If you’ve recently bought a property, plan to soon, or have a home that you know needs some work, it’s worthwhile thinking about ways to improve the place and make it greener in the coming months and years.
An eco-friendlier house will make your conscience feel better but also enable you to cut costs on power and in other ways, and likely increase the value of your property. Here are some ways to ensure you have a greener abode in 2023.
Install Solar Panels
One great way to “green up” your property is by installing solar panels. Putting these on the roof of your home will make it much more energy-efficient and have the added bonus of reducing your annual power costs. While solar panels aren’t a cheap option, and it can take multiple years to recover your costs, they do mean you can eventually go off the grid more easily.
While you’re having this work done to the roof, it pays to get a contractor to check it for any broken or dislodged tiles that need replacing or other repair work that may be in order. Get the roof cleaned annually, too. Doing these tasks will help your property remain insulated, so you use less electricity.
Use Ceiling Fans and Smart-Thermostat Products
While we all enjoy using air conditioning and heating units when we can, unfortunately, these appliances can be gas guzzlers that use up significant power. To reduce these costs, try to run ceiling fans instead during the hotter parts of the year. If you don’t already have these products installed, do some research, and you’ll see that it’s affordable to buy quality ceiling fans with remote controls these days, and the installation doesn’t tend to be too costly, either.
If you do have HVAC systems you use, it’s also helpful to have them serviced regularly so they run more efficiently. For example, they’ll need filters changed and the ventilation aspects checked for potential problems. Regular maintenance on these gadgets, as well as your ceiling fans and any plug-in or other heaters you use, will also help products to have a longer life. In turn, you’ll use fewer resources over the years because you won’t have to replace goods so often.
Add More Insulation
If your home is an older one, it’s worth checking what the insulation is like behind its walls and in the roof. Many older properties either didn’t have much insulation installed in the first place or did, but it has decomposed over time and thus needs replacing. It’s worth getting more of this special padding added to your home so your property is cooler during the summer months and warmer during the winter ones. (Insulation helps to keep homes temperate and stop the elements from getting in through leaky seals.)
With better insulation, you won’t have to use heating and cooling options so much and will save power and live in a greener way each year. Get tradespeople who specialize in insulation installation to add more of the product around your property, including near attics and basements. They can also seal gaps where walls meet ceilings, windows meet plaster, and pipes enter your property. Plus, get them to attend to gaps around HVAC and exhaust fan ductwork and sidings.
Another job related to seals is repairing cracks in windows or replacing glass with double-glazed options to provide additional insulation.
Fix Leaks
Pay attention to leaks and plumbing to make your home kinder to the planet. Be conscious of the water you use and take steps to reduce it by taking shorter showers, reusing water from showers or washing machines in your garden, and so on. In particular, though, ensure you’re not often losing a lot of water unnecessarily due to leaky pipes inside the home or outside, underground.
Be on the lookout for signs of current or potential leaks, such as pools of water, water stains on ceilings or walls, rusty pipes that could burst anytime, and faucets or showerheads that never turn off entirely and continue to drip slowly. Watch your water meter, too, to see if you can notice any excess water usage.
If you notice that your gauge is reading higher than it usually does one month, yet you can’t spot any issues inside regarding leaks or the like, you may have a leaking pipe under the ground around your home that needs sorting out by a plumber.
Other ways to go green at home include choosing eco paints, swapping out old light bulbs for new energy-efficient ones, and choosing appliances that use less power. Plus, buy recycled or locally made items for your property wherever possible, turn off lights and appliances when they’re not in use, and grow your own food.
There are all sorts of areas where you can make better choices for the planet and your family, so keep looking for sustainable options as time goes on.
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