How To Make Your Home More Sustainable

Home values are soaring but many homeowners are finding themselves staying in their current homes longer.  Many longer than they had planned. A big reason for this is the shortage of available properties and soaring prices in many areas. This has made moving a challenge. If you are a Raleigh or Wake Forest homeowner that has experienced this and are choosing to stay in your current home longer there, are some things you can do to improve the home you’re in.  One way is to make your home more sustainable.  You will benefit from the changes and also may make your home more marketable down the road once you do decide to sell.  

The sustainable home product market has really taken off in recent years. This has created many options for current home owners to add many eco-friendly products to their home.  An intentional approach to improve energy efficiency.  Let’s look at some of these options.  

One of the most immediate improvements you can make is with smart tech for your home.  A great device for that is a digital thermostat.  These have been around for a while but newer versions offer so many new features.  Products like Google Nest can actually monitor your usage via learning technology and help make things more efficient. Also, the ability to control the device by an app gives you a lot of control.  If you are away for a week or two you can still monitor your home adjusting the temps if you forgot to, etc. 

LED light bulbs are another way to improve the energy usage in your house.  The U.S. Department of Energy claims lighting is responsible for about 15% of an average homeowners energy use.  LED’s can use up to 90% less than traditional bulbs.  They can also last 20-25 times longer, potentially saving a couple hundred bucks a year. 

Heat barriers for your attic may be another good option that is not a huge expense.  Foil radiant barriers help decrease the attic temperatures in the summer.  Look at your insulation.  Spray foams are great but can be expensive. Sometimes adding more fill can make a dramatic difference in helping to retain heat in for the winter.  Have a specialist come out and access what options might be best for you.  Have a free energy audit done through your energy provider. 

There are great devices available for water conservation.  One of those you can add to your kitchen sink and can help you save gallons of water daily.  There are shower heads that will essentially do the same thing. Try to upgrade to EnergyStar appliances if you haven’t already.  There are much more efficient dishwashers than before.  They can use a lot less water.  Another item to look at is your hot water heater.  You may have one that is way too big and you are heating more water than you need daily.   I know it’s a bit of an adjustment but try turning the dial down.  We turned ours down slowly until we found that sweet spot where we had plenty of hot water and avoided keeping it on a higher setting. The age of your hot water heater can also play a part as well.  Do the research on tankless water heaters to see if this might be a good fit for you.  It’s a more on demand type of product. 

These next two are options to consider more heavily if you are planning on staying in your home long term. One of those is solar energy.  It’s a good consideration for homeowners wanting to improve energy use and lower your electric bill.  However, you really have to do your research here. In 2020 the average cost to add these systems could run you about $20,000.  That’s a lot of money to invest.  If you are not staying in the house long term you may not see a return on it.  Think of it like adding a pool; you add it for your benefit but may not get the money back when you sell.  It may just make your home more desirable when you sell.  Another larger ticket item is replacing windows. This can have huge benefits in improving your energy efficiency.  Many older homes lose a lot of heat or cold air because of aging windows. Upgrading to double pane windows can really make a difference from single pane ones.  If you are considering being in your home long term,  it’s an expense that may likely pay for itself down the road. This will really help improve energy cost over the months.

Choosing to become more sustainable can benefit homeowners in many ways. Gas prices have been the main topic lately and there has been a lot of focus on EV cars.  It’s time to take a look homeward and see what changes you can make there.  Not only will you be helping to lower energy and water usage in the area but you will be saving cash. 

Do you know of options that I may have missed? Let's hear them and I invite you to share any personal experiences you've had regarding upgrading your home's efficiency.

Matt Maynard

matt@peterkima.com