One of the best things about cutting your electricity bill and ensuring that your home is as energy efficient as it can be is that you are killing two birds with one stone (or something a bit less violent in imagery). Namely, when you maximize the energy efficiency of your home, you are both saving money and you are also doing good for the environment. So, what are some easy and hassle-free ways to do all of this?
White up your roof
There is a reason why you will find that houses in countries and areas with particularly hot climate are white, walls, the roof, everything. People who live there understand perfectly that the color white absorbs far less heat than other colors, which can provide you with a huge savings during the hot months. You will need far less A/C and before you know it, you will be saving quite a lot of electricity. Of course, this can sometimes be difficult to do, especially if you need to adhere to neighborhood rules about the look of the house on the outside.
Green up your backyard
If you are lucky enough to live in a house and you have a beautiful garden, you need to think about the garage for a car, or some sort of shed for tools, lawn mower and other items. If you still don’t have a garage, you can always buy a container shelter because they are very cheap, easy to maintain and their setup is fast and easy. These shelters are designed to withstand different weather conditions, so you will not have to invest more to protect your precious car.
Turn off the lights
If you are one of those people who are already making sure to turn off the lights they are not using, this might sound silly to you. However, you need to understand that a very large number of people leave the lights on all over their house, even in rooms that they have no intention of visiting for the rest of the day. If you are not in the room or if you do not need the light, turn it off. If it is daytime and you can do perfectly fine with natural light, turn the lights off. Stop wasting money on unnecessary light bulbs. One more advice: get energy efficient light bulbs, they might cost more than regular ones but they are going to pay off along the way.
Get new appliances
If it has been some time since you last updated the appliance range in your home, it may be time to do so. The reason for this is that the technology has advanced quite a bit over the last decade or so when it comes to energy-efficient appliances and also because the governments usually offer all kinds of tax rebates and returns if you go for particularly efficient appliances. Being that water heating takes a lot of electricity; make sure to find appliances that have an Energy Star label, and be especially careful when choosing water heater. You may want to go with a tankless one or durable gas storage hot water system with hot water recovery. You will be saving money right now and in the long run as well as they will need less electricity to work.
Be smart about your cleaning
People waste a ton of money and energy on cleaning their home. For instance, they buy those ginormous vacuum cleaners that require a small nuclear power plant to run. They plug them in every few hours to do a bit of cleaning here, a bit there, wasting a ton of electricity. A much better choice, for instance, are steam mops which do a bunch of cleaning without wasting so much electricity. They also do not use chemicals, which makes them perfect if you are really serious about your environmental efforts.
Plug up the leaks
Insulation is everything when we are talking energy efficiency, because a well-insulated home uses up immeasurably less energy than a leaky one to heat up and to cool down. One of the essential aspects of insulation is how airtight your windows and your doors are. This is particularly an issue in older homes where the age has had its effect on how well-fitting the fixtures are. Check all the seals and plug all the leaks with caulk or expanding foam. If you don’t have them already, buy some interesting (second hand) carpets and curtains for more inside insulation. Before you know it, your bills will start to drop.
