Rock Wool Insulation
With winter here - as well as the heating bills - it's important to understand how a home uses its energy. In particular, it helps to understand how
your home uses its energy. Essentially, there are two different ways: efficiently and inefficiently. If your home isn't up to snuff in its energy efficiency, you'll want to keep reading this article. It won't only save you headaches, it will save you money.
One of the first principles in energy efficiency is keeping the energy you're producing, and this is often done through insulation. Much of the energy your home is using is for generating heat. If you're losing heat to the outside world all the time, then your energy bills are going to stay sky-high. You'll essentially be using more energy to keep the same amount of heat other people have. If your home is old, it will help to check the insulation you have in your walls, learn about crucial points in which you can save much of your heat, and learn ways to test for "heat leaks."
Consider installing more energy-efficient windows and doors to amp up your home's ability to insulate, as well. If you're buying a home, ask about having these installed right off the bat.
Another way to change how energy efficient you keep your home is to purchase equipment that will simply use less energy off the bat. New, modern heaters, air conditioners, and washers/dryers will be able to do much of the same job using less energy, helping you save on your monthly bills. Of course, these appliances can cost a heavy sum upfront, so it might take a keen eye for shopping and perhaps a bit of sacrifice in order to make your home energy-efficient. Key appliances like refrigerators, washers/dryers, water heaters, and dishwashers are some of the appliances to think about. If you want to upgrade to a more energy-efficient appliance, you might consider selling the old one, as well, in order to offset the costs.
Optimizing your home's insulation and the equipment that use energy are great places to focus on reducing your energy uses. You can also use conservation as a way to stave off your energy usage, but if you want to maintain your lifestyle with less energy, you can do that, as well. For many people, simply utilizing both strategies reduces the most energy use possible.
Photo Credits: iLoveButter
Originally posted 2010-01-26 03:56:43.
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Posted by Fix Handyman on June 25, 2010 in
Energy, Handyman, House, How to Fix
How to Fix Your Home for Summertime
When the leaves grow back, the April showers give way to May flowers, and the sun starts shining again, it can only mean one thing: summer's back. If you live in a northern state where summer isn't exactly a year-round thing, this season of fun in the sun is that much more special. That's why you'll want to make sure that your home isn't only fitted for the season, but is decorated to match. That's why this article will give you some simple hints you can use to get your home ready for summer.
First, evaluate your decorations. When your home has been more shelter than living space in the past few months because of cold, snow, rain, and other harsh weather conditions, it can be easy to let your decorating fall by the wayside. One of the great things about summer is that the environment is perfect for spending your time both indoors and outdoors, re-decorating and re-landscaping your house once the snow's subsided. Now's the time to give your property a new spin - if you live in an apartment or a duplex and have less control over the property, you can make sure that your decorations indoors match the season outdoors.
What are the best places to start? Window treatments are a great place, but you can also landscape around plants, till your soil for a new garden, and re-do landscaping hardware like bricks or paths. Buying mulch is easy for the simpler projects; more advanced projects can use items like stones and timber.
Make your home more energy-efficient. It's tempting to get caught up in efficient energy for the winter - but what about the summer? What's different about the weather that will help you be able to save money on your energy bills? Now that you've got hotter temperatures to handle, your air conditioning will be on throughout the day, which is why you might even considering giving your home a lighter paint job. White paint, for example, is great at reflecting heat.
Make sure you also pay attention to your windows - make sure to open or close them depending on the weather of the day. If it's a mild 71 degrees, you can open them and keep off the air conditioning. If the weather's hitting the 90's, close them until the heat spell subsides. If you make monitoring your windows a daily practice, you can save on bills and keep your home more comfortable.
Photo Credits: mccready
Originally posted 2009-07-21 03:30:47.
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Posted by Fix Handyman on April 29, 2010 in
Handyman, How to Fix
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