Ensuring your home is energy efficient is not only good for the environment and the larger cause of addressing climate change but also rewarding for your own financial health. Many homeowners don’t know if their property is truly energy efficient. At the most, people assess the cost of utilities to decide if they are high or reasonable.
- You should know how much you should be paying for your electricity, gas and water given the square footage of your home, the number of people you have in your family and the kind of appliances you have. Then you should consider how many people stay in the house for most of the day and night, what kind of insulation you have and what type of roof you have. Once you have factored in all these, check the costs of utilities you pay to your chosen provider. There are energy efficiency calculators you can use. Some are available for free online.
- Your house could be energy inefficient for many reasons. You may be using more energy than you should and this could be unintentional. You may not have the best providers for your utilities so you should consider switching to a better plan. You may be wasting some energy consciously which you need to fix. There could be structural problems as well.
- Focus on the roof, overall insulation, the doors, windows, walls and basement. Also, factor in the insulation of the garage if you have one attached to your home. Upgrade the insulation, go for double glazed windows filled with inert gas, check the cavities of the walls, look for cracks and gaps, check the plumbing if it is facilitating loss of water, look for leaks in the basement that will increase the cost of heating and cooling, check the roof if it needs a fresh coat of weather guard and finally check the kind of appliances you are using to understand if they are the most efficient ones.
- You can always upgrade your home appliances and energy gulping fixtures. Switch to LED lights and opt for grinders, water heaters, washing machines and air conditioners, heating systems and ventilation units that are more energy efficient. You may even opt for green plumbing fixtures.
