Energy-efficient Ways to Improve Your Home’s Insulation

We live in a world where even small energy decisions we make in our everyday lives can have a significant impact on our environment. For instance, forgetting to plug off the appliances or using outdated electrical gadgets can increase your power consumption and increase your carbon footprint. It may seem small initially, but even little things can have a detrimental impact on our environment. While there are plenty of ways to reduce your environmental impact, insulation is a great place to start. Unfortunately, it is the most overlooked section of your home. 

According to Terry’s Fabric, the right window treatment can reduce your carbon footprint by allowing adequate sunlight in your rooms, keeping them well-lit in the daytime and not to mention warm in winter. At the same time, you need blackout blinds or window shutters that can keep the light out in summer so that your living room stays cool. 

Your home is the best place to go green. Small changes in your lifestyle and the appliances you use every day can make your environment friendly. Aside from the environmental benefits, these changes offer a variety of personal benefits, such as low electricity bills and improved insulation (to name a few). If you live in a place that receives freezing temperatures, these tips will help you keep your living rooms warm. We have compiled a list of energy-efficient ways to keep your rooms warm in winter and cool in summer. This will reduce your home’s energy consumption, thus reducing your electricity bills and the environmental impact. Let’s take a look:

Using the Right Curtains and Blinds can help with saving on energy

As mentioned earlier, blackout blinds are very effective for your windows. They are made of a high-quality and tightly-woven fabric that does an excellent job of improving insulation in your rooms. They make the best addition to your living room windows, although more and more people are considering blinds for bedrooms and kitchens too. Blinds are perfect for places where the temperature remains high. 

By keeping the lights out, blackout shutters will keep the temperature in your home cool and pleasant. They also improve privacy in homes. At the same time, blackout blinds can keep your rooms warm in winter, thus retaining a significant percentage of heat and reducing your electricity bills eventually. If you are thinking of ways to contribute to the environment by making your home more eco-friendly, start with your curtains. Switch to the blackout blinds or shutters for improved insulation in all seasons.

Remove the Curtains

A considerable amount of oil and gas is used to power your home. While we can’t change the electricity generation process, we can make smart choices to reduce our energy consumption. If each household takes the initiative to reduce their power consumption, we can conserve gas, oil, and other finite resources. While installing blackout blinds can certainly help make your home more sustainable, it blocks the sunlight completely. With blinds and shutters, your home will remain deprived of natural sunlight. This means you will need to keep the artificial lights on the whole day. Not only that, but you can’t warm the air in your room by keeping the lights out. This will eventually increase your power consumption, as you may have to use electric heaters to keep your room temperature normal. The best thing you can do here is open your curtains in the daytime to let sunlight in, and shut them at night. This will work as the best form of insulation for your home. Additionally, you should seal every gap in the doors, windows, and rooms to ensure that the air doesn’t leak outside. As mentioned earlier, you should use the right curtains for your home. Heavier drapes are quite effective in keeping the warm air in and the hot air out.

Use Smart Appliances

Smart appliances have become quite popular, and for good reasons. HVAC appliances and other smart electronic devices are designed to be controlled by a remote or mobile app. Some devices come equipped with modern features that enable people to set a timer for the device to turn on/off automatically. You can also establish an ideal temperature for your living rooms and bedrooms. 

The device will detect the temperature and stop automatically. It’s a great way to save money on electricity bills and your carbon footprint. Plus, it offers you the convenience of starting and shutting your room heaters and air conditioners anytime and anywhere. For example, you could start the heater 15-2- minutes before arriving home. The best part is that you can track these devices from your mobile. If you are not sure whether you shut the electrical appliance before leaving home, you can check its status on your mobile and close it with a single tap of a button. This way, you will pay for the heaters, ACs, boilers, and other electrical devices when you need them. 

Start by replacing the incandescent lights with LEDs. These are long-lasting and energy-efficient alternatives to traditional lights.

Move Your Furniture Away from the Radiator

Do not bring your sofa or any piece of furniture close to the radiator. You are simply making it harder for the heater to heat your room by blocking the way. Likewise, do not place the radiator near curtains, clothes, or any obstacle that can absorb the heat and prevent the hot air from warming your home. Ideally, you should rely on the natural source of heat, such as the sunlight, but eventually, everyone needs a radiator to keep the temperature warm. When you are using it, make sure you make the best of the heat by keeping your rooms de-cluttered and placing the radiator away from the furniture and other objects. 

Improve Insulation

Do you know 25% of the heat in your home gets lost through the walls and roof? As a result, your radiator and other electrical appliances have to work harder to keep your home warm. This doesn’t only raise your energy bills but your environmental impact too. You should install an insulation loft to prevent heat loss through the roof. The insulation loft can last up to 40 years. If you can reach the loft easily, you can install it yourself. The 25cm of loft on your roof can save a considerable amount of energy. Similarly, around one-third of the heat is lost through your walls, so installing cavity insulation on your walls makes sense. Before you install insulation lofts, check with your electricity supplier to know if they have any scheme that offers free or cheap insulation. Remember that poor insulation is the leading cause of high electricity bills. Schedule a home inspection and get your insulation checked. The contractors will install an insulation loft.

Upgrade Your Heating and Cooling Appliances

Nothing exhausts the power in your home more than the old and outdated electrical appliances. A 10-year-old refrigerator or a window AC that you haven’t replaced for five years needs a lot of energy to run. If you have been receiving high electricity bills, check the status of your electrical appliances. See how old they are and whether they need repair and replacements. Your electrical devices should be in working order. 

As a general rule, you should replace your heater or any large electrical appliances with a new one every 10-15 years. Modern devices are made to consume less power and operate more efficiently, thus saving you a lot of money on energy. They heat your room faster than older heaters and keep it warm for several hours. If that’s too expensive, you should at least have them inspected once every year to ensure they are in working condition. Even small problems in your AC, such as dust accumulated in the filter, can affect its efficiency. 

Switch to Solar Panels

If you have the budget for solar panels, it is a great investment. With the growing concern around the environmental impact of residential and commercial buildings, people are turning to these energy-efficient alternatives. A solar panel uses sunlight to power your home’s electrical appliances. You can use an electrical grid as a supplement, but that won’t be necessary. 

Solar panels store excess sunlight in their batteries to power your home at night. This investment will pay for itself over the course of a few years. Solar panels cut down your energy bills by a significant amount, saving you a lot on electricity. It’s also an excellent way to go green. A small upfront investment can save you thousands of dollars on your energy bills in the long run. Plus, with solar panels powering your electrical appliances, you don’t have to rely on your electricity supplier.

Bottom Line

Simple steps, like adding the right curtains or removing them, can play a big role in improving your home’s insulation and keeping it warm. A fireplace also serves as a natural heater that adds an aesthetic value to your space while keeping it warm in winter. Consider the above changes to reduce your carbon footprint and electricity bills.