4 Hard And Fast Ways To Make Your Home Greener

With the construction industry said to be one of the biggest offenders when it comes to emissions, it doesn’t come as a surprise to hear that being green is quite a big deal when it comes to the built environment.

At the same time, some of the technologies that new homes are tapping into are hardly manageable in a bid to achieve so-called “quick wins”. In other words, if you are looking to make an immediate difference to your home, you’re not going to be considering the solar panels and ground source heat pumps as a quick fix.

This is the reason behind today’s post. We will now look at some of the quickest ways you can implement green technologies into your home in a bid to live a little cleaner (and cheaper).

It can start with lights

We mentioned that these alterations aren’t going to cost the earth, and this is certainly the case with this first suggestion.

The amount of energy that can be saved through LEDs is eyebrow-raising to say the least, and generally takes minutes to implement. These bulbs will last for over a decade, and unlike a few years ago the costs are completely manageable. If you want to make it into more of a home improvement project, consider buying some Pagazzi lighting and doing it that way.

It might just take a gentle clean of your appliances

Sometimes, it’s just about a bit of spring cleaning. For example, the fridge can be a huge energy leech, yet you can help it use a lot less energy just by giving it a clean. Specifically, if you can get hold of a brush and clean the coils which tend to sit under the appliance, you’ll find that it functions a lot more efficiently.

It’s not just fridges which benefit from such an approach though. Another example focusses around your dryer. If you can find the filter and brush away any debris that has accumulated here, you will once again find that it works a lot better and uses less energy.

On the subject of washing… use cold water

Sure, if you’ve just had a newborn, you’ll probably need to wash their clothes in warm water. However, for most circumstances, cold washes are completely fine. In actual fact this won’t just lower your energy bills, but it should also reduce the risk of stains which can occur if you wash some garments in hot water.

Turn down your water heater

Don’t worry, you’re not going to freeze with this suggestion. Most water heaters have a standard setting, which tends to be in the region of 140º F. We don’t need to tell you that this is really hot, and a waste of energy at the same time.

Instead, try dialing it down. Really, it doesn’t need to be hotter than the warmest you shower in, so this could mean that it’s close to the 100º F mark.