Go Green! Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

Many homeowners in Winter Garden are hopping on the ‘GO GREEN’ train and making the changes necessary for their home to be more energy efficient. Maybe it’s time for you to ‘GO GREEN’ and make your home MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT too? Energy efficient homes are full of awesome benefits. They are much better for the environment and they save YOU money. Both of these sound like pretty great reasons to ‘GO GREEN’ with a more energy efficient home to us here at the Erica Diaz Team!

What is an Energy Efficient Home?

Energy efficient homes use energy efficient strategies and products to reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and the demand for nonrenewable recourses. In turn the home provides a safer and healthier living environment as well as money savings to the homeowner. It’s easy to see why homes that are being built to energy efficient standards are becoming so popular.

How can You Make Your Home More Energy Efficient?

Does the thought of home improvements make your head spin? Are you wondering where to even start with home improvements to become more energy efficient? It’s your lucky day because we put our heads together and created a guide to get you going. After reading this article we know you will be excited and motivated to make your home more energy efficient ASAP!

There are lots of little changes that can be made to help the environment and make your home more energy efficient. Some of the trending ways we frequently hear about are save the turtles by not using plastic straws and use less gas and emit less fumes when you buy an electric car. While these are all great efforts in preserving our Earth and becoming for environmentally friendly, there’s also little changes that can be made at home and to your home to help the environment and become more energy efficient too.

Tint Your Windows

Big beautiful windows are a top selling point for many homebuyers. While Florida’s natural light is lovely, those pesky UV rays heat up a house quick, making the air-conditioner work twice as hard. When an air-conditioner is continuously running in an attempt to cool a house it unfortunately causes it to use more energy. Luckily there is a solution! Block out the harsh light by tinting the windows, this will quickly cool the home and give your air-conditioner a much needed break.

It’s no coincidence that most stores have their windows tinted. They don’t do this just for looks, tinting windows save retailers a lot of money when it comes to energy bills. A tinted window filters the sunlight coming into your home making it cooler. Additionally, window tinting will save you money because the air-conditioner will be running less and using less energy.

Tinting your own windows with an aftermarket window film is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to increase a home’s energy efficiency. It’s definitely less costly than replaying all the windows. Here are a few things to keep in mind though before tackling this project.

Window Tinting Tips

• Weigh the investment before tinting windows yourself, for some windows it may be more cost effective to replace them.
• Different types of window films provide different benefits.
• Solar window tint film is necessary to improve a home’s energy efficiency. Not all window tint films are made to reduce the heat from the sun, some are simply for decoration or privacy.
• Not all window tint films are compatible with all types of windows.
• Check with your window warranty, sometimes applying window film will void the warranty.

Insulation Goes a Long Way

Ensuring that the attic and walls of a home are properly insulated is one of the most effective ways to create an energy efficient home. Heat in the winter (which isn’t a huge issue here in Florida) and more importantly cool air in the summer will quickly escape a home without good insulation. It’s easiest to install proper insulation when a home is first built, but it is something that can be added to a completed home as well.

If you plan on adding insulation to your walls or attic that’s most likely a job best hired out to professionals. However, there are a few things you can do around the house that will aid in proper insulation.

Quick DIY Installation Tips

• Caulk around dryer and bathroom vents. These are necessities to have in homes, but they allow more air to escape than you’d think. A quick seal will keep your cool or warm air in.
• Hang heavy curtains on windows. This will help keep the hot sun from heating up rooms as well as keep your cool air-conditioned air inside. There are so many options out there, so even if you’re looking for something stylish you can still help to insulate your home.

Upgrade Appliances

While there is a bit of cost that comes with upgrading appliances to Energy Star rated ones, the payoff is big, both financially and environmentally. There are new model released each year for every appliance and they are always more energy efficient than the previous ones. It is a little unrealistic to replace perfectly functioning appliances each year, so here’s some ideas on keeping as up to date as possible in a cost effective way.

Appliance Upgrading Tips

• There’s no need to stress if it’s not feasible to upgrade all your homes appliances at once. Simply upgrade them as they need replacing. Each time one goes out, replace it with one that is Energy Star rated.
• Check out local for sale sites, people are always getting rid of things that may not serve them any longer but might be the perfect fit for you.

