Quirky But Efficient Ways For A Home To Become Energy Efficient
Quirky But Efficient Ways For A Home To Become Energy Efficient
It's not just to save money, but to help the world become a greener place, one room, one home at a time.
Written by Liz Bayardelle, PhD | See Comments | Updated 06/25/2021
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Quirky But Efficient Ways For A Home To Become Energy Efficient
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Your home should be treated as a living organism.
It's forever-changing, always being impacted by the weather and your actions. It has to shoulder so much, from wind, rain and hail, to heat expansion, cold contraction and plumbing pressures. Just as you would want to become energy efficient, making sure you do not feel tired and stressed at the end of the day, so too is your home trying to do the same. However, you are responsible for this and you need to make sure you are always thinking about improving your home’s energy efficiency.
It's not just to save money, but to help the world become a greener place, one room, one home at a time.
Upgrade Time
Double glazing lasts for about 20-30 years depending on the manufacturer and fitting company who did your windows. However, most of the time we don’t actually know how long our windows have been in our home. So firstly, you should inspect them to see if they need replacing. Call in a double glazing company for a routine inspection. They will see if the sealant is keeping the air and rain out of the windows. If the windows have been compromised, they might be able to be repaired, whether it's for a crack or sealant replacement. If the windows are nearing their lifespan, it's best to replace them right away.
Improve the Water System
Perhaps the only other way we lose a lot of energy in the home, besides central heating, is the water system. How the water heater system needs to be updated, repaired and improved over time. As technology improves, the water heater system in your home should be improved too. Speak with a professional heating and cooling service that can upgrade your water heater system. This will give you reliable hot water, use energy more efficiently in heating the water and add a couple of years to the lifespan of the system.
Window Sill Plants
Putting plants in your window sills helps in two main ways. Firstly, it will help to block some of the UV rays from the sun during the warmer moments of the year. This can keep your home cool and comfortable. During the colder parts of the year, the plants will absorb and slowly release heat so your home stays warmer for longer. They can also make the home look greener and healthier, changing your mindset. You won’t want to excessively use the central heating system for fear of killing the plants, for example.
Going Blue to Go Green
Even in countries that don’t get a lot of sunshine, you can still get around 2-4 weeks of solar energy to use in your home. That is of course if you fit solar panels to your roof. Solar panel technology has greatly improved over the recent years and it's also become cheaper to fit them. You should consider solar panels for your home, as they generally pay for themselves.
Every home can improve its energy efficiency even by a little bit. If you haven’t considered solar panels, plants for the window sills or a more efficient water heater system, now is the time to make the change.
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About the Author
Liz Bayardelle, PhD
Founder | Contributor
Liz (or Dr. Mommy, as her toddler started calling her after learning what a PhD was) is the happily sleep-deprived mom of a toddler (and professional raccoon noise impersonator), a sparkle-clad kidnado, a teenage stepdaughter, 200 cumulative pounds of dog, and herd of dustbunnies (if daily vacuuming doesn't occur). During nights and naptimes, she uses her PhD in business psychology as an author, speaker, and consultant. She also serves as an executive and principal for three companies, two of which she co-founded with her very patient (and equally exhausted) husband.