1. Tankless water heater

One of the easiest and least expensive upgrades you can make to take your home in an eco-friendly direction is buying a new water heater, especially if it hasn’t been changed in the last decade. Water heating is responsible for 16% of a typical home’s energy costs and swapping out an old, inefficient water heater, for a tankless version could cost a couple thousand dollars, and will save you money every month. It will also be an attractive selling point for your home.

2. Upgraded windows

If your home has drafty windows, they are the next feature that you want to turn to for an energy-efficient upgrade. The cost of windows will depend on the size of your home and the quality that you go for, but there is no doubt that this is likely worth your investment.

The Department of Energy says heat gain and loss through older windows is responsible for 25 to 30% of energy usage for heating and cooling. According to Consumer Reports, Energy Star-certified windows can lower your home’s energy bills by up to 15%, and that translates to attractive savings for a potential buyer.

3. Solar panels

Solar panels can save you money, but not right away, so they may not have the best ROI if you are planning to sell soon. That’s because installing solar panels have major upfront costs. The good news is that homes with solar energy systems typically garner higher selling prices than homes with other types of systems.

One study found that homebuyers were willing to pay a premium of $15,000, and, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, homes that feature solar panels may also sell faster than homes that derive their energy from fossil fuels.

However, determining the ROI of installing solar is complicated. According to Energy Informative, a five-kilowatt system — the average size of a system in the United States — can cost around $20,000. But the exact size of the system you’ll need will depend on how big your home is and how much power it uses.

Another consideration is your home’s location, as there may be state rebates (such as in California, Arizona, and Colorado), in addition to federal tax credits. Evaluate the number of years that you intend to stay in your home, and compare the average monthly savings of using solar with how much of the system you’ll have paid off by your projected moving day.

With one or more of these strategies in mind, you will be well on your way to greening your home to make it more attractive to potential buyers.

The post How an Eco-friendly Home can Boost ROI When Selling? first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

But even if nothing in your home breaks down and loses its good looks, there is still one dominant issue. Most of it requires a constant supply of power to function. The demand for electricity alone is enough to raise your bills so much that the home budget will be significantly lowered. Fortunately, there are some tips and tricks to keeping your home budget intact, including updating your HVAC systems, insulating your walls and the attic, mounting solar panels, switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, and getting tankless water heater. Explore the tips below and see for yourself how much your bills improve.

1. Modernize Your HVAC Systems

The main culprit to your monthly bills is likely your HVAC system, which makes up half of the monthly payments that you have to make to your electric company. Luckily, there are a couple of things that you can do to save a lot on these bills.

The first thing that you should do is to change your old, inefficient systems for new ones. Fortunately, there are still a lot of options for you to choose from. Consider a heat pump as an alternative. This system will work by pulling heat from the air and transferring it to the air conditioner to release it as cool air. As such, you can save a lot on your bills by using this system. Regular heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, and air-source heat pumps work in different ways and come with certain advantages and disadvantages, but they all allow for energy efficiency and thus lower bills.

Another method that you can use is to change your floor heating for a more modern iteration. Cutting-edge ones like the hydronic radiant floor heating system might be complicated and expensive to install. However, they can effectively replace all other forms of warming up your home and still offer a big increase in energy efficiency over the other systems.

2. Improve Your Insulation

It is also important for you to improve the insulation of your home. This way, you will be able to keep your HVAC systems running at their reduced settings and avoid drafts. As such, you will be able to save a lot on your heating bills.

You should know that two areas need insulation the most: in the attic and the walls. The first is especially important because it will keep the roof insulated and prevent unwanted moisture from entering the house. On the other hand, the walls will keep the warmth inside during winter and block excess heat during summer.

Some materials are better than others when it comes to insulating homes. The best are fiberglass blankets, foam boards, polyurethane panels, loose-fill insulation, blown-in fiberglass insulation, and wool insulation. You can use whichever option you prefer for your home, depending on your budget and what type of insulation is most available in your area.

3. Maximize Your Solar Panel Usage

You can also benefit from solar panels if you decide to mount them on top of your house. Solar panels are great for lowering your monthly bills because they harness the power of the sun to supply your household with electricity. It is also possible for you to choose them because they are getting cheaper over time. But before picking them, make sure that they can generate enough power for your household. Otherwise, they might not be worth the investment.

4. Opt for LED Lighting

LED lighting is also excellent for saving on your energy bills because of its energy efficiency. It can last up to 20 years or more without getting damaged or losing its capacity while consuming significantly less energy than traditional light bulbs. The latter uses around 60% less energy than incandescent bulbs while emitting less than half of its light. If you think about it, switching to LED lights has the potential of lowering your monthly bills by $5 or $10 every month or so.

5. Install a Tankless Water Heater

Finally, you should also consider buying a tankless water heater. This way, you will avoid paying for the energy necessary to heat it beforehand in the tank. Since these heating units are designed to run on demand, they work much like the HVAC systems and thus use up a lot of energy. But unlike the latter ones, tankless water heaters can be adjusted according to your needs. It is important to know that they tend to be expensive, but you can install them yourself if you are tech-savvy enough.

Conclusion

After reading this article, you should know more about energy efficiency and how to maximize your savings on energy bills. The tips and tricks included here are sure to help you save a lot of money in the long run. All you need to do now is to pick the ones that work best for your home and start saving. So, if you have been looking for ways to save money on your electric bills, there is no better time to start than now.

As you start implementing the ideas given in this article, you will soon experience a significant difference in your monthly electricity bills. But remember that it is not enough for you just to do it once. You need to install the best equipment, upgrade your insulation, and change your light bulbs to achieve complete energy efficiency in your home.

The post 5 Tips for an Energy-Efficient Home first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.