The future of the environment is not certain. With challenges like pollution and the destruction of natural ecosystems, the earth as we know it may not be available for future generations. If you want to make a positive change, you should start at home. Below are a few strategies you can use to make your home more eco-friendly.
IMAGE CREDIT: Vivint Solar from Pexels
Switch to LED Light Bulbs
Making your home more eco-friendly isn’t always painstakingly difficult. In certain cases, it can be easy. This is certainly the case in regards to switching to more environmentally friendly light fixtures. Simply switch from traditional incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs. LEDs only use a small fraction of the electricity of incandescent bulbs due to the fact they don’t need as much heat to produce light. They’ll also last a lot longer as well.
Upgrade and Maintain Your Plumbing
Your plumbing and plumbing fixtures can also have an impact on just how green your home is. In many places, water is scarce and droughts are a real problem. Help to address this issue by upgrading to low-flow fixtures and appliances that use less water. Also, make sure your plumbing is properly maintained. Issues like backflow can be harmful to the environment and even to your own family’s health. Make sure your pipes maintain the right level of pressure to reduce the need for backflow repair.
Replace Old Windows and Doors
Houses have to use a lot of energy to remain warm during the winter and cool during the summer. If you are able to lessen your dependence on your furnace and air conditioner, you can certainly make your home more eco-friendly. One way to do this is by stopping the leaking of air from inside your home. Two prime suspects for this kind of air leakage are old doors and windows. If you detect a good amount of air leaking from around old windows and doors, consider replacing them with more environmentally friendly and air-tight models.
Install a Smart Thermostat
While most people know how to turn the temperature up and down on a traditional thermostat, doing anything more than that remains a mystery for most normal people. Thermostats are simply hard to program. However, what if you could program your thermostat with an easy-to-use smartphone app? You can do just that with the use of a smart thermostat. With a properly programmed thermostat, you will be able to more easily turn the air or heat off when it’s not needed during the day. This can help to lessen your home’s carbon footprint a good deal.
Invest in Solar Panels
While it may seem like a cliché, one of the best ways to lower the carbon footprint of your home is by installing solar panels on your roof or other appropriate locations on or near your home. This is especially the case if you live in a sunny climate. You could significantly lower your dependence on the electrical power grid and your utility bills as result. While solar panels are expensive, tax incentives as high as 26 percent of your investment are available if you meet the right criteria. These incentives combined with your savings in utility bills should pay for the cost of the panels over time.
Unplug Energy Vampires
Something that may be stopping your home from being as eco-friendly as it could be is energy vampires. Energy vampires are not some kind of fantasy creature. Instead, they are electronics and appliances in your home that continue to use substantial amounts of electricity even when switched off. Common energy vampires include things like televisions, computers, game consoles, cable boxes, coffee makers, DVD players, and more. To stop them from consuming electricity, you must unplug them when they are not in use. If you do so, you should see the difference in your electric bills immediately.
To decrease the negative impact your family has on the environment, you need to reassess how you use different resources in your home. Some changes may be easy. Others may require a larger financial investment. Whatever the case, the effort will be worth it if it makes even a small difference for the environment. Consider the options above as well as others for making your home more eco-friendly.
Categories: Tips And Advice Stuff
