Which Eco-Friendly Upgrades Actually Pay Off?
There are plenty of good reasons to invest in improving and renovating the home with sustainable or environmentally-friendly changes. It’s good for the ecosystem, it can help you live cleaner, and it may even reduce your bills. However, you want to make sure that your investment is truly worth it, making a real difference in how your home impacts its local environment, so let’s look at some that do.
Water-Saving Fixtures
Water waste is a problem that is growing increasingly more urgent, especially in areas that are prone to droughts. With the help of low-flow showerheads, faucets, dual-flush toilets, and other water-saving fixtures, you could potentially reduce your household water use by up to 50%. These modern water-efficient fixtures are able to use less water while maintaining decent water pressure, ensuring that they stay comfortable to use even as they help you conserve. Those reduced water bills can make them increasingly cost-effective over time, as well, especially if you’re able to take advantage of any local rebates for installing such fixtures.
Energy-Efficient Windows
Many of the improvements we’re going to look at can reduce your bills directly by being more cost-efficient than other appliances that traditionally fulfill the same purpose. However, with an energy-efficient window replacement, you’re seeing savings throughout the entire year. Their ability to help your home better maintain its temperature by reducing heat transfer means that not only does it stay warmer in the winter, but it’s also cooler in the summer, meaning that your HVAC doesn’t have to work as hard from season to season. Many homeowners notice lower energy bills immediately after installation.
Solar Panels
If you’re simply looking to make the biggest difference in terms of energy efficiency, even if the initial investment can be quite high, then solar panels and other renewable energy sources can’t be beaten. With the right energy panel setup, you can get as much as 100% of your energy from the sun throughout the day. With an additional battery pack, you can store energy that isn’t used so that you can rely on it when your panels aren’t being used, too. Or, in some cases, you can even return excess energy to the grid and get paid for it.
Sustainable Materials
The materials that you use throughout your home matter, as well. When you’re replacing your flooring, countertops, or furniture, aiming for sustainable materials like natural stone or reclaimed wood can minimize the environmental footprint of the home, which gives it a distinct, sophisticated aesthetic. Similarly, when you choose paints to use indoors, look for those with low VOC levels to maintain air quality in and around the home. Even design choices, like maximizing natural light through larger, efficient windows, can lessen the need for artificial climate control.
The right eco-friendly upgrades can drastically improve not just the sustainability of your home, but also how much it costs to keep it running. Some of the suggestions here may even end up paying for themselves in time.
