There are only benefits to making your house a more energy-efficient home. It saves money, it increases the comfort and of course, it reduces the impact on climate change. Many scientists now believe that excessive energy consumption contributes significantly to global warming. Here some great tips to make your home a bit greener, because individual impact matters!
Creating an energy-efficient home is not only good for your budget, but for the planet as well. Making small and simple changes that do not require additional costs will help you save money in the process. If you want to learn more about what you can do to make your home more energy-efficient, here are some tips.
Reconsider heating and cooling
No matter the season, we need either heating or cooling to make us feel comfortable in our homes. However, letting the heater run all day can add up immensely. There are several ways around it to help you save energy and money. One of the ways to make your home more energy efficient is to lower the thermostat. Just by lowering the thermostat by a few degrees can save up to 20% annually in bills. You won’t feel the difference, but you will see it in dollar signs. Another thing you can do to make your home more efficient is to install smart thermostats, that you can program to turn on and off according to your daily schedule. There is also the option of installing a thermostat that you can change through an app if your schedule is not the same every day. Another thing you can do to save energy is to clean your HVAC and make sure to change filters regularly.
Switch to LED lights
If you haven’t already, let us ask you this – what are you waiting for? Not only do these lights save you energy and money, but they are also much more pleasing to look at. Especially since you can choose among three colors of the lights for a completely custom feel. There are so many lights available now, that you can install whatever you may like in your home. LED lighting is by far the most energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way of lighting your home. They can last up to 100,000 hours. That’s a little more than eleven years of constantly being lit up. That means you will not have to buy new light bulbs every so often. Another pro for installing these lights is that they are completely recyclable and don’t contain toxic materials like some other lights might. They are great if you want to reduce your carbon print, as well.
Install energy-efficient awnings
Who would have thought that installing something on the outside of your house, can help you keep the inside of the house not only cooler but also more energy efficient? Well, folding arm awnings can do just that. And if you have large windows that let in a lot of light, or old, single-paned windows, this will be a real lifesaver. When completely open, they provide shade to your house so that less sunshine and sun’s rays can enter your house, making a little less strain on your air conditioning, and not spending so much energy. On the other hand, in the winter, retracting your awnings will let more sunlight in your home, heating it, and making your heater do less work during the day. Why not use natural light when we can? Also, there is a third positive side to awnings – by not letting the direct sunlight in your home, you are saving your carpets and furniture from fading. This will allow you to spend money that you would have spent on a new couch or a new carpet on something else since you will not have the need to change your furniture that often.
Seal the windows
If your windows are old and leaky, you might consider sealing them properly, if you don’t have the budget or the time to replace them. Sealing the windows is a great, inexpensive way that you can do yourself to get a more energy-efficient home. You can achieve this by adding weatherstripping around the frames, or a bead of silicone caulk over the cracks in your drywall. Add a sheet of shrink film to your windows, and seal all the gaps and cracks that you can see for a better, dryer and more energy-efficient home.
Change the way you do laundry
We were always taught that doing laundry should be done at a higher temperature to kill off germs. However, that may not be true after all. Germs thrive in warmer water. Apart from that, colored clothes fade away quicker if washed at higher temperatures. This is important because washing on lower temperatures is also, you guessed it, energy-efficient. Almost 90% of the energy that your washer is using is to heat the water, so opt for colder temperatures whenever possible to save the energy.
Conclusion
Now that you know what are some of the changes you can do to make your home more efficient, we hope that you are inspired to try out some of our ideas. If not for energy efficiency, then for saving the money in the long run!
What are you doing to have a more energy-efficient home? Share your tips with us in the comments below!
