How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient
Homeowners overlook just how energy efficient their latest home improvements project is, only going through with the necessary upgrades that building regulations require them to do.
Forgetting that there are plenty of changes that can be made to make their home much more energy efficient.
Obsessed with the task at hand to even consider the fact that they could make some really easy changes which could allow them to save $$$ and as an added bonus, reduce the number of carbon emissions they release into the atmosphere every day.
Whether you're currently planning a home improvement project, or you're just interested in how you can make your home that much more energy efficient, here are a few things that you can and SHOULD do if you wish to save money and make the world a better place.
Add Solar Panels to Your Roof
Solar panels are one of the most energy efficient additions you could make to a home; taking advantage of the free solar rays cast on your home every day, you could be saving up to $1,450 a year with them installed.
Easily making back your initial investment in just a few years and enjoying the benefits of completely free energy.
As mentioned in the very beginning, if you're already undergoing a home improvement project, perhaps you're getting your attic converted, you most probably have scaffolding up around the home already.
If you were to get solar panels fitted at the same time, this could save you a lot of money due to the fact that installation costs take up quite a lot of the budget when it comes to adding solar panels to a home.
Change Your Light Bulbs
If you're looking to improve your home energy efficiency today, then improving your lighting will allow you to do this by changing your regular bulbs to LED ones.
In a typical home, lighting accounts for around 15% of the electricity bill.
So even if it may seem like a small change, replacing our bulbs can really have a big impact on your home's energy efficiency. LED's have come a long way in the past 10 years.
At one point they could barely light up a room but as the industry has progressed they are one of the most efficient options to help reduce a home's carbon footprint.
Ensure Your Dryer Vents Are Tightly Sealed
Dryer vents that are not properly sealed will allow air in your home to escape, which will increase your energy bill as more heating will be required to properly regulate the temperature of your home.
These holes may be discovered when you hire a dryer vent cleaning service, but it's always worth checking yourself if this is not the case.
The general practice would be to seal small holes with caulk and larger holes no bigger than 3 inches with spray foam.
If you've got even bigger holes which size up to more than 3 inches then we would advise patching these up with foam board and seal with spray foam.
Make Changes to Your Bathroom
Another area of your home which can leak your hard-earned money and cause you to increase your emissions is within your bathroom area.
More specifically your shower and toilet, which may not necessarily be faulty but may be very inefficient. Investing in a shower head which is designed to aerate water will help to reduce the water you use, without negatively impacting that wonderful shower experience we all know and love.
A similar solution can be made to your toilet, all though this will cost you more than what a simple shower head replacement would. You could save up to 1 liter of water peruse if you were to add a low-flush toilet to your bathroom, as this would directly save money on your water bills.
However, though we would very much suggest that you go ahead and change your shower head, we understand that it can be expensive to change your toilet. At the very least keep this in mind when it comes to revamping your bathroom area in the future.
If you made these two changes today, you could save roughly $150 a year as well as improving the overall energy efficiency of your home.