People tend to use methods that are considered environmentally friendly, or “green”, when they are planning home improvements. Not only is this sort of thinking good for the environment, it’s also good for your bank balance as you’ll be using less energy, thus reducing your bills. The following information contains some great tips that you can use to improve your home in an eco friendly manner.
The majority of individuals had an understanding that when you insulate your home it aids in maintaining the heat even before it was popular to pay attention to the environment. Although nothing has changed regarding that, with the expenses getting higher for electricity and oil, we have to heed this! You can actually lose almost half of your heat when your enclosures and ceiling don’t have enough insulation. Insulation is measured by R value, and you should be aware of this before having any insulation installed. It’s also imperative that you keep attentive to locations such as below your doors where gaps can cause the cold to enter into the house and the heat leave. It can be very helpful to block off drafts with draft excluders which can be crafted from just about anything, including articles of clothing you were going to throw away.
How you have your lights in your home really does have an impact on the atmosphere and the look, as well as having an impact on your bills. You can save money by simply using energy efficient light bulbs as they have a life of up to ten times more than regular bulbs. When you buy bulbs, don’t buy ones that are more powerful than necessary.
If you do have light bulbs that are powerful you can change their brightness with a dimmer so that you can use more light only when you need it. When dealing with lighting it’s important to consider how you feel about saving electricity. You should switch off any lights when you are leaving a room providing there’s nobody else in there.
If you reside somewhere that has hot summers you should take note of any cheap ways of keeping your house nice and cool. Air conditioning units are rather costly and they aren’t green, however many people choose them. There are other alternatives though. One of the best methods of efficiently cooling a room down is by using fans.
Passive cooling is also another good method, where you simply block out the heat with shades or blinds during the day. You can also create more shade by planting certain types of trees or shrubs in strategic places. For days that the temperature is unbearable you can use the air conditioning, however you can come up with many low cost methods of keeping your home cool.
Accomplishing a makeover in your house that is green can be good for energy conservation as well as being fun. The value of your house can also rise if you decide to sell. There are so many strategies to make your home more eco-friendly that we’ve only had space to mention a few, but that shouldn’t stop you from doing further research and deciding which ideas are right for you.
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