Owning a home is expensive. From repairs and maintenance to energy bills and taking care of your yard, all these can add up quickly. When owning your first home, you quickly realize how expensive things can get! It is often a big shock for new homeowners, especially when they get that first energy bill. Living in a condo or apartment surely didn’t rack up such a high energy bill before! Before you throw in the towel and give up, I’ve got some tips for you that might just make all the difference.
There are indeed some home improvements that can make a huge difference in what you are charged in energy consumption. In my very first month in a new home, I owed 5 times the amount I used to pay to the electric company. I got informed, looked around for answers and what I found out changed everything for me! My electric bill is still substantially higher than when it was in a condominium, but I do have more space so that’s normal. Now, however, instead of my bill being 5 times higher than in a condo, it is about 3 times higher which corresponds to the increase of surface area.
Here is how I did it:
Number 1: HomeInsulation!
This is the number 1 thing you should look into. Is your home well insulated? Insulation is present in your exterior walls and most of it is in your attic. If your attic doesn’t have enough insulation, most of your heating just goes straight up and out of your home. Putting that extra pressure on your heating system to constantly be working.
Number 2: Sealing air loss points
This is also important and follows the same concept as the first point. If air is leaking out through your front door, you are paying to heat the outside as some would say!
Number 3: Optimizing your home heating system
Because heating is the biggest energy guzzler and we live in Canada, heating system is going to be used extensively. Optimizing it means making sure that the areas of your home controlled using a digital thermostat. You might not need as much heating in your garage, so why set it as warm as your bathroom?
These 3 home improvement could end up saving you hundreds of dollars over a year’s time!