Tips to Reduce Energy Use at Home

Tips to Reduce Your Energy Usage at Home

The climate crisis, among a wide range of environmental issues, can often feel overwhelming and helpless. These are global issues that are scientifically and politically complex, so it is only natural to feel like there is nothing we as individuals can do. Making a positive impact and taking proactive steps don’t have to be scientific discoveries, in fact, there are many affordable switches to leading a more sustainable life right at home. Managing your energy consumption is one of the fastest and easiest ways you can have a positive impact on our environment right from the comfort of your home! 

Start with little fixes!

We all consume energy. Most of us, especially homeowners, may be consuming and wasting a lot more than we are even aware of. There are so many small yet effective ways that you can make your home or apartment more energy efficient. These changes can start as small as ensuring that the trim around your windows is tight and adding weather strips under your door to prevent energy from going to waste outside. The best part is that these fixes can be made with just a quick trip to your local hardware store. 

Other small, easy, and affordable changes you can make around the house include changing your lightbulbs – something we all have to do anyway! According to the Department of Energy, qualified LEDs “Typically use about 25%-80% less energy than traditional incandescents and can last 3-25 times longer.”  This means that even just replacing your most used lighting fixtures would save you tons of money and energy in the long run. 

Ask the professionals! 

An energy audit is essentially like getting your home’s energy usage inspected and analyzed. This report/analysis is given back to you with recommendations on how you can save energy and money. These recommendations can include finding leaks and your home, sources of phantom energy, identifying energy-wasting appliances, or areas of poor insulation. From there, suggestions of solutions, cost to fix, or new energy-efficient appliances can be made.  Additionally, making these energy and financially-conservative changes will help to extend the lifespan of your energy systems! 

Commit to change

If you’re looking for a way to move away from fossil fuels instead of just using them efficiently, solar energy may be right for you! In addition to saving money on your monthly power bill, adding a solar array to your roof is an accessible, affordable, and impactful way to reduce your footprint. A home that uses 8 kWh of electricity per year and switches from fossil fuels to solar will have the same emissions reduction effect as planting 150 trees every single year for the lifetime of the solar panel system. This same-sized system also equates to eliminating the same amount of carbon emissions that result from burning over 5,000 pounds of coal each year. 

Next Steps

Better Tomorrow Solar specializes in providing customized solar solutions to match your needs and budget. Another bright side of solar is how little work is required for the homeowner! After a consultation to figure out what works best for your home and a seamless installation, the panels will take care of the rest. Clean energy has truly never been easier than letting the panels harness the power of the sun to run your home. You’re eligible for a 30% tax credit from the federal government when you install solar panels—you could get thousands of dollars back on your taxes and offset the cost of installing your system. 

Set up a consultation and get a free quote from one of our solar specialists today — see the impact and learn how much money you can save by adding solar to your home.