You’ve probably heard many methods to save energy at your home; turn off the lights when you leave, schedule the hot water heater for when you use the shower and A/C for when your home. Good job for doing your part preserving the environment and saving some money on your utility bill. But what if we told you there are more ways you could make your home more energy efficient and save money. Let’s look at a few:
1. Get a professional home energy audit
Without a professional energy audit, you can read all the articles in the world and still not have a clear understanding of the best way to improve efficiency. A trained expert will come to your house and use special tools to see the specific areas of your home that need improvement. That way you will avoid doing things that won’t make a big difference.
2. Install a water softener
When the appliances that use water accumulate a scale build-up, their efficiency gets decreased. This means your washing machine and dishwasher will be forced to work harder to achieve the results you’re used to seeing. All of this translates into increased energy consumption. A water softener can significantly reduce the scale and extend the life of your home’s appliances.
3. Use seals and weather strips
Making sure your weather stripping and seals are in good shape is both fast and easy to do. When you seal up leaky doors or windows, you will reduce the amount of work your heater and air conditioner has to do. Installing weather strips for windows and doors is a cheap way to improve energy efficiency.
4. Insulate your home
Adding the proper insulation to your home will ensure you keep the cold air out and the hot air in. It works similar to sealants with the difference being that it covers a much bigger area such as the basement, attic, walls, floors, and ceiling. The attic is really easy to insulate and it will make a huge difference in your energy efficiency. There are also retrofit options for the floors and walls.
Another equally important step in insulating your home is your windows. If your house still has old single-pane windows, upgrading them to double or triple pane windows will net big results that you will definitely see on your next utility bill.
5. Install Solar Panels
Adding solar panels to your roof can greatly reduce your energy use. The problem with solar panels is the cost to purchase and install them will run you from $30,000 to $40,000. However, there is an American company that enables homeowners to avoid the upfront costs of enjoying the benefits of solar panels.
This company will install the solar panels free of charge as long as you agree to pay them for the energy they generate. This results in a cost of around 20% less than what you would normally pay.
Other common energy-saving methods
The ways of saving energy mentioned above are somewhat less run of the mill that what you would normally expect. Here are a couple of more typical ways to save money on your utility bills.
- Fluorescent or LED light bulbs
- Programmable thermostat
- Ceiling fans
- Energy Star appliances
There are many areas in your house where you can try and save energy. Whether you install solar panels or simply buy new light bulbs, there is something you can do today to increase the energy efficiency of your house.