Making green home improvements isn’t just a way to selflessly give back to the environment and lessen your carbon footprint. It’s also a great way to save some money in the process. The problem with many green home improvements is that they’re just cost prohibitive. Some improvements require a serious investment of cash, and while they may pay for themselves in the future that doesn’t help you get them in place right now. What you need are economical green home improvements.
Fortunately, there are a number of economical green home improvements you can pursue:
• Caulk your exterior doors and windows. This is as simple and inexpensive as it sounds. Simply adding some caulk around your doors and windows that lead outside can limit the amount of draft that you get inside. The caulk itself is relatively inexpensive, and you’re likely to see improvements in your home’s energy efficiency almost immediately. Alternatively, you can add door or window weather stripping along with your caulking.
• Switch out your bulbs. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that CFL bulbs use less energy. Yes, they’re more expensive, but they last much longer than traditional bulbs, as well. Your cost is probably going to be a wash, and in the meantime you’re still greening your home.
• Insulate your hot water heater. Using a purpose-made insulating blanket for your hot water heater will greatly reduce the cost of heating water in your home. It means that the tank has to reheat its water much less frequently. Alternatively, you can consider using a tankless hot water heater (although this is going to be much more expensive, of course).
• Add insulation to your attic. Most attics are terribly underinsulated. The fact of the matter is that the attic is a major source of heat loss. When the warm air from your home hits the upper level of the house, it can get out through the attic. Make sure your attic is insulated to at least an R-49 rating.
• Replace your toilets. Installing a low-flow toilet is reasonably expensive, and it will use about a third of the water that your old toilet uses. A family of four will use about 34,000 fewer gallons each year when compared to the old style toilets.
About the Author: Brian Kinkade is a broker and team lead with Brokers Guild – Cherry Creek Ltd, one of Denver’s fastest growing full service Denver real estate firm. Brian’s team of Internet savvy agents service the Denver Metro area while specializing in Denver luxury homes, Colorado horse property and International sales. They invite you to visit their advanced real estate website today to search for homes, gather local information, and learn about Denver neighborhoods. Brian and his team are standing by and ready to assist with your home purchase, property sale or relocation needs.