Trying to reduce your energy bill and consumption around the home is a big concern for people these days. The threat of a huge energy bill is enough to make anybody want to cut down and when prices are on the rise, it’s more important than every to take notice of how much energy you’re using.
Concerns about the environment are another driving factor behind people’s attempts to use less energy around the home. There are all sorts of ways you can cut energy usage around the home and reduce your bills; you can turn the thermostat down or even just switch off the heating and wear a jumper.
You can turn lights off when you’re not in the room and make sure that you aren’t leaving things on standby all of the time. But sometimes, those small changes aren’t enough.
If you’re struggling to manage your budget because energy bills are too high and you just can’t seem to get them down, it might because you’re with an expensive provider. Shop around a bit and see whether you can find somebody cheaper. If that still doesn’t work, you’ll have to do something more drastic.
There are plenty of renovations you can do around the home that make it way more energy efficient, so you won’t be spending anywhere near as much on energy bills each month. These are some of the best energy efficient changes you can make to your home right now.
Insulation
The faster your house loses heat, the more money you’ll have to spend on heating it back up again. It’s obvious really, but most people don’t do anything about it.
There are a couple of reasons that your house might be losing heat quickly but, more often than not, it’s because it isn’t insulated properly. Older houses, in particular, don’t have the best insulation because they were built before modern, more effective materials were in use.
But if you get somebody to come in and insulate the house properly, you’ll find that it retains its heat a lot better. It’s going to cost you a bit of money but you’ll make it back in reduced energy costs in a couple of years and you’ll add value to the house as well.
If the house holds heat a lot better, you can put the heating on for a couple of hours and then switch it off, rather than having it on constantly.
Doors And Windows
Another reason that you’re going to lose heat quickly is bad doors and windows. If you’ve got big gaps underneath the doors, that’s going to let a draft in and make the house cold.
Change them for new ones and use draft excluders and you’ll notice a big difference. The same goes for single pane windows. Swap them out for some double or even triple glazed windows and you’ll be able to heat the house and keep it warm for a lot less money, or maybe consider window tinting from Ft. Myers
Radiators
Maybe your house is well insulated and the doors and windows are fine, but it still takes ages for it to heat up. That’s probably because you’ve got bad radiators that aren’t working efficiently. Get some modern ones from sites like www.onlyradiators.co.uk and you’ll notice a big difference immediately.
You can also get more stylish ones that look better in the home than a boring old white radiator. By heating the house quickly, you’ll be able to have the heating on for much shorter periods and save yourself a lot of money.
New Appliances
When it comes to the electric bill, your appliances should be the first thing you look at. Old appliances, especially in the kitchen, eat through energy incredibly quickly.
But newer appliances are designed with energy usage in mind and they’ll cost you far less to run. It might not seem like you’re saving money by buying a new fridge and washing machine but in the long run, you will.
Whenever you’re buying new appliances, always look at the energy rating on them and go for something with at least an A.
Cheaper appliances won’t be as efficient so you’re better off spending a bit more money now to make more savings later on.
Solar Panels
If you can generate your own energy, you’ll massively cut down on your bills so putting a solar panel on your roof is always a great idea (www.wikihow.com has a great guide on how to do it).
If you live in a particularly sunny area and you generate more than your home needs, you can even sell some of it back to the grid and make money instead of spending it on energy bills.
Make these renovations around the home and you’ll be able to save huge amounts of money on your energy bills every year.