Eight energy-efficient home design ideas
Utility bills can become a financial burden unless you keep a tight rein on the energy use. On the other hand, in a world where resources are becoming scant, energetic efficiency should become a constant concern for each of us and a must in our children’s education. We can start this in our own home and, to this view, we are below listing eight energy-efficient home design ideas, as found by Investopedia.com.
The first step is installing a cool roof. Such a cool roof design helps to deflect sunlight and decreases the temperature of your roof as a whole, which in turn lowers the temperature in your home. In this case, you can save up to 15 per cent of the energy use by turning to air conditions rarely.
The second of the eight energy-efficient home design ideas is adding a skylight, if the design permits it. Such a skylight improves ventilation, enhances natural lighting, thus reducing dependency on power consuming devices, while it helps keep the room warm over winter. Specialists say a skylight should be no bigger than five percent of the floor area in a room with many windows and no bigger than 15 percent of the floor area in a room with almost no windows.
Relying on window treatments also helps cut back energy related costs. Blinds, shutters and drapes act as a thermal barrier against sun rays and keep cool air inside in summer and heat in winter.
Since we mentioned cool roofs, it is important to note their installation goes hand in hand with the attic insulation. Options are vast and one of them is to use natural wool insulation.
An easy step is to change all the incandescent bulbs in the house and replace them with modern LED bulbs. In the same context, energetic efficiency can be optimized by replacing kitchen appliances with modern technology. For instance, Energy Star washing machines use 50% less water and 30% less energy, which can save about $50 per year, while Energy Star refrigerators are 20% more efficient.
We looked at the high sectors of the house, but we should also glance down. Flooring also helps maintain your home’s temperature and cut energy costs and modern radiant floors warm the place in winter and cool it in summer.
The seventh of the eight energy-efficient home design ideas concerns smart landscaping, namely planting trees around your house, preferably native and low maintenance trees. They can help cut the cooling costs in summer without you being forced to turn to technology.
The last step in the energetic efficiency optimizing strategy is hanging ceiling fans. They use the same amount of energy as a bulb and can push hot air towards the room in winter and to the ceiling in summer. This can help you save around 40 percent on your cooling bill in the summer and about 10 percent on your heating costs in the winter.
