How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

2022 taught us a lot about ourselves and how we manage our lives. But apart from dealing with a global pandemic from all fronts, another global event is happening right under our noses. And that’s none other than global warming which leads to climate change. So for 2023, let’s make the Earth a better place by making sure that we start meaningful changes towards helping save the environment right in the comforts of our own home.

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Tips to make your home more energy efficient

Have cool roofs

One of your new year’s resolutions for 2023 might be to transform your house into a much more energy-efficient dwelling space, and we hear you! So one of the things you can do just that is by having cool roofs. To be honest, it’s quite amazing to find out just how big an impact these structural changes can do to save more energy.

Think about it. If you have cool roofs, you can reduce the local air temperatures or the urban heat island effect that’s making homes quite hot. And by doing so, it, of course, translates to less electricity consumption since your heaters, ventilators, or air conditioning units won’t have to work doubly hard to maintain an acceptable temperature whatever the season. Plus, cool roofs are also perfect for power plants because these would reduce emissions of harmful greenhouse gases, too.

Fortunately, you don’t need to strip off your entire roof to make the change. By changing the color of your roof to a much more reflective pigment, you’re already empowering it to be energy-efficient.

Air seal your home

Another way to save energy at home is through air sealing. Air sealing is basically reducing the air that leaks to and from your home. There’s no one way to go about this since homes are built in several ways. But first, you need to find out all the trouble spots or areas where air leaks out the most and address that by sealing them by weatherstripping, insulation, and other methods. Some of the most frequent trouble spots for air leakage are your attic, chimney shaft, and, of course, windows and doors.

Consider having an advanced house framing

If you’re still in the process of building your home, then one way to make it more energy-efficient is by having an advanced house framing. This means using engineering techniques that optimize the use of lumber for your home. You can’t really do this all by yourself so make it a point to mention this to your engineer before buying too many materials.

Use renewable energy

When talking about energy efficiency, of course, the use of renewable energy must not be excluded from the equation. This is the responsible use of energy since it’s more eco-friendly and is also cost-effective if you consider using this in the long run. But upfront costs might shock you. So if you can’t really switch to solar panels or wind turbines, you can opt for lesser items that use renewable energy like solar-powered heaters and lights.

Read more: How to generate electricity at home

Choose energy-efficient appliances and lighting fixtures

Speaking of lights, one more way to be energy-efficient is by buying lights and appliances that require less electricity to work. To be frank, there is no shortage of such items these days, although they might be a tad bit more expensive compared to other options. However, they are definitely worth the bumped up price because of the amount of savings you will have once you plug them in.

Read more: Why does GFCI outlet keep tripping

Switch power providers

Sometimes, we forget just how easy it is to be more energy-efficient. But switching power providers already helps us do this and helps with our finances too!  By taking the time to research for a reliable energy broker, you’re helping not just yourself but the environment, too.

Making your home energy-efficient this year can be easy if you know where to start. Now that you have these simple tips with you, you can make the necessary changes and teach others how to do the same.

Read more: Conserve to preserve: How to reduce your energy bills during this pandemic

Written by Billy Guteng. February 2, 2021

Billy was born in France, and has lived in multiple cities around the world ever since. He loves art, design and architecture and he supports the KUKUN team as a content provider.