Saving money has always been in vogue. However, this has escalated given the economic hardships that many are going through due to the pandemic.
It is easy to think of focusing on your spending to make your dollars stretch. But it is also possible to save money by making simple adjustments to have an energy efficient home.
The need to do so is far more urgent than many may think, with the World Economic Forum reporting that American homes are only 65% energy efficient. Your home could be costing you money in more ways than one.
With this in mind, we have come up with a list of 7 main ways that you can keep that money in your pocket and see savings year on year.
1. Change Your Lighting
The first area to shine light onto when trying to create an energy efficient home should be exactly that: lighting.
The reason? Well surprisingly lighting represents 20% of all energy costs, so you should really start to listen to that person in your house who keeps telling you to turn the lights off after leaving a room!
Other than learning to keep the lights off, the types of light you choose to have can also help you to keep an energy efficient home. LED lights last for up to 50% longer than those that aren’t energy efficient lights, and they don’t lose energy through heat, so make the change today.
2. Get Energy Efficient Windows
When looking at your home, if we take away the logic of their function, windows are simply large cavities in your walls. That means that when looking for ways to create an energy efficient home, they should be one of the first things to consider. If you have single-pane windows or other older style windows, then you are watching your money fly out of them.
Prevent this no-no from continuing for much longer by installing an energy efficient window replacement.
3. Keep Your Home Toasty and Cool With Insulation
Whilst on the theme of preventing unnecessary energy losses, another serious consideration for anyone wanting to improve home energy efficiency is insulation.
While it is easy to think of insulation only being useful for the cold months, it also helps to keep your home cool in summer, so any investment in this area is worthwhile all year round.
DIY jobs like caulking and applying weathering strips can be done quite easily. Alternatively, go the whole hog and consider getting the floor, ceilings, and external walls done by a professional. It could lead to an annual saving of 15% of your energy bills!
4. Lower Your Thermostat and Save Money
Did you know that you could save energy in your home at the push of a button?
According to the US Department of Energy, simply lowering your thermostat for at least 8 hours during the winter by 10° to 15° could lead to a saving of 5%-15% for the average family.
Although this may seem like quite a long period to bear a drop in temperature, 8 hours is quite a reasonable amount of time. For example, while everyone is asleep, or if you or your family are out most of the day, this saving could be enjoyed every single winter without any effort.
To take the complication out of the process, get your hands on a programmable thermostat, set it up, and start to save!
5. Fill Your Energy Efficient Home With Energy Efficient Appliances
The majority of the energy that we consume goes on the different appliances that we have plugged into the various outlets in the house. While one way you may have heard to avoid residual energy waste may be to unplug when not using them, those savings are minimal.
What you should do if you are serious about having an environmentally friendly home is follow the stars. What do we mean? Energy Star, of course!
This government-backed scheme is an easy way for consumers to see which appliances meet the requirements to receive an energy-saving certification. Simply put, a product with the star is one in its class that guarantees you savings. While these products may come at an additional cost, given that washing machines, toasters, refrigerators, and the like are all long-term purchases, the long-term savings will make it all worth it.
6. Switch Your Shower Head
You can also aim to avoid letting money go down the drain by saving water. While people who take showers are often lauded as being much more economical than their bath-taking counterparts, there is still a large amount of preventable water waste taking place in most households.
A simple way to keep that money in your pocket is by changing your standard showerhead to a low-flow one. In the past, low flow signaled low pressure, but that is not the case anymore, with advances having been made over the last few years.
The savings could be astronomical depending on how old your current showerhead is. Older models have been known to use up to 5 to 8 gallons per minute in comparison to low flow ones that consume less than 2 gallons per minute.
7. Follow the Sun
It is easy when looking for ways to make an energy efficient home to look for new and state-of-the-art advances to save money. But some of the oldies really are goldies, as is the case with shutting and opening the blinds when the weather is too cold or even too hot.
Natural light is a great source of heat. However, once the sun sets, the heat can escape through our windows. Making the effort to close the curtains or blinds during dusk can result in a 13-17% reduction in heat loss, one study showed.
Doing the same if the weather is too hot can also drop temperatures in our home, giving your air conditioning a chance to breathe in the process.
Home Energy Efficiency Made Easy
As you can see, a few simple steps can lead to massive savings, not only now but long into the future. Which one will you apply?
If you enjoyed reading about how to make an energy efficient home, then you will love the rest of the articles we have on saving money. Check out the rest of our blog to stay informed!
