Going Green: Climate Control

Going green! No, I’m not talking about going vegetarian or vegan. I’m talking about making your home eco-friendly and energy efficient. In the long term it saves you money and honestly, it’s the way of the future. Everyday renewable energy alternatives and energy efficiency is becoming easier to obtain, more sought after, and more necessary. Objectively, the green way is a better, less expensive way to live in the long run. So, without jumping straight into the deep end here are a few things you can do to make your house more energy efficient and improve your ability to control the climate in your house.  

First you need to access how energy efficient your home currently is (a.k.a how energy efficient your home currently is not). What does that mean you need to do? Honestly, I’m not a hundred percent sure. You’d need to find air leaks, leaky (drafty) windows, basement or attic that are not properly insulated, cracks are crevices somewhere on the structure. Can you do this yourself, I’m sure you could. I don’t know how but I have more faith in you. If you’re like me and want help you can get an energy auditor. You can google it, the US Department of Energy made a video explaining what an energy auditor does. The price range for that service typically ranges form between $200 and $630 but could cost anywhere from $99- $2,000. So… ya’ll might want to look up finding air leaks. YouTube can teach you to do just about anything.  

Other than that, a lot of the fixes you can make are super simple and easy to do yourself. To get rid of air leaks you can get caulk and seal up any of those leaky gaps. This links to a pretty thorough How-Cast video that should walk you through the process. https://youtu.be/KRfxfRFLc8Q

Next, you need to install installation wherever it is lacking. This process is pretty simple. Here’s another how to video from the YouTube channel Owens Corning for instructions on how to DIY this. https://youtu.be/tuW033vM-xA

If you’re from Georgia I will assume you have A/C. If not… I’m so sorry, how’s the summer going for you?  This fix is a bigger step. Installing a smart thermostat. You can still do this yourself. I’m not going to tell you what kind brand of thermostat to get since I don’t know anything about that, I don’t do the upgrading in my house. If you’d like an article on the topic leave a request in the comments and I’ll be happy to do the research for you. A smart thermostat will learn what temperature you like the house to be and adjust accordingly, never using more air or running up your air bill be cooling or heating unnecessarily. Here’s a video about installing smart thermostats from the YouTube channel; This Old House https://youtu.be/cR8DXH_R2Vc

So, here’s a quick taste of what you can do to get you on the path of going green. The next article in this series will be about appliances! Stay tuned, eventually, we’re going to get into the big stuff like solar panels!