Making Your Home Energy-Efficient

We hear the terms energy-efficient, eco-friendly, and sustainable a lot when it comes to our homes. The truth is, unless you are looking at a new build, the house that you’re in might not be any of those things. 

And it might be down to you to make sure that your home has all of the necessary technology or structural changes to ensure that it is energy-efficient.

We are talking about making sure that your home doesn’t use and therefore waste the energy your family needs. This could be running the tap for too long, but it could equally be having the thermostat up a little bit too high. 

It is essential to keep in mind that some of these changes could cost more than others. For example, having things like solar panels, replacing windows, and ProVia entry doors installed. But the overall saving is typically a lot more than the initial cost.

Now let’s take a look at some of how you can save cash and make your home energy efficient.

Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash

Insulation

Before you start making any other changes to how you use the energy around your home, you should ensure that it is well insulated. One of the ways that you could tell that you have good insulation is that you will not have a steep cost rise over the winter months.

If you find that your heating bill rises dramatically over the months, there could be a lot of heat leaving through your roof. 

Some insulation techniques are better than others but it is essential to have somebody look and see if you are as insulated as possible. Some of the critical areas you should look for are the crawl space, basement, attic, ceilings, windows, and doors.

CFLs

If you still have old bulbs in your home, you’re going to be using a lot more energy than the average. Older bulbs have a much shorter lifespan, and when you switch them out to fluorescent bulbs or perhaps even LEDs, you will notice that they could last up to 12 times longer than a regular incandescent bulb.

You do not need to switch all of your light bulbs in one go as this can feel rather expensive. You can mix and match your light bulbs around your home while slowly switching out to energy-efficient models.

Appliances

If you are looking for new appliances for your home, you must look for appliances with a B or A grade in terms of efficiency and energy star certification. Where appliances have the energy star certification, they are proven to use less energy and cost less in the long run.

Of course, when things have better technology, inside tend a little bit more money upfront. But you can compare this to the amount of money you will save over time from running at the energy-efficient appliance.

Solar panels

Solar panels are an investment, but you will only need to make them once. Solar panels help produce your energy costs over bright and sunny days. Solar panels turn solar energy into energy to run your home. 

This means once you have these fitted, things like running washing machines, dryers, and any other electrical appliances during the day will cost almost nothing.

It is also not uncommon to notice that you contribute energy to the energy grid after having your solar panels fitted for a short while. 

Self-audit

Only you know how much you spend on energy in any given month – and what is or is not usual. It is essential to go back over bank statements or bills for the power you have used in the last few years. You will be able to see any dramatic changes that you may not have considered before. 

Of course, there should be some expected rises as energy prices also rise, but anything dramatic might point to the fact that you have some lapses in your insulation that you are turning up your heating too high.

It can also be that some of your appliances are using power unnecessarily when they are not in use.

One of the most significant power users is that most of us do not turn electronics off correctly at the switch. Instead, we will leave them in a standby mode all this time, but they are still using power when you don’t need to use it. 

All of these small changes combined will have led to a healthy improvement and how much are you spending on your energy per month and year. For even more money-saving tips at checkout at this blog post, Is your home as energy efficient as you think? 

Tia, and TipsfromTia.com is trying to keep you looking good and
feeling good, from the inside out. If you’ve got a problem or a tip email me! Be sure to Like and share on Facebook or Follow on Twitter or Instagram.