Five Ways To Make Your Home More Green

By: Doug Chapman from Homedaddys.com

Now that Spring is nearly upon us in Texas (and Ohio), I constantly try to think of ways for people to become more and more green as it pertains to their homes. This is a fad that started many years ago, and I’m personally glad that it has been able to pass the test of time.

I have had many conversations with people on the value of making your home and investment a ‘greener’ one.  Many people had different opinions, but at the end of the day when it is said that making small changes around the house to be more ‘green’ can save you money, it seems to me that is a no-brainer. I’m not going to be the advocate of shoving ‘green’ aspects down your throat, but there have been many ideas brought to my attention that I wasn’t aware of before I got into real estate investing.

Here are some ways to help make your home ‘greener’ and ultimately, and possibly more importantly, save you a ton of money throughout the year on your electric and energy bills.

Install High-Efficiency Furnace to Replace Old Furnace

Many furnaces that are over 20 years old are near the end of its usability and it probably wastes in the range of 30-35 percent of the fuel it uses. A good replacement for your old furnace is a condensing furnace, which has an annual efficiency of 90 percent. If you have a furnace that you bought or replaced in the past 20 years, you are probably already saving money and didn’t even know it. That being said, I would still suggest contacting your serviceman to find out the annual fuel utilization efficiency to help determine the status of your newer furnace. Regardless of the replacement, you will save a ton of money on your heating bill.

Improve Your Water Heater

This is a very simple way to go about making your home ‘greener’, and it will go a long way in the process. Make sure you install an insulated jacket around the hot water heater, which includes insulating the pipes around the heater. You should definitely turn the temperature on the water heater to the warm setting of 120 degrees. Also, a good idea would be to use low-flow fixtures, especially in the bathrooms and kitchen. Many people install loops and use a small pump to help the process of the hot water to the fixtures, and these are used to turn off when the hot water reaches the fixtures.

Use Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs)

Incandescent light bulbs are a thing of the past, so leave those ones at the local market or local hardware store. A good way to help your home become ‘greener’ is to upgrade to compact fluorescent light bulbs, also known as CFLs. Typical CFLs can last up to 10,000 hours compared to that of 1,000 hours to most 100-watt incandescent bulbs. This investment will work over the long haul because even though it may be cheaper to buy the incandescent bulbs compared to the CFLs, you will be replacing them more often and the amount of electricity you will use for the CFLs pales in comparison.

Program Thermostats

This seems so obvious, but make sure to program your thermostat when you are out of the house or throughout the night. A good gauge for your thermostat would be in the range of 77-78 degrees in the summer and 62-63 degrees in the winter. Your bills will become significantly lower and you will hardly notice the difference. The temperature will not vary as much as you may think, and you will be able to benefit greatly from this small change in your daily routine.

Author: Doug Chapman is a staff writer for Homedaddy’s stay at home dad blog.  He specializes in diapers and sippy cups, but is a successful real estate investor on the side.