Make Your Home Energy Efficient Without Breaking The Bank
This is the era of the “green” home and everyone is looking for ways to be more energy efficient, save money and help the environment. There are simple ways to accomplish these goals by making small changes throughout your home that can add up to big energy savings. Most homeowner’s would not be able to do all of these changes, but by picking and choosing what fits your budget best, you can work towards a more energy efficient home.New window installation is one way to make your home more energy efficient. This will make your home more airtight and add significant value to your property. New windows also protect furniture and resident from sun’s dangerous UV rays. New windows have a protective UV coating that not only protects our skin it prevents the sun from fading carpet, curtains and furniture. This investment pays off in the long run, when you don’t have to replace faded carpet and furniture.
If new windows are not in your budget, consider thick shades or curtains. Window treatments can provide a great deal of protection against the suns UV rays and will lower the temperature in any room. During the colder months, when you need to heat the interior, you can open the curtains to let the sun shine in during the daylight hours. In the evening, however, the window coverings will provide protection against drafty windows and with help keep the warm air from escaping.
The largest energy user in your home is your heating and cooling system. If you currently have an older, over 10 year-old, heating & cooling system now is a great time to replace it. By upgrading to a more efficient system you’ll not only start saving right away on lower utility bills but also increase the comfort level of your home. If this is not in your budget there are other things you can do to make your current heating & cooling system run more efficiently. Make sure to have your heating and cooling system serviced at least once a year. A dirty system will have to run longer and harder to provide the same comfort and this will decrease the life of your system and lead to more breakdowns. A maintained system runs more efficiently and reduces your utility costs. And don’t forget to change your air filters on a regular basis. Dirty air filters can cause dirt build-up in your system and reduce the efficiency of your system by up to 20%.
Water heating is the second largest energy user in your home. Upgrading to a higher efficient water heater or tankless water heater is another way to save money and go “green”. A tankless water heater “flash” heats your water and provides it only as needed, whereas a standard tank water heater must heat and reheat water to ensure you have hot water. With a tankless water heater you avoid the standby heat loss associated with a standard water heater, making it more efficient thereby lowering your energy consumption.
If replacing your water heater is too expensive of an option, consider having your water heater serviced. Most people don’t realize that you are supposed to have the sediment that builds up in the bottom of your water heater flushed out once a year. This not only improves the efficiency of your water heater, but also saves you money. A water heater full of sediment will have to work harder and longer to heat your water. The longer it takes, the more energy you are using and the more your utility bills will be. Sediment build-up also decreases the life of your water heater, as if leaks to corrosion in the tank, which eventually rusts out the bottom of your water heater.
Washers, dryers, and kitchen appliances all eat up energy over the months and years. If you are in the market for a new appliance, look for one with the ENERGY STAR label on it. Your refrigerator is the third largest energy user in your home. If you replace an older refrigerator with a new one, even if the new one is larger, in most cases, enough energy can be saved to make the purchase worthwhile. You can go to http://www.energystar.gov/refrig.calculator to calculate just how much your savings will be by upgrading to a new refrigerator.
Lastly, an easy change for all homeowners to make is to replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. They use much less energy and this change can easily and fairly inexpensively done by going through your home, making an inventory of what bulbs you have (and their wattages) and making a quick trip to the home improvement store. And don’t forget, when you leave a room, turn off the light. This is a really easy step to save energy!
There are a variety of ways homeowners can save energy and money while helping our environment. By considering your options you can pick the best combination for your budget and start making your own home more “green”.
Sources: www.energystar.gov
www.energysavers.gov
www.dsireusa.org
www.coolray.com
Find Us on Facebook
Follow Us on Twitter
