Energy efficiency has become quite a popular topic these days. From electric appliances to your buildings, people are trying to make changes that can help preserve nature’s resources and save high utility costs. It means that you keep up with the same jobs but use less energy. You are aware of each step and ready for a green living.
Fortunately, spending sustainably isn’t complicated either. With better and improved technologies and innovations, it is, in fact, possible and not that challenging. These expert suggestions are of great help too. Keep reading.
- Change Your Habits
Converting your home into an energy-efficient one doesn’t mean that you have to go out and buy new, modern products. Bringing in changes to your daily habits can do equally good. Switching off lights when not in use, hang drying your clothes after a wash, turning off taps when not needing the water, and other similar practices have more potential to save on bills than you can imagine.
- Arrange for an Energy Audit
Before you make upgrades in your home, it is always best to determine your daily energy usage. You can use plenty of tools to identify which appliance and part of the house consume the most electricity. You can then figure out if you need updating or replacing of any of those systems. It is always better to call a professional to do an energy audit for you.
- Insulate Your Ceiling
No heating arrangement can perform optimally in a house where there is no adequate insulation. With poor insulation, there is air leakage and tonnes of wasted energy. And while you may have insulated your walls, do it for your ceilings too. The roof gets hotter during the summer and colder during winters, thereby impacting the effectiveness of your HVAC. So, first, get good insulation for the ceiling and later for the underfloor and walls.
- Seal Air Gaps
If you want to secure the energy of your home in its entirety, go the extra mile by looking for gaps and crevices around doors and windows. Consider weatherstripping around their frames and caulking over any major cracks and around electrical junction boxes. Doing this can successfully save up to 10-15% on your home heating and cooling expenditure.
- Opt for Window Treatments
Things like double glazing, blinds, drapes, and window films can help cut down electricity consumption and increase your home’s privacy. During warmer months, these can reduce the workload on the AC by keeping your house cooler. When winter months arrive, they can be adjusted to bring in enough warmth from the sun. Therefore, you can control the amount of light and protect your precious floors, artwork, and furniture from harmful UV light. Do give a try to solar control films.
- Switch to LED Light Fixtures
Incandescent light bulbs can eat up a massive chunk of your electricity. And while these have been replaced by compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in all buildings now, light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs) are anytime better and worthy than both of them. LED lights use lesser electricity and last longer. And not to forget, the contribution they make to preserve the environment.
- Replace Old, Obsolete Appliances
It is mainly the larger appliances such as dishwashers, stoves, refrigerators, HVAC units, and washing machines wasting your home’s energy, especially if they are more than a decade old. These days, it is the Energy-Star label ruling – all for the right reasons. The purchase price of these products may be higher, but their operating costs are lower than conventional models. Hence, you can save a considerable amount on bills every year and over the product’s lifetime.
