How to Make Some Energy-Efficient Changes to Your Home

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Energy efficiency is a big deal for lots of people right now. As living costs rise and there are changes to the way in which we think about our impact on the planet, more and more people are wanting to reduce the amount of energy they use, and that starts at home. If your home isn’t exactly the energy-efficient place you want it to be, it’s probably time to make a change.

The good news is that there are so many ways to make your home a more energy-efficient place. No matter how much or how little energy you’re using in the home, there are likely to be at least a few chances you can make to reduce the energy you’re using. Some of those changes can involve bigger projects and others can be done to simple actions.

With that in mind, we’re going to talk today about some of the different things you can do to make your home energy-efficient. So read on now and find out more about that.

Add Better Insulation to the Walls

First of all, you should think about whether it might make sense for you to have some better insulation installed in your home. When you have a better overall approach to insulation in the walls of the home, the external heat and cold will be kept at bay and the temperature you’re set inside the home will be far easier to maintain. So if you don’t have good wall insulation in place already, that’s certainly one of the first things you should think about changing. Better insulation makes such a big difference.

And the Floors Too

As well as focusing on the insulation in the walls, you should also think about the floors as well. The floors throughout your home can allow heat to escape and create an imbalance in the home’s temperature if you’re not careful. So if you don’t have good floor insulation in place right now, that’s something that you should probably think about changing sooner rather than later. With the right insulation in place, reducing the amount of energy you spend on heating the home will be massively reduced over time.

Change the Small Habits

It’s often the small things that have the biggest impact when it comes to reducing the amount of energy you use in the home. For example, whether you leave the hot water tap running for longer than it needs to or leave lights on in rooms that aren’t being used, you’ll use more energy than you really need to. By noticing these little things that you’re doing to use more energy than you need to, you can then change them and start saving energy in small ways each and every day.

Stop Leaving Things on Standby

One great example of a small thing that you might be doing wrong each day is leaving electronics on standby when they’re not in use. It might make sense to you that they’re on standby because, after all, they’re not being left on full power mode, so it can’t be that bad. But standby mode still uses a lot of energy when you have multiple devices that are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So don’t let that happen. It’s a small change but it’ll make a big difference.

Install Draught Proofing

It might be the case that draughts are a problem in your home. If you have lots of gaps in the doors and windows, you need to make sure that these are dealt with because heat from inside the home, or cold air during summer, will escape through those gaps. In the end, that just results in more energy being used to maintain the temperature you want in your home. Draught proofing is something you can install in a DIY way or you can hire someone to do that for you.

Start Using a Smart Meter

If you’re not using a smart meter just yet, that’s something that you might want to change. When you have a smart meter, you can see exactly how much energy you’re using and how much money you’re spending on that energy as well. So it’s definitely a good idea to start using a smart meter if that’s something that you’re not yet. They’re great little devices that give you extra knowledge regarding your energy usage, and that extra knowledge can translate into better habits moving forward. Contact your energy company about getting yours installed.

Upgrade an Old Boiler

When you have an outdated boiler that’s simply not performing in the way you want it to, it’s not only going to be frustrating for you but also expensive to run. Inefficient boilers use more energy to achieve the results that you’re looking for; it’s as simple as that. So by getting rid of yours and replacing it with a more up to date model might be just what you need if you’re looking to use a little less energy in your home. You’ll then have one less thing to worry about going forward.

Upgrade to More Energy-Efficient Windows

Upgrading the windows in your home might be something else to think about if your current windows are old and unable to offer the efficiency benefits that more modern windows do. There are lots of different types of energy efficient windows out there that you can make use of. The more energy efficient and up to date they are, the harder it’ll be for air to escape the home. Your home will, therefore, be better protected from the temperature of the air outside, both during winter and summer.

