Home Upgrade Ideas That Will Lower Your Energy Bills

You may often stop yourself from buying new appliances or indulging in house repairs and renovations in fear of rising energy bills. But regular home upgrades are not just necessary but advantageous to your monthly budget.

Why upgrading is necessary?

Upgrading your furnaces, heating and cooling systems, water and other utility systems from time to time actually helps you save a lot of money that is otherwise getting wasted due to faulty or old devices. These systems, if not repaired or replaced in time are in fact causing your home more damage than benefit.

Environment protection

Switching to newer systems and appliances is beneficial for your home and your monthly bills because recent technologies and machines strive to be eco-friendly and reduce as much as possible, the impact of use on the environment.

Choosing eco-friendly systems is often very rewarding in terms of discounts and rebates too. As a result, home upgrades can easily contribute to lowering of your monthly energy bills.

Home upgrade options

There are various projects you can take up if you are planning to make big changes to your home in order to reduce energy bills.

Some of these are quick, easy fixes while some may require elaborate investment. Here are some ideas you can pick from to make the most of your utilities.

1. Insulate your walls and attics

Most American homes lose a lot of energy to inadequate insulation and you do not even realize it. This greatly increases your monthly bills as your HVAC systems have to work overtime. By properly insulating crawl spaces, attics and walls, you will be able to save a lot of energy.

You can hire a professional auditing company to conduct an energy audit of your house. This will give you the accurate R-value and you will know exactly how much insulation your home needs.

2. Seal the ducts

About 20 to 30 percent energy loss takes place in every house due to the ‘leaky duct syndrome’. The spaces around ducts that circulate hot or cool air throughout your house need to be well sealed to prevent any energy wastage.

You can choose to seal these ducts yourself or hire a professional agency to do the job. If you plan to do it yourself, you will find many How-To videos online for the same.

3. Maintain your HVAC system

Regular maintenance of your furnace or air conditioner and timely replacement of parts that are giving trouble keeps your devices from having to overwork to control your indoor temperature. Dirty filters slow down air flow, so change the air filter every three months.

4. Buy a new refrigerator

If you are thinking of an upgrade for your appliances, make sure that your refrigerator is at the top of the list. Refrigerators consume way more electricity than dishwashers, stoves or washing machines.

You can maintain your refrigerator by regularly cleaning coils and keeping the freezer full but if your refrigerator is more than ten years old, get a newer, energy efficient model.