Improve Energy-Efficiency for your Home on a Budget
How to improve energy-efficiency is something that many people think about nowadays when it comes to their bills. The idea of shaving off a couple of dollars each week on your bills sounds great to most people, and you can often do it with very little work. It doesn’t take much to make your home more energy-efficient, especially if you’re willing to make some changes to appliances around the house.
So in this post, we’ll be covering some of the best ways to make your home more energy-efficient while sticking to a limited budget.
Switch to energy-efficient appliances
One of the key aspects of an energy-efficient home design is having energy-efficient appliances. A lot of the electricity that we use often comes from appliances that aren’t designed to conserve energy. For example, if you boil water with an electric kettle, it takes a serious amount of energy to reach the desired temperature. However, there are water heaters that spend a fraction of that energy on maintaining the water’s temperature. This is a much better solution if you frequently drink tea or need clean hot water for anything in your home.
Similarly, you can switch to appliances that can improve energy-efficiency rating. This usually won’t save you money if you replace something that is only a few months old. However, if you have something like an old toaster, electric kettle, or even a refrigerator that’s been around for many years, then replacing it with something modern will offer you lots of extra convenience and energy savings.
In short, replace old appliances and switch to energy-efficient ones, especially if they’re very old and have been in your home for a while.
Review the heating and cooling in your home
Heating and cooling tend to cost our homes a lot of money. If you live in a hot climate, then you probably make ample use of your air conditioning system. Similarly, if it’s cold for the majority of the year, then you might use your heating system for most of the day. While it definitely increases our comfort, it ultimately costs us a lot of money.
As such, it’s usually a good idea to look at your heating and cooling system to determine if there are any changes you can make so that it’s more efficient. There are several things to look out for, but it will mainly involve air duct repair and maintenance to clean out anything that could prevent it from working correctly. For instance, you might have a blockage in your HVAC fans that is causing poor airflow. If this is the case, then you’ll want to clean it up to improve airflow.
Another good way to improve the heating and cooling efficiency of your home is to use automated systems with a thermostat. A programmable thermostat is a fairly inexpensive upgrade if your home can support it, but will help you save money for years to come by balancing the heating and cooling to reach your desired temperature. Installing one will take a bit of DIY knowledge, but you can also hire a service to help you do it.
In conclusion, make sure you review your heating and cooling systems to ensure they’re running correctly. If there are issues that make them inefficient, fix them as soon as possible to stop bleeding money.
Developing better habits with your electronics
Electronics usually have standby modes these days which makes them consume far less energy, but it’s still a good habit to start turning them off. Whenever you go to bed, switch off all of your electronics via a simple mains switch. This guarantees they’re not using up energy while you sleep and could add up to significant savings throughout the year.
Of course, some people need to keep their electronics on throughout the night. Perhaps you need to charge your laptop overnight, or maybe you have to leave a computer on to download something. Maybe you just like the convenience of not having to turn off your appliances. Thankfully, there’s a compromise–just make them more efficient! For example, a computer can be fitted with parts that are designed to be energy-efficient. This makes it consume far less power, especially when it’s not doing anything intensive, thus saving you plenty of money.
While it can be hard to break out of certain habits, it’s always a good idea to look at how much energy you’re spending on a regular basis and what simple changes you can make to cut those bills.
