Over the past few years, owning a house has become more expensive than ever. Bills, repairs, and maintenance are just some of the expenses you could have a rough time paying off. With energy bills seemingly getting even worse in the coming year, everybody is looking for ways to save up money. That’s where efficiency comes in! From weather strips all the way to changing the energy source, we will cover five home efficiency tips for 2021.
Top Five Home Efficiency Tips for 2021
Weather Strips
One of the easiest things you can do to conserve heat and energy is to use weather stripping. It’s a simple rubber guide that you can mount onto door bottoms. The way it works is pretty simple — whenever the door is shut, it creates an air seal, preventing cold from entering your house. Just pop it onto the bottom of the door, and you are good to go! You can do a similar thing to your windows using caulk — a flexible material that you can install using disposable cartridges.
Programmable Thermostat
By installing a smart thermostat, you have complete control over your temperature. With weekly and nightly scheduling, it can be set up so there’s just as much heating and cooling needed. Not only that but some high-end thermostats can even indicate when to replace air filters or even when to give your overall system a check. The ease of use and the average to low price make this little piece of tech one of the best ways to save energy.
Light Bulbs
It’s a no brainer that some old light bulbs might be the reason your power bill is sky-high. The classic incandescent bulbs are known to use excessive amounts of electricity. Combine this with unreliability and they are more of a nuisance than anything. Switching to light-emitting diodes and fluorescent lights — as they use 20–80% less energy — will help you slash that energy bill.
Bathroom Upgrades
It is a well-known fact that bathrooms are the biggest culprit when it comes to water wasting. Toilets and shower heads use almost 60% of the total water consumed in homes while needing much less to work properly.
It also ties up to energy costs, as most of the time you need water to be heated by the HVAC system before you can use it to take a shower. Upgrading to low flow shower heads and toilets can flush the total water usage by almost 12,000 gallons of water per year. That’s a huge reduction when you think about it!
Going Solar
Finally, switching to a cleaner, cheaper source of energy might be just the deal you are looking for. Gone are the days when you would need to sell an arm to afford solar power. The fact is that the average solar installation price has been going down for the past few years. More and more households are making the transition, meaning that cheaper options and special offers are more common than ever.
The results? An energy bill reduced by more than half, or in some cases, slashed entirely. You can also combine this system with a programmable thermostat to reduce the costs even more. The flexibility and day-to-day functionality make going solar more than a simple fad.
The Bottom Line
Overall, research is the way to go when it comes to cost reductions. There are a lot of great online resources and communities that specialize in home efficiency. While some might opt-in for the solar solution there might be others that stick to the other DIY simple tips. As the next year creeps around the corner, it seems like a perfect time to try some of the five home efficiency tips for 2021. Listen to your house and choose what’s best for it!
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