Building or Remodeling in an Eco-Friendly way

If you are looking to build or remodel to save money on energy-efficient products and benefit the environment as well, there are many products and different options out there to help. We’ll start by discussing appliances and electronics, this will account for approximately 20% of an average home’s energy expenses. This would include your clothes washer and dryer, computer, dishwasher, television, water heater and more. When looking for energy efficient appliances and electronics, look for the Energy Guide and Energy Star labels. Energy Guide labels are found on most appliances, but not home electronics. These labels provide an estimate of the product’s energy consumption annually. The Energy Star label can be found on most appliances and home electronics, these labels are only on appliances that meet energy efficiency criteria set by the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Water heating alone can account for 14-25% of the energy consumed in your home. There are many different types of water heaters that are energy efficient. You can choose from a solar water heater, tankless coil and indirect water heater, and heat pump water heaters. Solar heaters use the sun to heat the water which is free. Tankless coil and indirect water heaters don’t have a tank and has a heating coil installed to your furnace.

Lighting is something to consider in remodeling or building to be energy efficient. Incandescent lighting is the most commonly used type of lighting, but they have a relatively short life span which ends up costing more in the long run. Fluorescent lighting only uses about 25% of the energy that incandescent lighting uses and they last about 10 times longer. For outdoor lighting you can use solar lighting which is free. Outdoor solar lights are easy to install and virtually maintenance free. The outdoor solar lighting system uses solar cells to convert sunlight into electricity. The electricity is stored by batteries to be used at night.

Having your house properly insulated is very important for lowering your energy costs. If your house is older or it wasn’t built to be energy efficient, you may be able to add insulation. An energy audit done by a qualified home energy auditor can help you find out if you need more insulation, among many other things they may find to improve your energy efficiency. An auditor will also be able to help you with areas of your house that may need air sealing. This means any area that you can feel air coming in, if you notice any areas then it will need caulking or weather stripping. Air leakage in your home can account for 30% of your heating and cooling costs.

When building or remodeling your house, you have many options of making your house more energy efficient. Aside from the things mentioned above, you can make sure your windows are energy efficient or get new ones; you can look into improving your heating and cooling unit, and if you are looking into landscaping be sure to look into your options that don’t use as much water.

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