What is Eco Friendly Home
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A sustainable or eco friendly home is purpose-built to maximise efficiency and minimise its environmental impact. Alternatively, it's retrofitted to achieve the same goal. This goal includes conserving water, minimising waste, reducing energy consumption, and utilising sustainable materials everywhere possible.
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If you’re on a tight budget, the best home is a small home. Regardless of how green you would like to be, a large house can be vastly expensive to make green in the initial stages. For this reason, it’s easier for individuals with tight budgets to start small. Keep in mind that every extra square footage means more money and energy. Hire the right builder for your dream eco home and get 3 free quotes.
How To Make Your Home Sustainable
Install Solar Devices to Reduce Energy Use
The best way to go green is by opting for solar devices. Solar panels are an essential feature for any eco home. They are certainly a long-term investment and a great opportunity to become a more sustainable household. It might be a monetary investment in the beginning but it has great long-term benefits. With solar power systems, you can take advantage of the great Australian sun depending on where you stay. They can also help with tax breaks and various government benefits.
Cool the Roof
Introducing roof cooling technologies can greatly impact your home’s overall energy efficiency. There are several ways of cooling your roof. Some of the most common options are using white tiles, slate, metal roofing, terra cotta or special membranes to cool your roof. This will also reduce your energy bill as you won't need to use your fan or air conditioner as much.
Using Geothermal Power
Green homes tend to harness geothermal power. This is an upfront investment that can limit the amount of energy required to cool and heat homes. Geothermal power is extremely useful during winter. It is a way of cooling by controlling the way heat circulates in your home.
Exploiting Sustainable Materials
Another strategic way to make your home green is by using sustainable materials. Make sure your house is framed with sustainable materials that are eco-friendly and lightweight. This includes bamboo for flooring and linoleum for corridors.
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Get serious about your water usage
When we think about a sustainable home, we think about an energy efficient house. But being truly eco-friendly means you’ll need to get serious about saving water. We’re all told how showering saves energy and uses less water than having a bath. You will save more energy if you opt for an aerated or low-flow shower head. Spend less time under the water too. No longer than ten minutes.
How Can You Be Sustainable With Energy at Home
Invest in recycled furniture
Don’t rush to a big brand furniture store to buy the latest and the newest! More and more furniture is coming to the market made from recycled wood, or other materials, which can be more eco-friendly than buying new. It will give your home a vintage vibe and aesthetic. Don't worry, you are still getting a brand-new product, but it’s been made thoughtfully, from materials that might otherwise have gone to landfill or been thrown away.
Sustainable cleaning
We all have our favourite detergents and cleaning products that we’ve used for years, and never really thought about the harm they could be doing to the environment. Once they’re washed down the drain they go into the water supply, and it can often take a lot more energy and hard work to purify the water again at treatment works. Switch to natural cleaners to disinfect and kill germs in a green way.
Invest in energy efficient fixtures: Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
Although energy efficient light bulbs have been in existence for a long time, people are just realising their importance and getting educated about their importance, their effectiveness and how they can save money around the home. Fixtures such as light bulbs, incandescent bulbs etc not only use less electricity but also last longer, which means you don’t have to spend money replacing them.
Smarter kitchen
Try to minimise food waste by learning how to meal prep, meal plan and store food properly. Another way to be smart in the kitchen is to minimise the use of appliances such as pod coffee makers, toasters, microwaves etc. You can also plant your own herb garden and compost your food waste. It doesn’t take up a lot of space and plant them in small pots and keep them inside the house, close to a sunny window.
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Healthy Home & Air Quality: The Garden
Want to apply tips for how to be more sustainable at home in the garden? There are plenty of tips for saving energy in the garden, but the key is you can save water with rainwater tanks! It's the environmentally friendly way to water your plants and you can do your bit for greenhouse gas emissions by composting and embracing renewable energy sources to reduce your electricity consumption.
Native plants are great for air quality (even indoor air pollution if you choose the right indoor plants) and they also provide shade to cool your home properly. Your aircon won't need to work as hard to maintain a comfortable temperature, using less energy.
How To Make Your Home More Eco Friendly
If you want to make your home more eco-friendly, there are so many ways to be environmentally conscious. Making use of natural light and energy efficient appliances is great for your energy bills and your carbon footprint. With climate change and rising energy costs, saving energy makes sense, whether you achieve it by installing solar panels, low flow shower heads, draught proofing, or using smart meters to monitor your energy consumption and a smart thermostat to control your central heating energy usage.
Outside of the home, you can be more environmentally friendly, too! Choose public transportation or invest in an electric vehicle, avoid single use plastic straws, plastic bottles, and plastic bags. There are always sustainable alternatives, whether you invest in a stainless steel or bamboo straw, reusable containers, or buy a reusable bottle.
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A healthy home can have a huge impact on your energy usage and while double glazing or triple glazed windows are a major investment, they can make a difference, especially in older buildings that struggle with extreme temperatures. There are plenty of ways to make your home more eco friendly, it's just a case of managing water consumption, utilising eco paints where possible, reducing your reliance on natural resources and finding alternative ways to reduce waste.
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