5 Benefits of Investing in Green Home Improvements

There is no doubt that going green can both save you money and decrease your carbon footprint, but what about making some environmentally friendly choices inside your home? Making a few “green” upgrades to your home doesn’t generally need to cost an arm and a leg. In the long run you will make your money back from not only increased savings on your energy bill, but also tax breaks and other monetary incentives for making more energy efficient efforts. Right now the environment is at a precipice and if we don’t each stand on common ground to do something about it, there could be dire consequences. Here are 5 benefits of investing in green home improvements.

1. Over half of the homes built today don’t have adequate insulation. This is mainly the result of a lazy builder or contractor who wanted to save a few bucks and wasn’t thinking about your comfort and certainly not about the environment either. However, by reinsulating your home, especially in the attic, you won’t have to rely so much on the heating and air conditioning in the wintertime and summer. Also, adding more insulation to your home might qualify you for a tax break, because of the energy you will be saving.
2. Seal up your heating and air conditioning ducts. They say that over a fifth of the air that gets forced through your heating and air conditioning system leaks, which can be an enormous waste of energy and money. There are a number of ways to fix the problem. You can either find the leak yourself or call a professional to come in and fix the leak using professional equipment. Sometimes the leak can be hard to find for some homeowners, so you might have to rely on an HVAC professional.
3. Install more energy efficient windows. There is a big chance that your old windows are letting cold and warm air inside your house, which could really cause you to rely more and more on your heating and air conditioning unit. However, by installing windows that are made out of a special material you can save energy efficiency by up to 30%. Moreover, installing energy efficient windows will usually qualify you for a federal tax credit.
4. Instead of installing hardwood floors, why not opt for bamboo. Many of the wood floors that are used today come from fragile and threatened forests where not only trees are being cut down, but also many of the wildlife species in heavily logged areas are losing their homes. However, bamboo grows to full size in less than 3 years and the forests that bamboo grows in renews very quickly – without the risk of causing wildlife displacement.
5. Lastly, switch to an electric tankless water heater. For one, an electric tankless water heater doesn’t use gas, which means that it isn’t sending dangerous compounds into the atmosphere when it is in use. Moreover, a tankless water heater only heats water when your home needs it and is off when it is not in use. Combine this with shorter showers and you are saving both water and energy.