Tips to make your home an energy-efficient home
Living in an energy efficient home is not just for the environment, but good for our pockets too. There is an increasing dependence today on solar power, rainwater harvesting and several other environment friendly ways to keep our homes energy efficient as well as cost effective. Energy efficient houses also ensure a green way of living, doing your bit for the environment. It is highly recommended to support energy efficient initiatives with some small steps, while constructing or renovating houses. Following are a few tips for making your home an energy efficient home.
Heating & Cooling systems: Apartments / houses with less thicker walls will have more heat trapped inside and the residents will have to rely too much on fans and air conditioning. If your walls are thin, you need not worry about it, a thick plastering can also help as it obstructs heat. Thick walls ensure controlling heat from getting into the rooms.
2 way ventilation: Houses which have 2 way ventilation in rooms are more energy efficient, as the free flow of air through ventilation helps in keeping the indoor temperature low.
Houses with high ceiling: Houses with high ceiling will be cool. As the hot air rises upwards, if it has ample space to rise up, and gets pushed out through the ventilators, the rooms will be cool and thereby less use of air conditioning. The ideal height of the ceiling is 12 feet.
Free Space: If you are constructing a house, it will be great idea to plan a central courtyard, like a modern replica of the houses of the past. This age old secret makes houses airy as well as bright during the day and thereby helps avoiding lights during day time.
Planned windows- Many apartments today come with more balconies and large glass windows claiming energy efficient. But it is important to plan the positions of windows. For example, openings in the West brings inside the heat of the afternoon sun, making the room very hot during evenings and night.
Flooring of the house- There is an increased usage of natural stones like kota, Sadarahalli granite, marble etc in apartments today. This is a great idea for having cool interiors. Vitrified tiles absorb heat and thereby internal temperature will be retained even after the hot hours of the day.
Paint Color & Energy Efficiency: Choosing a right color of paint can be a solution for your concern about the rising cost of energy. Many prefer to use dark shades for interiors, but a dark interior means, you will have to depend more on artificial lighting and thereby more energy consumption. You can use wall paint to take advantage of natural light. Satin paint or Light color makes a room look larger and reflect light make the rooms bright during the day.
Solar Energy- Solar power is getting more and more popular today. The use of solar power for kitchens and as an alternative source of electricity can save a lot for you. It may be little expensive to install a solar plant for your home, but your monthly energy expenses can be reduced a lot with it.
Lastly and most importantly, planting trees around your home / apartment can help in making your house airy and thereby bringing down temperature. While you invest in electrical appliance, make sure that you buy high rated ones, they have reduced power consumption.
