An eco-friendly house or eco-house is a house built or customized such that it utilizes minimum energy and has little to no adverse effects on the environment.
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In this day and age, it has become more important than ever to take active measures to make your house as environmentally friendly as possible to play your part in preserving the environment.
Keep on reading to see some of the steps you can take to achieve this in a very purposeful and low-budget manner.
1. Solar Power
Replacing the bulk of your electricity providers with solar panels is a highly efficient way of going green and making your house more eco-friendly.
This is because you will be saving up on a ton of energy that would otherwise go wasted with regular electricity sources.
Not only will this cut your costs for utilities but installing solar panels will also ensure that you have a steady supply of natural, renewable energy that is not harming the environment.
2. Flashlight
Eco-friendly flashlights are very handy to have around the house in the event of a power outage. These can be solar powered lights or even regular wind-up flashlights.
Most flashlights nowadays come with LED light bulbs that use up significantly less battery power and last for a long period. You can count on these as it lightened up your home even in the darkest of times.
3. Warm Home Lighting
For the rest of your house, it is time to say goodbye to those incandescent bulbs of the bulbs and switch to LED lights and fluorescent lamps.
These are commonly dubbed as ‘energy savers’ for the very reason that they are durable, energy efficient and work significantly better for lighting purposes.
Also, it is recommended that you make the most of the daylight and allow natural light to light up your house during the daytime.
You can keep your blinds open and even install a skylight or two to get the most out of this free energy source.
4. Temperature Control
Regulating the temperature of your house can also go a long way in making your house energy efficient.
You can stay on top of this by installing a programmable thermostat that can regulate the temperature based on the settings you have programmed into it for certain times of the day.
This ensures that there isn’t any loss of heat or cold air from air conditioning, reducing utility bills as well.
5. Fix Those Leaks
Continuing from the previous point, it is important to preserve the cooling or heating in your household. Therefore, it is imperative to fix any leaks or cracks that you might have in your house.
The best part is that these leaks are usually easily traceable and can be closed off using weather stripping etc.
This reduces the amount of energy that your radiator or air conditioner has to produce and consequently waste in the effort of regulating temperature.
6. Replace Old Appliances
Although this is a slightly bigger investment, some old and outdated appliances in your house may be consuming a lot of energy and not performing as well. It is best to replace these items one by one, with Energy Star appliances to become more energy efficient in the long run.
Some electricity providers also facilitate homeowners with these swaps.
7. Conserve Water
Conserving water directly translates to conserving energy, and there are multiples ways to do this. You can have automatic sensors installed in your faucets to avoid wasting water.
Also, you can practice small habits such as turning off the tap while brushing your teeth and using low-flow shower heads, etc. Try to plant such vegetation and flowers in your garden that need less water.
8. Practice Composting
Composting is an extremely healthy practice as it reduces the amount of waste produced by a household. Also, it is a good way of reusing and recycling the compostable waste that would otherwise just go to a landfill.
9. Clean Out Unnecessary Junk
Clearing out some junk from your house or garage will automatically make your house more energy efficient. This is because there is way less energy required to cool or heat those areas of the house. Also, it is best to get rid of old appliances, perhaps that old refrigerator or oven in the garage.
The best thing about this is that it will cost you nothing but a little bit of your time and a little goes a long way in making a difference.
Conclusion
Making your house more eco-friendly is a great initiative and one that needs to be widely recognized, appreciated, and adopted.
All it takes is the initial step, and you are well on your way to preserving and creating a better environment for yourself and the generations to follow.