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How To Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly
By admin | January 27, 2009
The following are all easy to follow and easy to use methods for making your home much more eco-friendly. Not only will you make your home more green, you will find that quickly you will be saving money on energy costs. It pays in the long run to put in a little bit of effort and money into your home to make it more eco-friendly.
In BC for example there is the LiveSmart BC Efficiency Incentive Program which offers rebates on energy audits. Have an energy audit conducted on your home and then make the necessary changes. Doing this you can be eligible for up to $5,000 in overall energy efficiency grants. Check with your provincial government for similar programs.
It sounds really simple and most already make some effort to do this in our Northern climate, but really double your efforts to keep the weather outside out of your home. Taking measures such as increasing the insulation in attics and basements, adding new weather-stripping to doors and windows and look for and seal off any other air leaks such as those found around dryer or bathroom vents.
Check your appliances like your computer for energy saving features. Almost all computers come with sleep or low-power usage functions when the computer is not being actively used. Check your user manuals or call the manufacturer for more information.
When not at home turn down or turn off your lights and heating. Doing so will save you hundreds of dollars in short order. Have your furnace serviced regularly as well as this will improve its energy efficiency.
If you have not already done so, start replacing your older incandescent bulbs with new compact fluorescent lamps. These new lights use only about one-quarter of the energy as compared to their older counterparts while delivering the same amount of light. They usually cost a little more up-front, but they will save you money on energy costs and they last much longer so you won’t have to replace them as often.
If you don’t have to clean with hot water – don’t. Simply replacing hot water with cold water for most simple cleaning chores including the use of our home washing machines can make your home much greener and eco-friendly. Some provinces also offer rebates for replacing old appliances with new ones, and this includes the all important water heater.
Following some of these tips and guidelines can help you make your home greener and more eco-friendly. These tips come from BCAA who are now offering insurance incentives to encourage green buildings and homes.
Category: Green Living
Tags: compact fluorescent, eco-friendly, energy, energy efficiency, green 1 Comment »
December 5th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
just to ad to that, there are a lot of eco-friendly products you can buy now days too. Like, i just recently found a store selling eco-friendly mattresses, and they werent triple the price of a normal bed like you would expect, they were actually cheaper! it a store called keetsa, and they have stuff like bamboo sheets and what not