Efficiency Renovations That Can Give Your Home The Green Appeal

Perhaps you want to make your own home a little more energy efficient. Or perhaps you’ve realized that energy efficiency and green technologies are amongst some of the most in-demand factors for home purchases at the moment. A lot of people are becoming more cognizant about their carbon footprint and how much waste they’re producing. Here are some of the green home renovations that can help you make more eco-friendly homes that are more likely to sell to certain crowds.

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Why go green?

Is it worth going green with your home? Whether the answer is a “yes” or otherwise depends on your priorities. However, there are definite advantages. They do, in general, increase the home value, allowing you to command higher prices than similar but less-efficient homes. People are willing to pay not only for the reduction in energy costs that come with green homes but also for the image of being a more eco-friendly and conscious individual. Green technologies and more efficient fuel systems also typically replace older systems, meaning that people have more effective tech in the home that isn’t likely to break down any time soon. You need to do your own calculations to find out which investments will pay for themselves, but in general, green is the way to go.

Sealing the home up

First of all, you should look at the property that you have and any issues that might be diminishing its energy efficiency as is. In many homes that have previous owners, this means looking at breaches in the boundary of the home. This might mean replacing older doors and windows that have air gaps that will otherwise require routine re-sealing or adding insulation to the home. It’s wise to check the roof and whether your need a roofing company to fill gaps where tiles are broken or damaged, or even replace the entire roof if it has aged past its usefulness.

Watch those windows

When it comes to improving the energy efficiency of windows, it’s not just about sealing them up or replacing those that are no longer as energy-efficient as they used to be. In terms of energy savings alone, it’s worth opting for double or even triple-glazed windows, as you can see here. It’s estimated that up to a tenth of the home’s heating can be lost directly through the windows. Aside from double and triple-glazed windows, you might also want to look at options like low-emissivity glass that actually reflects the heat right back into the room. If you have to replace older windows, then it just makes sense to go with a more eco-friendly option rather than getting the cheaper kind.

Relying on renewable energies

There are a few different renewable energy options that you can install onto your home, but the most accessible and often the most affordable, at the moment, is that of the solar panels. There are some homes that can get 100% of their energy needs met by solar panels. However, areas that don’t see quite as much sun or light throughout the year might not benefit as much. They can still help make savings in terms of energy bills, but you want to calculate how much energy you can get from panels to make sure that they are worth the investment before you go signing up for any installations.

Better heating systems

It is true that solar and other green technologies like those from Dcbel can, in some cases, wholly replace our need to rely on fossil fuels. However, where that isn’t the case, you can still go for more cost-effective, cleaner, and safer ways of fueling the home. You can click here to learn more about using propane to fuel the home,.as well. These alternative fuel systems also have the benefit of allowing homes to better operate off the grid so that people aren’t as reliant on local utility systems. So long as they take care of the fuel system and keep it supplied, it can help them save money and also be more efficient and measured in how much energy they use.

Mind your VOCs

Whether you’re repainting the home, finishing outdoor wooden pieces like patios and porch furniture, or even replacing the flooring in the home, there is one risk you should be considered above the rest. Paints, varnishes, sealants, and even some materials like artificial floorboards and carpets may contain what are called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs for short. When certain materials or products “off-gas”, they are releasing these harmful gasses that are known to reduce air quality and even raise the risk of developing cancers. What’s more, when they combine with other gases, including many found inside homes, they can become harmful pollutants that go out to worsen air quality on a wider scale. There are VOC-free options for all of the products mentioned above and they’re becoming more prevalent as this concern becomes more widely known.

Making a home more passively green

There are a lot of little changes that might not make a huge difference as to how the home uses energy or what kind of waste it gives off but will make smaller contributions towards its energy bills. For instance, the actual orientation of the home, such as ensuring that shared living areas face south so that they get more sun and heat during the day, especially during winter, is a good idea. Skylights are good for adding natural light for longer throughout the day so that you don’t need to spend as much time turning the lights on. If you want to reduce cooling costs during the summer, then having a garden full of deciduous trees can provide plenty of shade, too.

The better you can implement green renovations, the more likely you are to appeal to buyers, especially younger buyers in the higher end of the market. Of course, there’s also the added benefit of knowing you’re dealing in homes that are better for the environment. Just make sure you do it in ways that are cost-effective in terms of your investment, too.

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