Upgrading your home to make it environmentally conscious comes with a ton of benefits. For starters, you won’t have to worry about high energy or water bills because an eco-friendly home optimizes water and energy saving. Secondly, you will be using naturally-beautiful and durable materials such as wood to build your green home. That means lower repair and maintenance costs. Eco-friendly building materials also rid your home of pollutants and harmful chemicals, creating a healthy indoor environment. What’s more, investing in an eco-friendly home will attract a much higher resell value if you ever decide to sell it.
Would you love to reap these and more benefits of an eco-friendly home? If yes, read on to discover 10 effective green home upgrades:
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Ditch inefficient appliances
You need to minimize energy consumption in your home as a way of reducing your energy grid reliance. That’s why you should ensure that all appliances in the home are energy-efficient. Pay special attention to big energy consumers such as the fridge, heating systems, and the washing machine. Follow this guide to choosing the most efficient appliances to check if your appliances are energy-efficient
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Leverage sunlight
If your home is well-oriented to receive sufficient daytime lighting, create a habit of opening the windows and curtains to let the sunlight in. The sun can be a great source of light and heating. This eliminates the need for cranking up the heating system or keeping the bulbs on, which is good for energy saving.
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Leverage renewable energy
Renewable energy has negligible environmental impact compared to dirty fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. Electricity is in most cases generated using dirty fossil fuels. The fuels pollute the environment and cause global warming. Investing in renewable energy for your home is, therefore, one way of slowing down global warming. Some of the renewable energy investments you can make for an eco-friendly home include solar panels, air-source heat pumps, biomass boilers, or a wood furnace heating system.
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Insulate your home
Insulating the walls, floors, and windows minimizes the amount of heat that escapes from the home to the outdoors. That lowers your energy consumption. You can also install a ceiling board to keep all the warmth in your home within the living spaces (where the warmth is needed). If your budget allows, install double-glazed windows to minimize heat leakage through the windows. That’s how you maintain a comfortable temperature inside the house without inflating your energy bills.
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Sustainable decking
Adding a deck to your home increases the home’s seating area, revamps your outdoor entertainment space, and gives the home a fresh stunning look. Just be sure to use eco-friendly and sustainable decking materials. Sustainable decking materials include wood, recycled/reclaimed wood, and bamboo. Some of the sustainable wood options for your decking project include redwood, pine, western red cedar, and Nootka cypress. These wood options are durable, their tree species grow fast, and their carbon emissions are relatively low.
Apart from wood, you can also use recycled plastic composite to build your deck as a way of minimizing plastic waste. Bamboo is also a great decking option because it grows faster than wood; it’s the most sustainable remedy to deforestation. Lastly, only work with remodeling experts who have a reputation for eco-friendliness. Check out these Columbus remodeling experts to understand what a sustainability-focused remodeling company should be like.
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Make small, deliberate lifestyle changes
Tweak how you live just a little to minimize energy wastage. You can, for example:
- Be deliberate about keeping all the lights off during the day.
- Turning off taps when brushing your teeth.
- Unplugging appliances when not in use.
- Set your thermostat to a comfortable temperature as opposed to cranking it up.
- Taking short showers to save water.
- Move your thermostat to a location where it’s most efficient. The thermostat should not be too close to the windows.
- Sun-drying clothes to save electricity.
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Harvest rainwater
Install a domestic rainwater harvesting system to collect rainwater for use in your home. That will give you sufficient water for outdoor irrigation during the summer months. Having a healthy lawn and outdoor garden adds to your home’s sustainability. What’s more, having sufficient rainwater for household use slashes your monthly water bills significantly.
1. Change your toilets and faucets
Replace those standard water-guzzling toilets with low-flow & efficient toilets to minimize water wastage. While you’re at it, invest in eco-friendly faucets that do not leak.
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Repurpose and reuse
You can repurpose or reuse anything from old timber floors, doors, kitchen cabinets, etc. The key here is to use the materials you already have as opposed to cutting more trees, for example. This is also a way of managing waste pollution in your home.
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Opt for low-VOC paints
If you need to repaint your home, go for paints with low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). These paints have fewer health and environmental impacts than regular paints.
Final word
Are you ready to create an eco-friendly home? The 10 tips above will help you start making realistic progress. Ours is just a short checklist to get you started. You can later switch gears to bigger green projects around the house.
