Many homeowners wrongly believe that investing in energy efficiency is a cost they cannot afford and that it will do little to protect the environment or for that matter, save them money. However, an energy-efficient home has the potential to save hundreds of dollars on utility bills, protecting the environment at the same time. The main principle behind energy efficiency is the preservation of energy by careful management of it. Basically, if you make your home green, each kilowatt and each drop of water will be carefully weighted to ensure nothing gets wasted.
Water Leaks, Money Leaks
Due to the world’s shortage of drinking water, we will only see its price go up in the future. That is why it is important to stop inadvertently wasting water inside our homes. Besides decreasing water consumption inside the household, you should actively search for leaks in the piping network and repair them as soon as possible. In some cases, a leaking faucet can account for nearly 10% of water consumption during one month. Such figures underline the importance of preventing any water from being wasted due to faulty installations.
Regulating the Thermostat
In most homes, heating is regulated through a thermostat. This can be set to any air temperature we want and more importantly, it can be programmed to lower and raise the temperature inside the house at certain preset times. This can come in handy if we take into account the fact that we don’t spend the entire day inside the house so we don’t need an even air temperature the whole day.
For instance, if we have an eight-hour workday, then we can program the thermostat to lower the temperature during those hours we are away. Furthermore, our metabolism benefits from lower air temperatures while we are asleep so the thermostat can decrease the bedroom temperature by as much as 10 degrees.
Preventing the Heat from Escaping
During winter time when temperatures plummet below zero, the heating system inside our house often struggles to maintain the desired air temperature. This is because a huge amount of heat energy is lost through the floor, the walls, the windows, and the roof. Insulating these surfaces means that more heat will remain trapped inside. While the floor, the walls, and the roof are, in general, easier to insulate because there are no openings inside them, the doors and the windows are a bit trickier to isolate. However, there are companies such as Prestige Plus that produce windows and doors with a powerful closing mechanism that ensures that hot air cannot escape our house.
LED: More Efficient Lighting
Losing heat during winter is bad but overheating turns into a problem if it’s the light bulb that is overheating. The sad fact is that old incandescent light bulbs use around 95% of the energy they get to produce heat and only 5% to generate light. The proportion is almost reversed when it comes to LED lights that use up to 40% percent less energy. What is more, they outlast old light bulbs up to two and a half times, resulting in zero maintenance. These are all reasons enough to introduce LEDs in every room inside the house to save energy after dark.
The Many Benefits of Composting
The kitchen is the least likely place where you would expect energy but it is around the trash can where you can reduce waste. Even if you recycle plastic, metal, glass, etc., organic waste from your kitchen probably goes straight to the dump. Well, it doesn’t have to be so, since you can create compost inside the garden. Compost will take up as little as one square meter of space as it is more deep than wide. The earth you place inside can be enriched by food leftovers from the house, so you will get free manure for your garden.
Installing Solar Panels
The final twist in the story of saving energy inside your home is to start producing energy instead of using it. Rood solar panels are a costly investment but once they pay off after a decade or two, you will basically get free power from a renewable source, which is the apex of energy efficiency.
Apart from solar panels, all the investments in home energy efficiency are small in scale and any typical family can afford them. Once the utility bills start to freefall, you will tap yourself on the shoulder for installing new windows, replacing the light bulbs, and composting.
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