Your home is a goldmine for opportunities. It offers you a chance to relax in style, keep your family warm and safe, and allows you to portray your status symbol. Unfortunately, it can be a significant threat to your finances, especially when things are not in place. For instance, poor ventilation, lighting, and high electricity consumption can impact your bills. Luckily, technological advancements are providing upgrade options to curb this problem.
This discussion will show upgrades you should make to your home to fight high bills. Keep reading!
Here are 5 simple upgrades that will cut high bills for your home:
Install A Good HVAC System
The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in your home is one of the most significant energy users. If you have an older system installed, it probably uses a considerable amount of electricity to keep your home at a comfortable temperature.
If this sounds like your current situation, you may want to consider investing in a new system for your home. Although HVAC systems can be expensive up front, they usually pay for themselves over time because of the energy savings.
The unit you install will depend on several factors, such as how large your home is and how much insulation it has. You’ll also need to decide whether or not you want a traditional gas furnace or an electric heat pump system with air conditioning. Each option will come with benefits and drawbacks. Therefore, consider selecting the most appropriate choice.
Upgrade Your Windows And Doors With New Designs
Windows and doors can be significant sources of heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, you can save up to 7% on heating costs by installing weatherstripping.
Even better, replace your old windows and doors with newer, more energy-efficient models consisting of a lower SHGC which estimates the rate at which heat passes through a material. In contrast, the SHGC estimates the amount of solar energy transmitted via a window or skylight: the lower the number, the more energy-efficient the product.
While it’s possible to retrofit your older windows with storm windows or caulking, it’s often more cost-effective in the long run to replace them with new ones that meet higher standards for energy efficiency. Again, you can get such windows and doors from a reputable company affordably.
For example, I recently purchased new Marvin windows from a company in Chicago that is constantly providing outstanding performance. Even better, I’m noticing a remarkable decline in my monthly bills for different seasons.
Replace Old Faucets And Shower Heads
If you have an older home, the chances are good that you have leaky faucets and showerheads. A leaky faucet can waste thousands of gallons of water every year. The typical household with leaky faucets wastes 10,000 plus gallons of water every year.
Fixing or replacing showerheads or faucets is a relatively easy DIY project and could save hundreds on your water bill every year. You can also upgrade to low-flow showerheads and faucets for a more considerable impact on your consumption — low-flow fixtures use about half the amount of water as a traditional fixture but produce the same pressure.
Dual Flush Toilet
Some of the most water-intensive appliances in an average home are your toilets. Toilets can account for nearly 30 percent of your water usage at home. Toilets can use as much as seven gallons per flush (GPF). However, newer models use much less. To conserve water and cut down on your monthly utility bills, consider making some upgrades to your toilets.
You should consider purchasing a dual-flush toilet if you don’t have one. This type of toilet uses two buttons or handles to offer two different flush options. The first option is a half flush that uses less water than the standard single flush. Also, the second option is a full flush that uses more water than a half flush but still less than the traditional single flush.
This will allow you to choose which type of flush you need based on what you must empty in the toilet bowl. For example, if you have solid waste, you would use the full flush option. Similarly, you would use the half flush option if you have liquid waste only. This will help reduce how much water you use when flushing your toilet and lower your monthly utility bills.
Purchase A Tankless Water Heater
These don’t keep water but provide it instantly without wasting energy heating and reheating a tank of water. Conventional storage-tank water heaters use about 30 percent of their energy just to maintain the water temperature in the tank, and when it’s gone, you have to wait for it to reheat.
Tankless models are more efficient because they only run when hot water is needed. They typically provide two to five gallons per minute of hot water, which is enough for two or three simultaneous uses.
This type of heater has a higher upfront cost than your traditional storage tank model, but it’s worth it in the long run. You can expect to save 20% to 40% on your annual utility bill by switching from a storage-tank heater to a tankless one.
Upgrade Your Home For Economic Benefits!
Upgrading your home with the recent tech designs is a great way to fight high bills. You can quickly achieve this by equipping the most recent upgrades, including HVAC systems, windows and doors, faucets and showerheads, and a tankless water heater. So, upgrade your home today with new designs for economic benefits you will always notice.