Install Solar Panels

Installing solar panels might be something that you want to consider if you’ve found that you’re spending too much on electricity in your home recently. When you’re not so reliant on the energy companies that charge you high prices but instead generate at least some of your own energy that you can use in the home, it can save you a lot of money. It’s also a green and renewable energy alternative, which is a big deal for people who want to reduce their impact on the planet. They can be costly to install but it might be worth it in the end.

Switch to More Energy Efficient Bulbs

It might be a good idea to think about the light bulbs you’re using in your home. If you’re still using old and energy-inefficient bulbs in the home, now is as good a time as any to change that. Switching to energy-efficient bulbs that use a lot less energy can only be a good thing. It’s very easy to find energy-efficient bulbs these days. LED light bulbs are a good option if you’re looking for a greener and cleaner solution to old halogen bulbs that you might currently have in the home.

Install a Low Flow Shower Head

One way in which you might be wasting energy is by using too much hot water when you shower. If you stay in the shower too long or you use the right kind of shower head, you’re going to end up not only wasting water but wasting energy as well. If you install a low flow shower head, you can fix that problem. The water will flow more slowly, as the name suggests. And that means you’ll use a lot less hot water each time you shower, in turn, saving energy at the same time.

Don’t Let Ice Build Up in the Freezer

One thing that many people don’t realize is that it’s actually really bad for your freezer to have lots of ice building up in there. Your freezer becomes a lot less efficient when it’s full of ice, meaning it won’t function properly. On top of that, it’ll take more energy to keep your freezer functioning as it should, and that’s not what you want at all. So think about defrosting the freezer once in a while to prevent that ice from building up more than it should.

Only Charge Your Phone for the Amount of Time That’s Really Necessary

Charging your phone incorrectly can be another mistake people make when it comes to how you use energy. You should try to only charge the phone when it actually needs to be charged. Leaving it on charge all night long will only result in using more energy than is necessary. After all, it only takes around a couple of hours to charge most modern smartphones. You can also reduce the battery health if you charge it for longer than it really needs to be charged.

As you can see, there are plenty of changes you can make to your home if you want to reduce the amount of energy you’re using each day in the home. In doing so, you’ll save yourself a little money and you’ll also improve the overall impact your home and your family have on the planet.

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Mavian Arocha-Rowe

Mavian Arocha-Rowe

Editor-in-Chief at Chispa Magazine
Mavian Arocha-Rowe is known as an asset to the business and communications industry and is motivating and advocating “your authenticity should be your strategy,” for all women, regardless of their season and roles. For the past 20 years she has directed magazines, plus multiple art and marketing departments as creative director and brand manager. What supersedes all of her great career moves is her role as wife and mother living in Atlanta. Challenging herself to discover and bravely pursue the calling for her life, Arocha-Rowe helps other women discover and pursue their life’s assignment. She is a passionate, and loud-laughing speaker on the topic of purposefully redeemed, and mentors young women so they can exercise a mind that is doctrinally pure, along with a heart that beats toward sanctification. She will almost never turn down Marlow’s Tavern double-tavern cheeseburger, a cooking-demonstration from Leaning Ladder, or any opportunity to head to Miami to spend time with family.
Mavian Arocha-Rowe

Latest posts by Mavian Arocha-Rowe (see all)

Mavian Arocha-Rowe

Mavian Arocha-Rowe is known as an asset to the business and communications industry and is motivating and advocating “your authenticity should be your strategy,” for all women, regardless of their season and roles. For the past 20 years she has directed magazines, plus multiple art and marketing departments as creative director and brand manager. What supersedes all of her great career moves is her role as wife and mother living in Atlanta. Challenging herself to discover and bravely pursue the calling for her life, Arocha-Rowe helps other women discover and pursue their life’s assignment. She is a passionate, and loud-laughing speaker on the topic of purposefully redeemed, and mentors young women so they can exercise a mind that is doctrinally pure, along with a heart that beats toward sanctification. She will almost never turn down Marlow’s Tavern double-tavern cheeseburger, a cooking-demonstration from Leaning Ladder, or any opportunity to head to Miami to spend time with family.