Eco Friendly Home Designs

Another way to reduce your utility bill is installing solar panels, and Nature Power offers an easy, all-in-one kit. When it’s time, replace appliances to energy efficient models (look for the “energy star” label). As much as 30 percent of the air moving through your duct system is lost to leaks. By insulating your heating ducts, you can save money on heating bills and conserve energy throughout your home.

• While you can’t use the water for drinking purposes, you can use it for a number things such as laundry and washing your car.
• If you live in a typically wet climate that gets heavy rainfall, you will need to install vapor barriers in your home.
• While this might be the ideal eco-friendly lifestyle, for many people, this way of living isn’t realistic.
• When you consider what you’re buying, you’ll find that you buy a lot less, saving you money, and saving harmful CO2 emissions.
• There are plenty of contractors that can help you find the best ventilation solution for your underground home.

However, insulation has traditionally been made from hazardous, toxic materials which have a range of negative impacts on the environment. In particular, you should separate out areas that do not need to be heated or cooled because they’re not often used, such as the basement or laundry.

Heating And Cooling

Not everybody can afford solar panels or Energy Star appliances, but we can all make smaller changes in our own homes. These changes are budget-friendly and they don’t take a lot of time; they are however efficient and they can turn your home into an eco-friendly place.

Better yet, make your own cleaning products with natural ingredients like baking soda, white vinegar and natural soaps. You can also add essential oils to get any special scent you would like.

Install A Smart Thermostat

Green homes tend to use less energy, which translates to lower utility bills. Green choices are often good for the health of you and your family because they help create living space with fewer chemical toxins and because you can start supplying fresh food you grow yourself. That said, the performance of Honeywell’s Evaporative Cooler will depend on your humidity and the ability to access a window for cross ventilation. You won’t have as much control over how cool your room gets, but the energy savings over using an air conditioner are enormous. You could basically run this fan all day and still be more environmentally friendly than using an air conditioner while you sleep.

These systems can reduce household water use by 50% by saving up to 40,000 gallons of water every year. Solar panels have become more efficient, last longer, and are more repairable thanks to modern technology so don’t be surprised if your solar panels last 25+ years. There’s just something super convenient about opting for plastic bags at the grocery store. Unfortunately, your convenience is a nuisance to the environment and wildlife. Opt for greener reusable cloth bags and your home won’t be littered with plastic bags. Did you know replacing a 10-year-old window or central AC unit with an Energy Star model can cut your cooling costs by 30 to 50 percent? Your wallet and the environment will be happy you made this greener purchase.

It is good news that many people across the world are becoming more environmentally-conscious. Being more eco-friendly will not only help you contribute to a sustainable environment but it can even save you money. Here are ten ways to improve the mechanical and electrical engineering of your home, and make it a more eco-friendly place. Since your insulation is going to control your home’s temperature for years, you have to make sure you’re installing high-quality insulation that will last a long time.

Opt For Energy Star Appliances:

However, the oven uses a significant amount of energy to heat up properly and, if you only plan to cook two slices of bread, it’s not at all efficient to use the oven. Speaking of the oven, check the oven door every time you bake or cook something to be sure the oven door is properly https://ecosoberhouse.com/ closed. Keeping the oven door open leads to a huge amount of heat loss. In case you were wondering what to do with the fertilizer, here’s your answer – plant your own herb garden. You can plant them in small pots and keep them inside the house, close to a sunny window.

• Whether you’re remodeling, new-construction, or just looking to upgrade some existing fixtures, switching to low-flow showerheads, faucets, and toilets is a great way to save water and money.
• “By growing your own food, you eliminate the emissions that come from the transportation of goods to your local markets and mass grocery stores,” Arcadia Power advises.
• This also prevents roof water from running directly into the storm sewer system.
• Natalie Kay Smith is a sustainable fashion writer and the owner of Sustainably Chic, a sustainability-focused blog.
• Ideally, perhaps, you might like to move to a larger home but the economy has you worried and you want to spend your money wisely.

Household cleaning supplies are jam-packed with the most powerful bacteria killers in existence. But if you go out of your house for more than 15 minutes, then it’s more energy saving to turn them off.

Combined with other green building ideas, solar power can generate enough energy for you to start selling some back to your utility company. In fact, by federal law utilities are required to purchase excess power from grid-connected home solar systems at a rate equal to what it costs the power provider to produce power itself. If that isn’t incentive enough, there also are grants, tax breaks and other government incentives related to the use of solar power in your home. Design your home around your lifestyle, and keep the space manageable and cost effective. Think of square footage as an investment; put it where you want it most instead of expanding in every direction. One of the smartest ways to improve your home’s eco-friendliness is to ensure that you use as little energy as possible. Good insulation helps hold in the heat, meaning you don’t need to burn energy reheating the home all of the time.

