6 Energy Efficient Home Ideas (For the Environment and Your Wallet)
If you’ve been thinking about how you can make your home more energy efficient, you’ve come to the right place. Recently there has been a significant push for homeowners to consider their energy usage, and many of us around the UK are looking into the best and most cost-effective ways to lower our carbon footprint and help the environment.
In this blog, we’ll be taking a look at the 6 best energy efficient home ideas that will allow you to keep your pockets full while helping look after the planet by reducing your energy usage.
Top Energy Efficient Home Ideas
There are countless things you could try in order to decrease your energy usage, but our research has shown that some have far more impact than others. Here, we reveal the most effective changes you can make in your home.
1. Ensure optimum home insulation
If your home is not properly insulated, the likelihood is that the energy you use to power your heating system is being wasted. Homes with ample insulation can easily maintain higher temperatures for longer, and therefore need significantly less energy to heat up. If you haven’t yet invested in things like loft insulation and double glazing, there’s no question that this is worth doing in order to become more energy efficient and save on bills.
If you don’t yet have the budget for large insulation projects, you can use draught excluders in the meantime to make the most of your boiler usage.
2. Upgrade your appliances
Now more than ever, there are numerous energy saving appliances available on the market. Investing in them little by little can have a huge impact on your future energy bills. Frequently used appliances that require large bursts of energy such as washing machines and dishwashers are a great place to start, followed by fridges, ovens and other electricals.
Having smarter, greener appliances is certainly one of the more useful energy efficient home ideas – while it may seem costly at first, there’s no question that this solution will last several years.
3. Use a smart meter
Particularly if you’re due to upgrade your boiler, having a smart meter installed at the same time is definitely recommended. A smart meter allows you to keep track of all the energy you are using throughout your home, as well as the total cost each month. Having this overall view will prompt you to reduce your consumption and may eventually lead to your household developing greener and more sustainable energy use habits, such as switching off lights and appliances when not in use.
4. Switch up your lighting
People all over the world are moving towards LED lights to ensure a more energy efficient home. Normal halogen bulbs are far less efficient, and newer LED lights are not only more affordable, but longer lasting (and more stylish!). Changing up your lighting is a relatively simple energy efficient home idea, but one that can certainly make a difference to the planet and your wallet.
5. Use lower water temperatures
You might not consider the temperature of the water that your appliances use, but it does in fact have a bearing on your energy usage. Washing machines and dishwashers require hot water during normal cycle settings, but there will usually be an option to wash at a cooler temperature to conserve energy. Consider this the next time you use one of these appliances – depending on what you are washing, you can probably afford to use a cooler setting. Some appliances also have an ‘eco’ mode, which means the cycle will run longer, but conserve energy in the process.
You should also make sure not to leave water running for too long, and try to use less in general. For example, choose quick showers over baths, use a washing up bowl rather than having a constant stream of water to clean dishes, and turn off taps while brushing your teeth.
6. Use an efficient boiler
Our energy efficient home ideas list would not be complete without recommending boiler upgrade! At Bbright, we can recommend specific boilers to you depending on your home and current energy usage. Changing your boiler to a newer, more efficient model will likely have the most significant impact on your energy usage and bills, especially if you have an older unit that has already required repairs. Get in touch with us for a personliased recommendation.
Are you ready to cap your energy usage and reduce your bills? We hope our energy efficient home ideas have inspired you to make some changes.
Help us make the planet a greener place by switching to more efficient appliances and using the other tips above! Get a boiler quote today and see how much you could save on your energy bills.
