Want to be more energy-efficient? Then keep reading! Depending on how you look at things, home improvements may either be something you’d rather put off until the last possible minute, or they may be the kind of DIY treat in which you take pride and regular joy.
Whether a personal hindrance or a personal pleasure, home improvements are sometimes necessary and they are guaranteed to cost money – that’s why looking into home improvements that save money can help to offset the price tag.
Energy-Efficient Home Improvements That Save Money
According to Neeeco’s Mass Save Home Energy Audit, If you’re looking for more ways to improve your finances, don’t forget to double-check your entitlements, as if you’re spending money on home improvements, you’re going to want to ensure you have the funds first.
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For example, you may wish to use a VA disability calculator if you are a veteran, or if you are a single mother, you may be entitled to child support.
But now let’s take a look at energy-efficient home improvements that can save you money, because when winter comes and the thermostat gets turned up, you may start to notice the financial effects of staying warm in the form of a hefty energy bill.
Cavity wall insulation & loft insulation
If you’ve never considered the amount of energy you lose through your walls and your roof, the following statistics may shock you (especially when we consider the amount of money potentially wasted in heating a home with poor insulation).
Let’s begin with the roof. Up to 25% of your home’s heat is lost through poor loft insulation. Now let’s move on to the walls. One study has suggested that the average semi-detached home loses around 35% of its heat through poorly insulated walls.
If you are due to upgrade your home in terms of renovations, and you haven’t already looked into the money-saving benefits of cavity wall insulation, reflective insulation, and loft insulation, you could be missing a money-saving trick.
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Double glazing
Much like losing heat through walls (which costs you more money to keep heating your energy-leaking home), older and less efficient windows are responsible for losing about 25-30% of your home’s heat.
This means that single-pane windows – which generally come with older homes in need of an energy-efficient upgrade – are not really a valid way to go about saving money around your home.
Although upgrading your windows to a more efficient double-glazing solution may come with the kind of price tag to which you may need to pay due consideration, it’s clear to see that the savings you could make over many months and years of living in a home with energy-efficient double glazed windows are something worth thinking about!
Solar panels fitted on your home
Solar panels bring many benefits, including lowering your carbon footprint. In terms of energy-efficient home upgrades that can save more of your money, solar panels really do deliver on the heavy-lifting side of things.
How much money do solar panels save? According to one study, installing solar panels on the roof of your home can save in the region of $10k to $30k over a period of 20 years.
Obviously, with these kinds of savings available through solar panels, upgrading your home with energy-efficient improvements that save money should always involve consideration of solar panels.