Several things can be targeted or done in order to improve the energy efficiency of your house.
Having an energy-efficient home will save you a lot of money while reducing your carbon footprint in the environment.
With everyone becoming environmentally aware, this could be an easy first step to a better you.
In order to achieve this goal, certain things must be taken into consideration, for example, you need to be aware of the items, within your home that consume energy; furthermore, you need to know the sources where most energy waste occurs.
This way, you will know which areas to target in order to reduce energy consumption.
Here are some ways to make your home energy-efficient:
Upgrade your windows
Old windows can be one of the main sources of cold breezes within your home during winter.
As your old window starts to get worn out, holes and gaps start to appear.
Thus, they cannot prevent environmental heat or cold from entering in.
Instead of solving this problem by switching on the heater or the air conditioner, you can try replacing your windows with more efficient ones.
Furthermore, many windows can have weather stripping or storm windows installed.
Such an upgrade will increase your comfort, indoors, as well as decrease the money spent on heating or cooling.
Make sure you have well-insulated walls
Installing a proper insulation system is one of the key factors of an energy-efficient home.
Insulation is known to decrease the rate of heat flow out of your home, during winter, and into your home, during summer.
Thus, you get to enjoy a warm and cozy house all year round.
There are many different materials, for proper insulation, that is both cost-efficient and durable.
Even if your home is already built, you can try blown-in insulation, which involves filling cavities with insulating material.
This is a very effective and simplistic method compared to the alternative.
By ensuring proper insulation to your walls, you would less likely be wasting energy on your heating and cooling systems.
Switch to Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)
If you are considering cutting down your energy waste, think about replacing your old light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Lamps instead.
A typical CFL can save you up to three-quarters of energy as compared to your normal light bulbs.
Even though CFL light bulbs cost more than the usual ones, they save you much more energy, utilizing less electricity and as a result saving you more money overall.
Use less hot water
The process of raising the temperature of water requires a lot of electricity.
By reducing the amount of hot water to the amount you will essentially use, you reduce the amount of energy consumed.
If you think about it, you will find yourself using a lot of hot water in your daily life.
Here are some examples of your daily use of hot water and solutions on how to reduce energy waste:
Washing your clothes
Instead of using hot water to wash your clothes, if not necessary, you can instead use cold water.
This will allow you to consume less energy on the washing machine itself and the hot water required for the washing process.
Making yourself a hot drink
Nearly no one can make it through their day without a nice, warm cup of coffee or tea.
However, such a daily routine is known to consume a lot of energy.
By utilizing the laws of physics, we can determine how much energy is needed to make water reach its boiling point.
Instead of using an electric water boiler for making your drink, you can try switching to the stove kettle that boils your water without consuming any electricity.
Taking a shower
Nothing outweighs a nice warm bath after a long tiring day.
However, keeping your electric water heater running continuously, whether you are taking a shower or not, is where energy is being wasted.
For this issue, you can try switching to gas heaters instead or switch the electric water heater off right after you finish your bath.
Nowadays, Eco-Friendly is the trend!
Knowing more about your home’s energy consumption is a great thing and will definitely contribute in saving the world.
This will allow you to determine which areas within your house need to be upgraded or what habits you will need to change in order to reduce energy waste.
It will not only help you as an occupant at home, but it will also help save the environment.
The more energy you try to save within your home, the greener the environment would be.