Earth Friendly Practices that Will Help You Save Money

xidai

Earth Friendly Practices that Will Help You Save Money

BY LAUREN WILLIAMSON

Updated 08/20/16

Would you like to do more to save the environment, but you don’t know where to start? Many people know that adopting sustainable practices will help, however it isn’t something most people prioritize in their daily lives. As a result unsustainable habits can start to kick-in. To make things easier, you can improve sustainable practices within your home by implementing technologies and habits that will save you money over the long-term.

Saving money is a great motivator! Here are a few tips that you can easily apply in your home to turn it into a lean, mean cash-saving machine.

Invest in LED Lighting & Make the Switch

By making the switch from incandescent light bulbs to LED lights, you will reduce your energy consumption by up to 80% annually, thus reducing your home’s overall energy costs. That's huge! One of the main concerns that people have is the upfront and maintenance costs to upgrade to a more sustainable solution. However, LED light suppliers like LEDified can make it easier to upgrade with financing options that bundle the upgrade costs and electrical savings with the bill from your electrical supplier. You may even be able to buy bulbs at a discount directly from your energy provider. Give them a call or visit their website to find out.

Should you choose to upgrade to LED lights, it is important that you partner with a provider who can give you the best advice for the lighting design and high quality products that should be used, which will minimize any maintenance costs.

Cut Down on Your Household’s Water Consumption

Water consumption is a serious issue. The average Australian person uses at least 40 liters of water per day for bathing and much more for other household activities such as washing the clothes, dishes or irrigating the garden. Some ways to reduce your homes water consumption include:

• Limiting your bathing time to once a day.
• Bathing in the shower for no longer than 4 minutes.
• Having a bath instead of a shower.
• Harvesting rainwater that can be used for your toilet’s cistern or to irrigate your garden.
• Investing in water efficient dishwashers and washing machines.
• Making sure your washing machine has a full load before washing.
  
  

Keep Warm in Colder Months Without Using Electricity, or Much of It

During the winter, we are all so quick to pull out the electric heater and keep it on all day and night to stay as warm as possible when as climate gets cold. The long-periods of energy consumption from sleeping with the heater on or using it throughout the day isn’t good for the environment or your energy bill. Some other ways to keep warm by using little or no energy include:

• Investing in a heavy tog duvet. These will keep you extremely warm and reduce the strain that you may need to put on your HVAC unit throughout the night.
• Invest in woolen blankets that you can use to keep yourself warm throughout the day. Wool has amazing properties and though they can keep you warm, their natural fibers allow for an exchange of fresh air that synthetic blankets simply cannot match.
• Invest in a hot water bottle. Once filled with hot water, the bottle can help to keep you warm for up to 8 hours.
  
  

Enhance Your Home by Utilizing Natural Light When Possible

You can easily use natural light to brighten up the dark spaces within your home. Some clever ways include:

• Using items such as mirrors, metals and glass objects to reflect any natural light that comes into the room.
• Installing skylights or solar tubes to let more natural light inside your home.
  
  

Avoid Using the Air Conditioner

During the warmer months of the year, people will instantly reach for the air conditioning to keep them cool. Some other energy efficient ways to keep cool include:

• Using ceiling fans that have high rotor blades.
• Opening the windows to improve airflow and ventilation.
• Consuming chilled/ice beverages.
  
  

These are a few effective ways to improve the energy consumption use in your home. You can also find additional ways to save energy from Switch on Victoria.

By implementing these changes, you should expect to save upwards of $1000 or more per year.

Source: https://www.thespruce.com/earth- ... e-you-money-4076758