Creating an Eco-Friendly Home

Today we want to live in a way that’s less harmful on the planet.

Green living, aka eco-friendly living is therefore no longer a trend – its a priority and a necessity.

All over the world, homeowners are looking for ways to make their homes more environmentally friendly for ethical reasons and also financially. Here are six tips to get you started if you are one of them.

Before we talk tips, some of the beneficial outcomes of eco-friendly homes include:

• Lower energy bills
• Increased property value
• Greater comfort and better health
• Better for the environment

There are many more reasons, like moral or social responsibility— knowing you’re future-proofing the home and thus paying it forward for the next owners.

Eco-Friendly Home Tips

So what can you do – that will make your home more environmentally friendly?

Replace the Window

Many people start by replacing their windows when improving their homes to become more eco-friendly.

Replacing old windows with energy-efficient windows can reduce heat loss from the home by up to 25%, resulting in less energy needed to heat the house. This not only saves the environment, but it also saves money. For new homes double or triple glazing in colder climates are regulation.

Older properties can be retro-fitted with double glazed units. You can replace all the windows in one sitting or choose to prioritize windows with the aim of getting all the single glazed units retro-fitted over time as finances allow.

Use Sustainable Materials

If you create your house from scratch or add more to your existing home, try to source and use ethical, sustainable materials.

Materials that are gaining popularity in the sustainability world are bamboo for its quick growth and strength and hemp for its incredible versatility (there’s even a whole house made out of hemp). Using these sustainable materials supports industries pioneering in creating a more eco-friendly world.

Create an Entire Eco-Friendly Home

Maybe you’ve watched a few documentaries and decided that environmentalism is incredibly important. You’d be right; it is a pressing issue, but what does that mean for your home?

For most dedicated environmentalists, this means building a house that is as sustainable as possible, and surprisingly, this is not only being done all over the world, but it’s also pretty affordable.

Building a sustainable home can actually cost a lot less than building a regular home. There are many different styles of sustainable housing, from earth ships to earth-bag houses to cob, straw bale, and tiny homes made from repurposed shipping containers.

What will work for you depends on your lifestyle and finances, so research properly.

How to Finance Your Eco-Friendly Home Conversion

How exactly do you finance all these home conversions, though? Installing new windows and solar panels isn’t the cheapest endeavour, and finances can put many homeowners off.

Install a Smart Meter

A smart meter helps you control your energy, get more accurate bills, and save money. It sends daily meter readings to your energy supplier, meaning you get more accurate bills. Still, it also means you can more accurately track your energy usage and change your habits accordingly.

Most electricity providers require smart meters today and the incentive to do it is an app you can use to see your usage hourly.

Install Solar Panels

Installing solar panels is a big step and financial commitment. However, they are one of the most environmentally friendly ways to create electricity and can save you a lot of money in the long run.

Investing in good quality solar panels and, more importantly, a quality battery could potentially mean you can create and store all the electricity you need. Any excess energy you harvest from the sun, you can actually sell back to the grid for others to use and make more money that way.

Summing Up

Hopefully, this has given you some ideas on how to improve your home or encouraged you to do so. Climate change and global warming are increasingly important issues, and making small changes does add up to a bigger effect overall.

Additionally in many countries, there are tax breaks, grants, or rebates for installing eco-friendly features. These incentives can significantly reduce the upfront costs of making sustainable upgrades.