Easy Green Solutions for Your Home

The majority of householders want to create a more environmentally friendly home. However, this is often for financial reasons rather than to reduce their impact on the environment. If you’re looking at ways of reducing your energy usage both inside and outside your home, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune or take up a lot of time.

According to research by M&S Bank, 90% of householders who make energy-efficiency improvements to their property do so purely to reduce their costs, with just 10% of people wanting to reduce the damage caused to the environment. Over the past year, almost four out of five households have carried out some green initiatives in their property.

How Can You Help?

This doesn’t have to be major work. In fact, the most popular green solution is to turn off lights when they’re not in use (83% of households). Reducing the amount of energy you waste through unnecessary lighting is easy to fix across the home. If you have exterior lights in your garden or fitted to a stainless steel banister on stairs or a balcony, these can be fitted with sensor devices. This enables them to turn on when someone is outside and switch off after a certain amount of time if nobody is around. 78% of those who took part in the research had fitted light bulbs that were more energy-efficient as well.

If you have a property with patio or balcony-style doors, they can become draughty. This is a simple problem to solve. In some circumstances you might require specialist help, but in the majority of cases you can carry out the work yourself. Once you have fitted some draught-proofing, the home will feel much warmer and cosier and you’ll be able to turn the heating down. Whenever you’re carrying out draught-proofing, you need to ensure that there is still enough ventilation, as this reduces the problems caused by damp and condensation.

In the summer months, your garden and other outdoor areas often need watering to maintain their appearance. There are ways in which you can limit your water usage and still have a bright and cheerful garden or balcony to admire. Use a watering can to water flower pots and baskets in the evening or morning and water at the roots.

When you want to make your home greener, you should first look at the simple solutions. Rather than costing a fortune, these will end up saving both money and energy every day.