How Can You Eco Upgrade Your Home?

If you're like most homeowners, you make upgrades around your house from time to time. If you're concerned about your environmental impact, you'll need to make upgrades that save energy, conserve water, and improve your home's efficiency. Here are some simple eco upgrade ideas that will make your home greener.

Get an Energy Audit

An energy audit helps you identify the home upgrades that will increase your energy efficiency the most. The auditor will carry out a blower door test and thermographic scanning to determine how airtight your home is and where you're losing energy. Making the improvements that the auditor suggests can yield significant energy savings.

Upgrade Your Window Treatments

Did you know that heat and cold air could creep into your home even when your windows are closed? Upgrade your blinds and curtains to better maintain your indoor temperature, prevent your HVAC system from working harder, and make your house more eco-friendly.

Install Attic Insulation

Proper insulation is an excellent way to improve energy efficiency. The attic is the best place to start because a lot of heat loss and gain occur through that part of your house. Loose-fill and batt insulation are good options. Add more insulation if your existing attic insulation is less than R-30 (8 inches of cellulose or 11 inches of rockwool or fiberglass).

Get a Rainwater Barrel

Mother Nature gives you lots of water every year. Put it into good use by harvesting rainwater and then watering your lawn and garden with it. Buy a rainwater barrel and leave it outside when rain has been forecast.

Invest in a Low-Flow Showerhead

The flow rate of showerheads made in 1992 or earlier could be 5.5 gallons per minute. You can reduce your water usage by investing in newer, low-flow models, which can cut down the flow rate to 2.5 gallons or less per minute.

Install a Programmable Thermostat

Make your house more environmentally friendly by using a programmable thermostat to control your heating and cooling system. It helps lower your utility bills.

These eco upgrades help you save money and the planet at the same time. If you want to make HVAC or plumbing upgrades in the Broken Arrow area, contact the award-winning experts at Air Assurance.

Reduce A/C Costs With Solar Shades

As the A/C blasts away at the oppressive heat of summer, your power bills fly through the roof. It seems like you’re left with two choices: turn it down and sweat, or leave it at a comfortable level and break the bank. Solar shades provide one attractive option to stay cool and keep money in your pocket.

What Are Solar Shades?

Solar shades are window coverings that are designed to block UV radiation from entering a home, along with most of the heat from direct sunlight. Though lightweight compared to traditional insulated window covering panels, the solar shade offers a marked reduction in heat transfer throughout the year.

What Do They Look Like?

Unlike solid and often dark blackout curtains or insulated panels, solar shades bring an airy feeling to a room because natural light can still enter. In fact, some solar shade designs allow a perfectly unobstructed view of the outdoors while keeping your home comfort costs down. They are available in a wide range of neutral colors and chic, modern designs.

How Will They Benefit My Home?

For a solution that costs relatively little, solar shades offer a lot of different benefits aside from lower energy bills. These include:

• Reduced damage from UV rays inside the house. From faded upholstery to a higher risk of skin cancer, excessive UV is bad news in your interior spaces.

• Fewer “hot spots” throughout your home. Ever had the thermometer show a perfect indoor temperature, yet you’re still uncomfortably warm? That’s often caused by weak points in your home’s insulation – usually inefficient windows – that allow the outdoor heat to seep in.

• Lower A/C maintenance costs. The less you run your air conditioning unit, the less seasonal maintenance it requires.

• Less glare on interior surfaces. Direct sunlight bounces off of TV screens, mirrors, glass, and other reflective surfaces, causing painfully bright spots. Solar shades reduce eye strain and discomfort by preventing too-bright light from entering your home.

For more information on solar shades and other ways to reduce cooling costs in your Broken Arrow home, contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “OpenClipart-Vectors_pixabay”