How would you like to save money, boost your home’s value and sell it asap? Sounds impossible? Quite the contrary! This is exactly what will be happening if you opt for some of green home improvements we have prepared for you.
Get dirty
In other words, do some digging around your house. Think about how your green patch can be improved. You should know big lawns are considered old-fashioned as they now equal huge water bills. Therefore, narrow that piece of greenery down, but feel free to add some succulents and local species into the play. Also, your own fruits and veggies are an excellent way of reducing the carbon footprint. Why is this so important? First of all, you can expect around 15 to 20% rise in the house price if you put in some effort. Secondly, a nice garden is the very first thing a potential buyer notices from the street. It’s an instant curb appeal booster.
Invest in insulation
This is one of the very first things a prospective buyer will wish to know more about, and you must admit they are completely right. Excellent insulation keeps the house warm in winter, and it protects the heat from entering your home during scorching periods. Basically, you will be wasting less energy simply by taking care of the following:
- Double-glazed windows – if you haven’t got them already. They minimize the energy losses and the outside noise at the same time. If it’s too much for you at the moment, the least you could do is add some weather stripping.
- New doors – getting a new front door and a garage door is an excellent idea for several reasons. Firstly, they provide better insulation. Secondly, they add to the curb appeal. Also, a modern garage door is a very desirable asset due to the fact that the trend of turning garages into home offices is still very much present.
- Insulate the walls – of the insulation in your walls is made from fiberglass, then it’s doubtful you are going to sell your home that easy since the material is associated with respiratory issues, so your buyer will immediately ask for a lower price. To better your family’s health and sale prospects, use safer forms of wall insulation such as polyurethane foam, icynene, cellulose, or even sheep’s wool.
Be illuminated
In every possible sense. Firstly, use the light literally by buying and installing solar panels. Today you have an excellent choice on the market as the industry is very competitive. Solar panels can help you not only save energy but even accumulate enough to be able to sell it to the local supplier if you want to (!).
Secondly, LED lights are much more durable and they spend more energy on actually giving you light. Ordinary light bulbs waste most of the energy on its heat rather than the light itself – that’s why they are so hot when you’re replacing them.
Stop wasting water
Those living in Australia are very well acquainted with water saving measurements, but let’s see what everybody else can do, too:
- Install a low flow toilet – simply calculate how many of you are living in the house, and how many times a day you flush a toilet. Then try not to faint when you realize how much you could save.
- Low flow showerhead – you’ll barely notice the difference in your morning routine, but it will be prominent in your utility bill.
- Fix all the leaks – this is pretty self-explanatory.
- Re-use the grey water – see if you can install a greywater system in order to use it for watering the garden, for instance.
New is always better
At least when it comes to house appliances. You know you deserve the new, energy-efficient generation of the dishwasher and washing machine. New models are made to preserve energy as much as possible, and energy saving laundry units are especially popular with house buyers.
Believe it or not, but making your home greener is letting you have the cake, and eat it, too! You’ll be saving money, enjoying yourself, and eventually getting the price you want.
Tanya Mayer
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