Energy Saving Home Improvements

People are becoming more and more conscious of our environment or the environment around them. Most people are recycling newspapers, plastic bottles and glass to help improve our world for the next generations to come. “Go Green” can be done with your home as well.

Some energy saving items are expensive up front, but more than pay for themselves in a short period of time if you can afford to it upfront. What kind of things? Well there are solar panels to help with the electricity of your home. Solar panels can be installed on the roof or in an area behind, beside or somewhere on the property to furnish electricity. There is also wind power that is become more readily available to help offset the cost of electricity.

Things you can do to the exterior of the home to help are having solar screens installed over windows. This helps to reduce the amount of heat entering the home in the summer and helps reduce the amount of cold entering in the winter.

With water conservation, there are toilets that use less water when flushed, and you can also buy solar hot water heaters which use less electricity of course. There are also instant hot water units that can be installed in the bathroom itself that reduces the time you have to let the water run before it becomes hot enough to take a shower or bath.

Another way to reduce electricity usage is to install ceiling fans in the bedrooms and other rooms, running them help to even the air flow in the house, keeping it cooler or reversing the fan in the winter will help to keep the warm air moving downward. The lower wattage of a light bulb can also reduce heat in a room believe it or not. If you have room with a lot of windows, use a lower wattage light bulb.

Moving to the kitchen, energy star rated appliances are becoming readily available all over the country. You can even get rebates on your taxes for installing these appliances. (Disclaimer: Check with your tax attorney or CPA on the exact rebates).

Central Heat and Air is another area of home improvement. If your units are very old, you may want to look at replacing them with new improved Units or heat pumps. Check to see what is more efficient for your home. There are probably many more, “Going Green” home improvements that you can do. Check with one of the major home improvement stores, or go out there and research it on the internet. You may be surprised.