Plant Herbs

Hardwood floors add value and beauty to a home, but many of the trees used in hardwood flooring take years to grow. If your house is up for a new floor, consider using sustainable materials such as bamboo instead. Bamboo grows very quickly and takes less land to produce, but it’s still attractive and durable.Cork is another sustainable wood flooring option. Cork is softer than bamboo, so it absorbs noise and feels cushiony underfoot. An eco-friendly skylight is more than a hole cut in the roof with some glass in it. Many energy-efficient skylights exist on the market, but they should always be professionally installed to make sure that they are safe and efficient. In the kitchen, instead of reaching for a roll of paper towels to wipe your counter, use a cloth that can be washed and reused over and over.

• Greywater is the water that comes out of the drains of showers, baths, sinks, and washing machines and is distinctly different from black water, which is what gets flushed down the toilet.
• I’m not one to recommend upgrading all willy nilly, but it can save you a lot of money and power in the long run.
• For an extra environmentally-friendly touch, add sustainable blinds made from hemp or bamboo, or cotton curtains for a cozy and quiet bedroom.

With many panels, surplus energy can be transferred to a battery and stored for later use. Installing solar panels can reduce your home’s carbon footprint, on average, by 35,180 pounds. Investing in solar power will require some upfront cash, but it will pay off in the long run, for you and the planet. Install a “cool roof.” Cool roofs reflect sunlight rather than absorbing it.

Sustainable House Ideas: Ready To Make Your Home More Eco

Inside spaces are designed to facilitate the movement of sun-heated air without the use of fans. The results can reduce the amount of energy used to heat and cool your home. Instead of using paper towels in your kitchen, try using absorbent cloth towels to clean up spills. How to make your home more environmentally friendly And instead of paper napkins, try cloth napkins that you can wash and reuse. A great concern are the greenhouse gas emissions that result from manufacturing and disposing of these items. Many people are starting to consider solar energy when remodeling their homes.

The last and most construction intensive underground home design is a fully recessed home. This home is completely underground and is built by digging out the space for your home and is later added back on top of the structure, leaving a space for the front door and that’s all. Building materials can be harmful to the environment in a variety of ways, from the air, water, and land pollution they generate in production to the energy required to create them. When you build, you have a unique opportunity to plan for solar power use in a way that owners of older homes cannot. By making solar power native technology in your new home, you can take advantage of light, positioning and geography to get the most efficiency and energy for your investment. Solar shingles are an emerging new option that could have a better aesthetic appearance compared to the typical solar panel installation, and even Tesla is producing a solar shingle product.

Sustainable Products And Services

Making your own products cuts down on packaging waste and reduces the release of household chemicals that can contribute to air and water pollution. Organic cleaning products use environmentally-friendly ingredients that reduce toxicity. A smart thermostat can reduce the cost of your utility bill and make your home more eco-friendly at the same time. Install a programmable thermostat to monitor and control your cooling and heating systems. Speaking of water, one of my dreams is to install a grey water system.

These are continually being improved, so look online for products with good reviews. Don’t feel as though you have to renovate your entire house to start being more eco-friendly. Natalie Kay Smith is a sustainable fashion writer and the owner of Sustainably Chic, a sustainability-focused blog. Natalie has over 5 years of sustainable fashion and green living writing and has worked with over 400 conscious brands all over the world to show readers fashion can exist responsibly and sustainably. In most cases, you don’t have to do a thing to your existing light fixtures. CFLs are like the fluorescent bulbs in supermarkets, but they’re shaped in a small coil and are about the same shape and size as incandescent bulbs. They’re usually a little bit more expensive, but they pay for themselves within a year.

And if you keep your shower until five minutes total, you can save up to 1,000 gallons monthly. Putting your plastic water bottle in the recycling bin doesn’t make up for the fact that you’re using a plastic bottle in the first place, unfortunately. And as for the bottles that are thrown away, they take over 1,000 years to biodegrade. Buy a reusable bottle instead and you’ll be saving the environment with every sip. You can make your house sustainable — whether buying new or improving your current environment — with some quick changes and some thoughtful investments. Home sustainability will pay you back in energy savings as well as comfort. Plant according to differing watering needs and use plenty of mulch.