Eco-friendly home improvements have become more prevalent with many businesses adopting different types of renewable energy or taking smaller steps to make their home sustainable.
The choice of giving your home a minor uplift or a major change is up to you – and of course your budget. You could switch your lights to LED or upgrade your sewage treatment plant, there are many different options available. However, by going green, you take a big step in doing your part for the environment.
By doing your bit for the environment, you also ensure a better future for your family making sustainable upgrades an important idea to consider.
With this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of big and small sustainable home improvements that every homeowner can benefit from.
Let’s take a look!
Major Sustainable Upgrades
Major sustainable upgrades can greatly boost the value of your home and while some of them may require a considerably large initial investment, you’ll reap the benefits several years down the line.
1. Solar Panels
With the cost of solar panels dropping majorly over the past few years, it has now become a great source of renewable energy for every home. There are many solar panel benefits, including saving money on energy bills, making a potential profit, increasing the value of your home and reducing your carbon emissions. While the price tag for the same is still a considerable amount, many incentives can help you install this eco-friendly upgrade in your home.
Investing in solar energy benefits the environment and can increase your home’s value in the long run. It’s essential to research and compares quotes from different solar providers for advice and the cost of solar panels for your home. Additionally, with the improvement in the design, you don’t have to stick with the traditional-looking ones. Based on the type of panel you get, you can install it in a more convenient space.
2. Sewage Treatment Plant
The waste produced from homes may include components that can prove to be toxic to the environment. When this waste is released outside, it can affect the ecosystem and may also prove harmful to us.
By installing a sewage treatment system, this waste can be easily taken care of to produce a more eco-friendly effluent. Additionally, with noise control solutions for sewage treatment plants, you don’t have to deal with loud noises and vibrations from the plant anymore.
3. Outdoor Solar Lights
If you’re looking to do away with wires and extension cords, installing outdoor solar lights is the perfect solution. From solar string lights to floodlights, you can easily find an alternative to whatever type of lighting you’re looking for.
Additionally, if your interiors get enough natural light from the outdoors, you can even install these lights in your home.
Minor Sustainable Upgrades
For those who want to start living sustainably but with smaller steps, we’ve listed a few solutions that can help you incorporate sustainability in your home. These include –
4. Use Recycled Or Repurposed Materials
The phrase reduce, reuse, recycle is something we’ve all heard. For your home improvement project, consider implementing this by using recycled or repurposed materials.
Whether it is for some part of renovation like new flooring or simply installing new cabinets, make sure to use recycled materials wherever possible. Additionally, with the trend of upcycling your existing furniture pieces, you can change their look without having to completely switch your furniture.
5. Use Energy Star Appliances And Products
Most products we use every day in our home come in eco-friendly alternatives and if you’re looking to save money in the long run, energy star appliances are something you should consider.
CFL or LED bulbs, energy-efficient refrigerators and more – there are several products that you can upgrade with a more energy-efficient alternative. This can greatly help you save on your energy bills with obvious results.
6. Improve home efficiency with a water softener
Every day, we heat the water used in our homes for heating, dishwashers, washing machines, showers and baths, kettles and for other purposes. As a result, if you reside in a location with hard water, limescale is a typical problem caused by the heating and cooling process. Limescale build-up may dramatically reduce the efficiency of appliances and heating systems since it takes more energy to heat the water. For instance, limescale build-up of just 1.6mm in a heating system can cause a 12% drop in efficiency. You can overcome this by removing the minerals that cause limescale and enhance the efficiency with the installation of a non-electric water softener, making your home greener and saving you money.
7. Insulate Your Home
A lack of insulation means heat can easily escape your home. Additionally, if your walls have gaps or cavities, it can affect your home’s temperature without you even realising it.
If you’re not keen on completely insulating your walls, you might want to consider insulating materials as they’re easy to use and you can fill the gaps yourself.
To Sum Up…
Sustainable home improvements benefit every household and with so many different options or methods available, every owner can find something that fits their budget.
While we’ve listed out only a few of the different home improvements you could consider, there are many more options that you can think about. With the strong movement toward adopting sustainable means of living, everyone needs to make a conscious effort to live better and what better place to start this than in your own home.
By using any of these techniques, you can start living a more eco-friendly life!
I would love to live more eco-friendly. We live in a flat so solar panels are not an option but we do have solar lights on our balcony and my husband wants to use reclaimed wood to build some planters in the future.
Solar panels are great love my solar lights too