Home Building Blog - Eco-Friendly and Green

8 tips to creating an energy efficient home

Found at blogs.propertyfinder.com

Tip No 1 - Increase Insulation Levels: Insulating your home is a great way to reduce energy costs. There is a range of grants available to help with insulation costs. The UK Government funds schemes providing up to £2,500 to households on certain benefits to improve their heating and energy efficiency. Some local authorities also offer grants and more information can be found by ringing 0800 512 012. Grants are available for solar panels and other microgeneration technologies via the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. Ring 0800 915 0990 for further details.

Tip No 2 - Work Your Windows: Around 20% of the heat lost from an average home is through the windows. Consider double glazing your windows or secondary double-glazing if you live in a period property. Double-glazing cuts heat loss through windows by 50% and could significantly reduce your heating bill.

Tip No 3 - Buy Low Energy Appliances: Maximise the efficiency of your appliances - not only will this benefit the environment, it can also save you considerable money on your bills. Make sure white goods like fridges, freezers and washing machines, are A rated (or A++ for fridges and freezers). This means that they are very efficient and, in the case of washing machines, use less water than other models. Remember to turn off computers, TVs and video/DVD players rather than leaving them on stand-by when not in use, as this will substantially cut energy use.

Tip No 4 - Be Clever with Light: Take care to provide good daylight conditions in all habitable rooms and use energy efficient lighting throughout. Good quality low energy light bulbs are one of the best investments you can make as they use a lot less power and last longer. Priced from just £5, they last 12 times longer than an ordinary light bulb. If every UK household installed just one of these bulbs, we’d save over £80 million per year!

Tip No 5 - Heating Hints: Ensure your central heating system is scaled according to your household’s needs and the level of insulation. If your boiler is over ten years old, it is worth replacing it; technical improvements mean that new boilers and control systems are significantly more efficient that they were even five years ago, now achieving energy ratings of more than 90%. The most efficient type of gas fired boiler is the condensing boiler which recycles otherwise wasted energy from the combustion gases. The Energy Efficiency Advice Centre runs a database on suitable products. Use individual thermostatic controls on radiators in every room. If the room isn’t in use, keep the control turned to low to avoid heating rooms unnecessarily.

Read the rest of the tips here.

Posted in Green Home Building | 2 Comments »

Why Buying A Green Home Is Good For You, Good For The Environment, And A Good Investment!

Found at www.solais.net.

If you’re considering constructing a new home, consider going green.

A lot of green construction initiatives are out there, which advocate building everything from pre- measured, pre-fabricated parts.

The savings for this are two fold – the first savings is in ease of construction. By building everything from pre-measured parts, you save on labor and assembly. You also save on garbage hauling fees.

The second place where you save is avoiding building waste in your local landfill. Most homes are constructed by bringing raw lumber on site and cutting it to fit over the course of construction.

The same (to a lesser extent) is done with flooring, drywall and siding.

Good green construction techniques use the mantra of “measure twice, cut once” to its logical extreme, and can eliminate construction waste (and the attendant fees) by as much as 80%.

Green construction also ties into how the house is designed as a home and living space, and how it uses energy.

Read the rest of the article here.

Posted in Green Building Tips, Green Home Building, Green Stories | No Comments »