subject: Going Eco Friendly At Home [print this page] The popular phrase the seems to be thrown out now a days is going green. There are many ways to be more environmentally friendly from riding a bike to work or recycling. One of the most common ways to go green now that can also save you some money is by making your home more eco friendly. By going green at home you will save money by taking cost effective measures that reduce building loads and installing systems and appliances that are the right size to meet the reduced loads. The most effective strategy for improving household energy efficiency is to first target your home's attic, windows doors and walls. You should also try to improve the energy efficiency of systems, such as heating, cooling, lighting, and appliances while also looking into other sources of power like solar. Here are some tips to help your home become more eco friendly.
One of the first steps to going green is by making sure your attic and walls are well insulated. By having effective insulation it will slow down the rate that heat flows out of the house in winter or into the house in summer, so less energy is required to heat or cool the house. If your house has no wall insulation, and it has more-or-less continuous wall cavities (such as conventional stud walls), blown-in insulation can greatly improve your comfort and save enough energy to be very cost-effective. (It rarely pays to blow additional insulation into already insulated walls.) If your attic is unfinished, it often pays to upgrade its insulation.
When going green you should also think about replacing light bulbs with more energy efficient ones. One way by doing this is by using CFL light instead of incandescent ones. A CFL light bulb lasts for 10,000 hours and uses only about 27 watts to generate as much light as a 100-watt incandescent bulb. Replacing a 60 or 100 watt light bulb with a CFL bulb will save you money in the long run. They work almost as well while using less electricity to illuminate the room.
A third thing to look into is planting shade trees and shrubs around your home. If you own a older home that may not have the best insulation, good landscaping can help you save energy by providing your home shade from the sun. During the summer the trees and shrubs will block infrared radiation that would warm the house, while in winter the bare branches let this radiation come through.
These are some simple things to look into when trying to make your home more environmentally friendly. The government has provided incentives for households that go green so people should definitely look into this as it will save you money while helping you do your part to be more eco friendly.
