Energy Efficient Homes: The Basics
Making sure your home is as energy-efficient as possible can save you a lot of money. You use less power so your energy bills are lower. Aside from the monetary benefit, it is also great for the environment.
But, what does energy-efficient in your home mean? In this post, we will go through the basics.
Insulation Is Key
Making sure your home’s insulation is up to scrap is the most essential thing to do when it comes to energy efficiency. The better insulated your home, the better the air is trapped inside when you want it to be.
By trapping the air inside, you are effectively using less power for keeping it at an agreeable temperature. Say, for example, you wanted to heat your home. If there were gaps in the insulation, the warm air would escape, meaning that more air would have to be heated.
Making sure that the doors and windows are properly sealed and insulated is another essential. Checking the insulation in the ceiling on an annual basis is also a good idea. Finally, make sure that the walls are also properly insulated.
Windows are a real problem because there is such a large surface for the air to escape. Reduce this issue by using window treatments, that effectively seal off the air and consider installing double glazing. Blinds-2go.co.uk presents some very interesting data that shows that energy efficient windows can actually reduce the cooling and heating costs of your household by as much as 25%.
Alternative Energy Sources
Solar panels and wind turbines are both renewable sources of clean energy. You could end your reliance on the power grid altogether and even start selling power back to the grid.
For most homes, solar panels are a better option as wind turbines do take a fair amount of space. You would need the panels in conjunction with a power bank to store the energy in for those days when the sun is not shining.
There is a fair amount of cost involved in setting these systems up, but the long-term savings more than make up for that.
Energy-Efficient Appliances
If the cost of switching over to an alternative energy source is too much at this point, making sure that your appliances are as energy-efficient as possible will save a lot of power.
Some appliances in the home are gas-guzzlers when it comes to power. The geysers in the home are usually top of the list when it comes to wasted energy because they have to keep the water heated all the time.
Consider installing a solar-powered geyser or a gas heater to save in this area. The latter gets hot very fast and so does not need to keep heating the water all day.
If you cannot replace your geyser, consider installing a geyser blanket to help reduce heat loss and energy wastage. Set the thermostat lower to ensure less energy is used. You do not need scalding hot water out of the taps.
When replacing appliances, look for those with good energy-efficient ratings to reduce energy consumption further.
A more energy-efficient home will work out less expensive for you to run over the long term. Keeping up the home maintenance and switching to energy-efficient appliances will go a long way towards saving you a bundle.
The following infomercial has some more interesting facts and lots of information.
Sent in by Josh Wardini, Community Manager at Webmastersjury
Featured photo courtesy of buildingsciencesllc.com