Maintain Cooling

Here in Florida where it’s hot and humid most of the year, it’s important to maintain a home’s cooling features. With air-conditioning units typically running year-round here, this would be the first appliance that we suggest being upgraded to an energy efficient one. It’s also important to properly maintain your a/c unit so that it’s running properly because if it’s not it can easily be going through more energy than necessary, as well as raising your bills.

Tips to Properly Maintain Your Homes Coolness in Addition to the A/C

• Put a fan in the attic to lower temperatures and circulate the air.
• Put fans in each room.
• Replace your air filter routinely.

Start Composting

While composting is not necessarily energy efficient it is environmentally friendly and an easy thing to do if you’d like to ‘Go Green’ so we thought we’d include it.

It’s not uncommon to think that those who compost also garden. That’s the whole point to composting right? It helps to grow fruits, veggies, and other plants. While it does provide great nutrients for gardening there are other positive aspects of composting. It is easy to do and helps the environment more than you may think.

When organic matter decomposes in a landfill it releases methane gas which very bad for the environment. However, if the same matter is composed it releases carbon dioxide, which is less harmful. In fact, methane is 25 times worse than carbon dioxide. According to the EPA, the organic matter we throw away in landfills accounts for about 14% of the United States’ methane emissions.

According to the EPA, Americans produce 245 million tons of trash per year. Yes, we wrote the number correctly, and it’s huge! We can all be more proactive at reducing the amount of trash we generate through composting! So, what can you add to your compost pile? Many products can be added to compost piles including peels, shells, leftovers, yard clippings, paper, even cardboard boxes that normally account for about 28% of our trash. 

Composting Tips

• Get a travel bin/container for your compost material. This is the bin that will stay in the kitchen where you will add organic waste that will eventually end up in your compost pile outside. Keep in mind, this can be anything, there’s no need to go out and buy something new.
• Make sure the travel bin/container has a lid, this will help keep the smells down while inside.
• Grab some compostable bin liners to keep things a bit cleaner.
• Newspaper and cardboard boxes can go into your compost as well!

Put Your Power Strips to Good Use

Let’s talk about ‘vampire power’ also known as standby electrical power. These are pesky little devices that while in small amounts, they consistently use power. These are things we all have, such as: phone chargers, cable boxes, coffee makers, microwaves, garage door openers, printers, and more. Although they are not always being used, they are still using energy to stay powered.

We understand how impractical it would to spend your days plugging and unplugging everything that uses power throughout the day. Good news… power strips are a great solution for this. Multiple items can be plugged into one power strip. Then when you’re not using any of the items plugged into it, simply flip the power strip switch. This solution will most likely not cost you a thing, because there’s probably already one or two lying around your home. If not, they are fairly cheap.

Learn to Be Water and Energy Efficient

Okay, this topic is more about you and your family than it is about your house. But it does involve things that you already have in your home and how to use them more energy efficiently. Plus, it is the easiest and cheapest change on this list. Developing environmentally friendly habits and how to use your appliances in a more energy efficient way can make a huge difference for the environment and your bills. 

Environmentally Friendly & Energy Efficient Tips

• Wash your clothes with cold water and air dry them. This uses much less power, and is much gentler on your clothes! 
• Hand wash your dishes and dry them with a reusable towel instead of a paper towel. Washing dishes by hand reduces the amount of water used by a dishwasher significantly. Tag team it with someone and dishes will be done in a flash, one person washes and one person dries.
• Replacing your incandescent and fluorescent bulbs with LED lighting is another easy switch. They last longer and use less power, therefore playing an important role in reducing greenhouse emissions.
• Another very simple way to save on energy is to close the air vent on rooms that are not being used at your home. This would include guest rooms, bathrooms, etc that don’t need to be cool all the time.
• Do not let the water run while you are brushing your teeth.
• Turn off lights and TVs when you are not in the room.

Start with an Energy Efficient Home

Would you like to skip the home improvement part of creating an energy efficient home? Click here to read our article on Natural Gas Communities in Winter Garden. These communities are paving the way to more energy efficient neighborhoods in Winter Garden. Many builders are building 100% Energy Star rated homes. There are additional things that you can do to be more environmentally friendly, but an energy efficient home is a good start!

Erica Diaz Team – Go Green! Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

We only have one Earth and it’s our responsibility to preserve it. All eco-friendly changes make a big impact on our environment. If you have a home that is not so energy efficient there are easy fixes that can help you make it better.

If you live in Winter Garden or are thinking of moving here, the Erica Diaz Team can help you find an energy efficient home so contact us today!