, but it’s also quite expensive. In fact, energy is actually among the biggest household expenses for the average American homeowner. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average American family spends at least $2,000 per year on utilities, but energy expenses alone account for more than half of those costs.
When people think of New York State, not too many people associate it with home energy efficiency, but they absolutely should. A recent study by WalletHub compared the monthly amounts of money spent on heating, cooling, lighting, as well as automobile operation in all 50 states. The data found that New York ranked number one in overall energy efficiency and number four in home energy efficiency.
WalletHub was able to calculate each state’s home and auto energy efficiency by using data from the National Climatic Data Center, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Energy Information Administration. Keep in mind, however, that Hawaii and Alaska were excluded from the survey.
Home efficiency was calculated using the ratio of total residential energy consumption to annual degree days, and auto efficiency was calculated by dividing the annual vehicle miles driven by gallons of consumed gasoline. Each score was graded on a scale of one to 100 and weighted to proportionally reflect national patterns.
New York state earned a total score of 90.22, the highest score by 5.41 (next was Vermont at 84.81). A typical family spends about a third of its annual heating and cooling budget — roughly $350 — on air that leaks into or out of the house through unintended gaps and cracks.
Individual homeowners can do all sorts of things to improve their own energy efficiency. In fact, simply selecting the right kind of roofing material could result in as much as a 30% decrease in a home’s energy needs.
Here are the top 10 states with the highest home energy efficiency rankings:
- Vermont
- Utah
- Minnesota
- New York
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- Wisconsin
- Colorado
- Massachusetts
- Wyoming
Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina came in as the worst states in terms of home energy efficiency.
