5 Best Home Energy Efficiency Upgrades You Don’t Want To Miss
Angela is deciding how she wants to do her part to help the environment.
She already helps in small ways, like taking shorter showers and turning lights off when she isn’t using them. These are now family household rules. As a bonus, they are also starting to see bits of savings here and there. It’s almost like a game to see how low they can get their utility bills.
But now Angela wants to do more: she wants energy efficient upgrades for her home.
Energy efficient upgrades for homes can include solar panels, additional insulation in the attic, sealing air leaks, and more. They can help reduce energy usage and carbon footprint. Homes can become more comfortable with more efficient heating and cooling. This, in turn, helps air conditioning units last longer as they work less.
Angela is choosing a combination of the following 5 home energy efficiency upgrades.
Let’s take a look at her choices.
#1 – The Classic Solar Panel
This is one of the biggest home energy efficiency upgrades Angela is looking at doing.
Fossil fuels are the main source of our electricity. They release harmful gases that pollute Earth when we burn them. This process of creating electricity also uses a lot of water, which puts a strain on our water supply.
Angela would use solar panels to create a clean and renewable source of electricity for her home.
She would help lessen pollutants and set an amazing example for those around her.
Angela can also directly benefit from installing solar panels. Solar panels could save Angela up to about $70 in her first month. Right now it could take around 14 years for them to pay themselves off, but that isn’t her main concern.
She just wants to help make the earth a little greener again.
Learn more benefits of solar panels >>
#2 – Making Your Windows Energy Efficient
Angela is tired of trying to air condition the outdoors (like many people).
Angela can upgrade her windows in several different ways to combat this.
The biggest change would be for her to replace all her windows. Single-pane windows are terribly inefficient for conserving energy. Upgrading these to double-pane can really make a difference. If they are Energy Star windows, this upgrade could save her anywhere from $100-$500 per year (though that’s not her main reason for doing this).
She can also change the type of window. Awning, casement, and hopper windows are the best for keeping the inside in. The amount of air they leak is generally lower than other window types.
There are easier ways to make her windows more efficient too.
Insulating window shades, reflective film for certain windows, and even applying shrink wrap to the insides can all help conserve energy. She can also weatherstrip them.
All of these upgrades mean her air conditioning unit won’t have to work as hard or long. This means it’ll work better for longer.
#3 – Add Attic Insulation
During her research, Angela found out 25% of heat can escape a poorly insulated attic.
That means her air conditioning unit will be working overtime. All that heat just rising up through the ceilings, into the attic, and maybe even out through the roof. It might be warmer in there than the parts her family lives in.
Photo by Jason Dale – creative commons license 3.0
Angela can add insulation (or better insulation) to her attic to put an end to this. She can reduce her carbon footprint and save energy. Plus, switching from old insulation to new could save her up to $600.
#4 – LED Lights
When Angela saw this a light bulb went off over her head.
LEDs don’t have toxins in them, light more area, last longer, and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So not only will she be saving the environment but she will have better lighting for longer.
LEDs can also switch between colors as well as dim and brighten. More options mean more fun!
Switching from incandescent to LED can save her up to $300 per year. Of course, she probably won’t want to go out and replace all of her lights now. It’s smarter and more cost effective to wait until her current bulbs burn out. They too have to go in the trash so she may as well make the most of the ones she has.
5 ways LED is better then incandescent >>
#5 – Use Energy Star Appliances
Angela wants to be a star at saving the planet.
One way she can do this is by using Energy Star appliances.
America is coming together to help reduce the damage we do to the planet. Angela is going to do her part by using Energy Star appliances. Sure individually the impact is low. But, when people come together like this they can create huge change.
Angela is joining the energy efficiency movement to help her planet.
Did you know that our team here at The Window Source and The Home Source Network can help you implement all of these suggestions and make your 2019 home a true, “Energy Star”?
She can also do a little money saving too. The Energy Star washer/dryer can save her up to $600 over its lifetime and the refrigerator/freezer up to $100.
But it’s not about saving money. It’s about saving the planet on which she lives.
You Only Need 1 Small Step
Helping the planet doesn’t mean you have to change your entire living situation. A lot of the time all you need is to do something small like Angela is. It’s when we come together that we can make the biggest impact.
How will you start helping save the planet? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
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