When you live in an older home, you often have to deal with a less efficient structure because of its age and the lack of modern technology. But just because your older home starts out inefficient doesn’t mean it has to end that way. In fact, you can improve the efficiency of your old home in a variety of ways to make sure that it is giving you what you need without having to overspend on energy bills.
Replace Your Light Bulbs
This is such a small thing but it can actually make a huge difference in the efficiency and sustainability of your house. Changing your light bulbs will increase the efficiency of your home and make your electric bills a little lower. In the past several years many kinds of light bulbs have been created that are far more efficient than older bulbs. These bulbs also put out less heat which makes them safer to handle and change out when you need to.
Get Rid of Old Appliances
If your home is old, there is a good chance that the appliances are pretty old as well. Replacing your old appliances can make your kitchen more energy efficient. New appliances are designed to be more efficient and to have a better environmental impact. If you haven’t replaced your old appliances in several years it may be time to check in on the options that are available now to increase efficiency.
Add Insulation
Old homes tend to be drafty and in many cases their insulation is aging or insufficient. It is important that you take time to properly insulate your older home so you can increase its efficiency. When an older home is poorly insulated it is difficult to maintain the temperature which means energy and money will be wasted. But when you insulate you can help your home to be more comfortable and more efficient. You should insulate the attic and also be sure to seal around windows and doors so air cannot escape and to improve your overall efficiency.
An old home comes with a ton of charm but one of the downsides can be a lack of efficiency. If you take the time to increase the efficiency of your older home, you can have all the benefits of the old design without the downfalls. That means that you can enjoy your home and enjoy lower energy bills.
Check out this article on what every homeowner should do to contribute to sustainability!
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H&H Home Builders have constructed Energy Star Compliant homes since we burst onto the building landscape in 1995 as ‘North Liberty’s Premier Builder’. Since then, Energy Star Guidelines have evolved into what we consider today as the pinnacle of efficiency and we, as builders of ‘green’ homes, have kept pace with those guidelines and have adapted them into each home that we build. H&H Home Builders will build you what is known today as a ‘green’ home, but what has always been lesser known as a ‘sustainable’ home. Sustainable homes are quality built so that they last not just decades, but are built to maintain value, encouraging pride of ownership for generations to come. An H&H ‘green’ Home uses raw materials in a responsible way, using fewer resources, resulting in the use of less energy.