Can Home Improvements Save Money And The Environment?

When it comes to making the most of your home, we are all very conscious about the impact we are having on the environment. Some improvements are made with only that in mind while others need to satisfy the requirement to add value to the property too. There are so many ways we can improve the efficiency of our homes while lessening the environmental impact too. But few of us have considered other ways to use our homes to reduce our carbon footprints.

 

Lots of people think about growing their own food, but very few actually do it. There are lots of reasons for this. For some, the environment doesn’t really lend itself to self-sustaining in this way. For others, there simply isn’t enough land attached to the property. For those who are serious about growing their own food all year round, it is possible to achieve good crops from indoor gardening. By utilising LED grow lights, you can take that unused space in the loft, basement or garage and turn it into a beautiful indoor garden or veggie patch. Because the sun substitute is LED, you are unlikely to see much of a rise in your electricity bill, and solar panels may cover the usage anyway.

 

By growing your own food, you are reducing your need to take the car and visit the supermarket to buy it. You are also taking out the carbon footprint from the farming and delivery of the fresh produce to the supermarket. Best of all, you can sell your excess food at the local market. Some people prefer to do this with flowers like orchids and irises. They can all be grown indoors under special lights if you have the space. You may wish to check the suitability of your room before starting. It may become damp if not protected and ventilated well.

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Photo from Flickr

 

There are several other ways you can reduce your impact on the environment, and save some cash too. You can keep warmer in the house if you reduce the amount of leakage of your warmed air. Draft excluders and extra insulation really do make a difference. You can feel perfectly comfortable in a room at only eighteen degrees providing that air isn’t moving rapidly over you. It is usually the drafts that make you feel colder than you should, so check all your windows and doors aren’t letting in the cold. You can then choose to use ground heat systems for one of the most efficient renewable energy sources for heating.

 

Whichever ways you choose to use renewable energy sources, they can help save you money. However, some of these systems are expensive to install and may not recoup their costs for many years. This can be disappointing when you are trying to be as environmentally conscious as you can be. Some of the best ways to help reduce your carbon footprint are simply to use less. There is no need to be cold, but just a little more careful how you use the resources around us.

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