How Green is your Home?

By: Anna Barrington
Submitted: 2010-01-26 17:06:03
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You would need to have been living on Mars if you had not heard of global warming and the negative effect we are having on our environment.  As a result many people have become leaders in green living and spend much of their day devoted to ensuring they are reducing their carbon footprint.  Whilst not all of us are this devoted there are a number of things that we can do to make our homes more environmentally friendly which can often save us money as well.  Here we have listed some top tips for you to try.  

1.  When you replace light bulbs go for the energy efficient variety.  These use a different system to produce the light, using a fraction of the energy used by traditional bulbs and they also last up to twelve times longer.  Lighting is estimated to make up between 10 and 15% of your energy bills so there is a large saving to be made here.

2.  Up to a third of the clean drinking water we use in our households is flushed down the toilet every day.  On average each flush uses eight litres of water.  You can easily fit a save-a-flush bag into your toilet cistern which will reduce water usage by approximately one litre for each flush.  Often your local water company will provide these so it need not cost you a penny to fit.

3.  When replacing appliances look out for their energy efficiency ratings.  Do some research online to see how each appliance compares with each other.  Ask your plumber to use fittings with energy efficiency in mind, these range from baths that retain heat to taps that regulate water flow.

4.  On a larger scale you could invest in a rain water harvesting system.  This uses rainwater to flush toilets and use in the garden, saving your fresh drinking water uses to the minimum.  This helps your pocket and the environment.

5.  There is ongoing debate about how long a solar panel will take to pay for themselves through savings in energy bills but an often quoted number is a decade.  While this sounds like a long time the savings to the environment by using sustainable energy is substantial and with ongoing energy prices rises, the return may well be a lot quicker.

6.  Contact your local authority to see if there are any grants or subsidies available for energy saving home improvements.  These range from help with replacing old windows to insulation and solar panels.

7.  When replacing or upgrading your heating system, research some environmentally friendly alternatives.  For example Eco Heat Pumps work through a deep borehole close to your property and work by converting a small amount of heat in a large area to a greater amount of heat in a smaller area.  Heating your water and under floor heating in this way will save you substantial amounts of money on your energy bills.

8.  Are you looking to build a house or purchase a new one?  Put at the top of your wish list a green eco home.  If you are building one yourself include all our top tips in the initial planning stages and use as many local suppliers as possible.  You may well be lucky and find one already built and utilising all these energy saving systems.

Article source: Expert Articles