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With all the hype about going green, you may just think it’s an expensive that just saves a couple of trees. But what if going green didn’t have to cost a fortune? What if going green meant you could actually save money? At first, this may sound like an outlandish idea. After all, when I hear the words “green home” I often mistakenly picture a strangely shaped “house” made out of organic tea-leaves and recycled aluminum cans. But going green isn’t a strange space-age concept and better yet, retrofitting your home can create significant savings.
To retrofit your home, the first thing you should consider is having an energy audit. These experts will look at every aspect of your house and tell you where your energy savings can be improved. If you’re serious about going green, having an energy audit is a very important step. For those of you that aren’t quite ready to dive in, we have other suggestions for how you too can go green (and save some green while you’re at it.)
The two most sensible and easiest ways to retrofit a home are programming the thermostat and switching the light bulbs. Every family has a different threshold for temperature, so we won’t dictate the required settings. It’s up to you to decide what’s comfortable, but make sure to utilize other means of heating and cooling, such as putting on a sweater or using a fan. By programming your thermostat to be less stringent with the temperature while you are at work or asleep, you can significantly reduce your energy expenditures. Likewise, switching from incandescent to CFLs can potentially save you hundreds of dollars over the lifetime of the bulbs. CFLs not only reduce heat production and energy usage, but they also last much longer than incandescent bulbs.
Another simple way to retrofit your home is to plant trees. Trees? Yes. Planting trees that are native to your region can help save your air conditioning bill by providing shade and can even act as a wind blocker to protect your home on those drafty nights.
As you can see, going green doesn’t have to be a strange or even expensive. There are hundreds of other ways to go green, including switching to energy efficient appliances, using low-flow faucet heads, and caulking all of those leaky areas around your door. And if you’re thinking about buying, selling, or investing in real estate, green retrofits are a great way to boost the value of your home. So the next time you consider the cost of going green, think about what you could save by making the switch!
Andrew Hill
ahill@thebdx.com
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