With the impacts of climate change becoming more readily perceptible across the globe, many of us have been reconsidering our lifestyle and habits as a means of ‘doing our part’ for the environment. For homeowners in particular, there are actually a great number of lifestyle changes and even amendments that can be made to their homes to bolster their household’s carbon footprint.
Those looking to make these changes may have just one question on their mind: how exactly can you transform your home into an eco-friendly abode? Creating a contemporary green home largely requires some conscientious planning and designing, as well as the incorporation of some modern technologies that have proven to be greener than their traditional counterparts.
Here’s just a small overview of what considerations you’ll need to make when looking to bolster the sustainability and eco-friendliness of your own family home.
Install solar panels
One particularly excellent way to make your home green and energy efficient is by having a licensed electrician install solar panels on your roof. These will provide renewable energy for your home, reducing the amount of coal-powered electricity you consume and thus drastically reducing your home’s carbon footprint.
At the peak of summer, you might even be able to completely power your home from your solar panels, so long as your energy usage is modest and your solar panels are installed in a north-facing direction if you’re living in the southern hemisphere, or a south-facing direction if you’re living in the northern hemisphere.
As well as reducing your reliance on fossil fuels, installing solar panels on your home will also help you save on your household’s utility bills, allowing you and your family to enjoy greater financial freedom. If you generate enough energy, you may even be able to sell some electricity back to your local energy provider and management service. All things considered, solar panels are undeniably an excellent investment for any budding green home.
Opt for solar powered hot water
Want to take your investment into solar one step further? Another thing you can do to make your home green and clean is to install solar-powered hot water. Maintaining an older gas hot water system for your home can negatively contribute to your household carbon footprint, due to the emissions generated by the act of burning gas.
Contrastingly, using renewable solar energy to heat your home’s hot water supply can allow you and your family to enjoy guilt-free steamy showers whenever you like. And once again, you’ll save money in the long run as you won’t have to pay as much for gas or electricity. Just be sure to factor in the upfront installation costs when assessing whether this particular swapover is a good move for you and your household.
Add some colour with smart LED lighting
Designing with smart LED lights is a fantastic way to add an effortless pop of colour and versatility to your modern home. And believe it or not, but these smart lights are actually smart in more ways than one.
Not only do these great alternatives to traditional halogen or incandescent light bulbs allow you to take total control over the look and feel of your interiors, but these smart lights are actually proven to be far more energy efficient (and a whole lot safer) than traditional halogen light bulbs. Traditional halogen globes have been known to use excess energy that can then lead to them overheating and essentially producing a fire risk in your home.
LED lights were developed to use far less energy than traditional light globes, allowing homeowners to keep their home well-illuminated without having to sacrifice on their safety nor their home’s sustainability rating. If your home has outdated lighting, you should consider swapping out your older globes for modern LEDs, or perhaps even enlisting an electrician to arrange this swapover for you wherever necessary.
Update your home insulation
A poorly insulated home will leak heat in winter and cool air in summer, costing you more on your heating and cooling bills year-round. Sadly, limiting your heating and cooling use in this situation isn’t exactly a feasible solution, as sitting in a poorly insulated home in the height of winter can be too uncomfortable to bear.
But updating or upgrading your home insulation is easier than you may think. Simply open up your ceiling cavity to physically assess and perhaps even remove or add to your home’s existing insulation. As for your wall and floor insulation, these can also be assessed independently or with expert assistance if required.
Be sure to also consider the type of insulation that you’re looking to install in your home. For instance, reflective foil insulation can be a great asset for any homeowners who are looking to keep external heat outside of their home. Bulk insulation is also available in a wide range of organic and inorganic materials, ranging from polyester and glass wool batts to natural sheep’s wool and cellulose fibre. Naturally, opting for eco-friendly insulation materials is going to further improve your household carbon footprint.
Underfloor heating and double-glazed windows
If you live in a particularly chilly corner of the world, then chances are you need all the help you can get when it comes to retaining heat in your home. You may also have a fair amount of horror stories regarding the meteoric costs of home heating! Thankfully, there are a handful of other solutions that you can pair with investing in strong home insulation, including warm and cosy underfloor heating.
As hot air rises, having heat sources that are closer to your flooring will help ensure that your interior spaces are adequately heated, and that they actually stay warm even after your heating has been powered down. Ducted heating and underfloor heating provide the best possible results, as they’re designed to keep your home warm from the ground up. This is an excellent green investment for older homes on stumps, as the heating can be installed relatively easily.
And what if underfloor heating isn’t an option for you? Then you still have the option of swapping out your home’s existing windows for thicker, more insulatory double-glazed windows. Using two panels of glass installed parallel to one another, double-glazed windows are designed to reduce the overall loss of heat through your windows, allowing your home to boast improved temperature regulation capabilities.
Another bonus here is that double-glazed windows also provide natural soundproofing, so you’ll benefit from these windows even more if you have noisy neighbours or live close to a busy main road or railway line.
A Green Home Conclusion
With all the practical design elements we’ve outlined above, the task of designing a contemporary green home should really feel like a walk in a very lush, leafy park. From solar panels to solar hot water and insulation, these tips should help you reduce your home’s carbon footprint, save on your household’s utilities and other expenses, and best of all, allow you and your family to live with fresher air and an effortlessly comfortable home. What more could you ask for?
Also read: Ground Solar Mounting Systems: A Comprehensive Guide
