Are you paying hundreds of dollars in electricity bills every month despite using the latest appliances? Does your heating/cooling system work hard to maintain the desired temperature? If so, then you might be in for a bigger problem.
The overall architecture and materials used in a property determine its thermal efficiency. Not only that but the facing of your house relative to the sun can also have a huge influence on your average room temperature.
While rebuilding your house from the ground up may seem unreasonable and impractical, here’s what you can do instead to make your home more energy-efficient so that you don’t have to deal with high energy bills every quarter.
#1 Get Double/Triple-Glazed Windows
A single-glazed window isn’t good enough at keeping the sun out. During summers, it lets the heat in, putting a lot of strain on your cooling unit. During winters, it allows the heat to escape, which means your heating unit will have to work harder and longer to keep the home warm and comfortable.
Double-glazed windows have two glasses put together but separated by air. This air gap acts as an insulator and keeps the heat from transferring to the other side.
#2 Carpet Your Floors
Carpets aren’t just for aesthetics. They absorb dust particles in the air and protect you from the cold. However, it is important to choose carpet fiber with excellent insulating properties. You can go with wool, jute, cork, seagrass, sisal, and mountain grass as a fabric of choice.
Placing a carpet in your living room, bedroom and stairs is a great way to ensure warmth and comfort in your home.
#3 Re-evaluate your energy provider
You might be paying more towards your energy bills than you should, especially if you have been using the same energy provider and haven’t compared prices in a long time.
If there are multiple energy providers operating in your region, you can compare their services and prices online and find the best energy provider to save money during every billing cycle.
In order to stay competitive, energy providers in Australia revise their rates frequently and offer attractive discounts for new users. So, it’s worth a shot.
#4 Use Blinds and Shutters
Curtains don’t really do a great job of insulating your interiors. Replace the curtains on your external windows with blinds and shutters. If you already have double-glazed windows, putting on blinds or shutters from Bumble Bee Blinds will significantly improve your building’s thermal efficiency.
Just like curtains, you can buy custom blinds and shutters as well. They can last for decades and are easy to install and maintain. Plus, you can use them to regulate the amount of natural light entering your room or cut it out completely.
If you want to dress your windows for aesthetics, you can go with designer shutters or stylish wood blinds that offer both form and function.
#5 Roof Insulation
Most homeowners often ignore the fact that their roof is the first point of contact with the external environment, and therefore, it should be insulated first thing among others to improve thermal efficiency. Get in touch with a local roofing contractor and discuss various re-roofing options that can help meet your objectives.
Takeaway
With increasing energy prices and global environmental crises, minimizing energy consumption is the need of the hour. Making your home energy efficient is the first step to reducing your carbon footprint. Furthermore, you can switch to 5-star-rated appliances and reduce wastage on an individual level to contribute to the environment in your own little way.
