The Best Energy Efficient Upgrades for Older Homes

If you live in an older house, chances are that you’re spending a significant amount of your monthly budget on energy costs. There’s a lot to enjoy about an older home, including the size of the rooms and all of the character that it contains but there’s also several features that it might be about time to consider upgrading to help out on energy costs.

The good news is that there are some upgrades that you can make that will instantly make the rooms in your house more energy efficient and don’t require you to spend a ton of money either. Here’s a look at some of the best energy efficient upgrades for older homes.

Add more insulation. If your home is a several years old and you can’t remember the last time you went up into the attic to inspect the insulation that was in it, there’s a significant chance that it is not in peak condition. Being that insulation is what helps to “buffer” some of the extreme temperatures that are outside, it’s important that it’s at least 12″ thick and made out of an eco-friendly material such as aerogel. A well-insulated house is one that tends to have reduced energy costs.

Put in some double-pane windows. Unless an older home has been newly renovated, it’s not uncommon for it to have single-pane windows. The problem with those is that they aren’t very effective when it comes to preventing air leaks from wasting some of your energy. That’s why, if it’s within your budget, you should really look into getting some double-pane windows. If you need something to hold you over until you can afford them, shrink film is pretty effective– at least for a season or two.

Get a low-flow shower head and toilet. Are you in the process of updating your bathroom? If so, then make sure that you put a low-flow shower head and toilet inside of it. By doing these two things, you will save literally dozens of gallons of water each week. That results in you saving 20-40 percent on energy costs each year.

Purchase some Energy Star appliances. If you were to go to a website like Energy.gov to look for a guide to home energy upgrades , one of the things that you might read about is how essential it is to upgrade any older appliances that you may have. Our personal recommendation is that you get some that have an Energy Star label on them. The reason why is that they have been tested by their manufacturers to make sure that they are energy efficient. You can read more about them by going to EnergyStar.gov and putting “appliances” in the search field.

Install smart home automation. If you’d like a way to modernize your house, install a smart home automation device inside of it. If you’ve never heard of it before, basically it’s a system that allows you to control your lights, faucets and even your house alarm with the help of a remote or smartphone, whether you’re home or away. Knowing that you have that kind of capability can definitely help to save you on energy costs each month. For more information on smart home automation, visit Smart Home.