Sustainable Home Renovation Projects to Take on in Winter & Summer 2022
As we’ve entered the new year, we’ve all embraced it with great hopes for a new world reopening. But the fact that 2021 forced us all to stay home, a lot of us have actually enjoyed it, for the most part. Being at home has taught us how to spend quality time with our families, cook more, and be more grateful and appreciative of the things and people we have in our lives…
But, being at home has also caused us to notice every little thing wrong in our homes because we’re always there looking at it. And it’s definitely made our electric bill skyrocket from the new norm of working from home. You never noticed all these issues in your home because you were always commuting to work and had busy schedules of things to do outside of your home…
Now that you’re home a lot more, and the likelihood of the world opening back up is going at a much slower pace than we had hoped, the realization of things needing to change at home has now come to the forefront of your mind. So what can you do to make the necessary changes? Well, it looks like it’s time to take on some home renovation projects.
We may be in the peak of winter now but summer will soon be here. Let’s take a look at some sustainable projects you can do now, and then look at big projects to take on in the summer.
Winter Sustainable Projects
Sign Up For a Community Solar Program
Signing up for a community solar program isn’t as big of a hands-on project as you would think in the physical sense of renovations, but it is indeed a project to take on to help lower your monthly electric bill. This will be especially helpful if you’re working from home full-time now.
You’re going to have to find out if there is a solar farm in or near your community, and if there is, you can digitally connect! This will give your home electricity from the renewable resource solar energy. That means you’re helping save the environment by eliminating the use of fossil fuels to power you’re home. This program is free to join and maintain, all you need to do is visit choosesolar.com.
Switch to ENERGY STAR Appliances
The fact that you’re home a lot more often now means that you’re cooking a lot more due to simply not grabbing takeout or eating out as much as you used to. Cooking more is definitely a much healthier alternative to eating out but it also puts you in the kitchen more, using your appliances more too. That means things like your refrigerator, stove, oven, and dishwasher are being put to work a lot more than they used to, which, in turn, is also running up your home’s energy usage.
While it’s still too cold outside for the bigger projects, why not switch out your old appliances for smart appliances? You just have to look for the ENERGY STAR label when shopping for these appliances, as they can save you considerable amounts of money over time.
Summer Sustainable Projects
Add Skylights to Your Home
Adding skylights to your home is a great renovation to take on in the summer months as part of your efforts to make your home more eco-friendly and sustainable. Not only are these “ceiling windows” an absolutely stunning addition to the aesthetics of your home but they’re great energy savers as well. With skylights strategically placed on the roof of your home, there will be less need to run your heating unit as natural light will be provided to warm your home.
Properly Insulate Your Home
Over time, it’s not uncommon for the insulation in a home to get old and not be as efficient as it was when it was first installed. This is a project you don’t want to skimp out on financially either. With proper insulation, your home will be able to better retain heat in the winter months and maintain a cooler temperature in the hot summer months. Allowing for better thermostat settings.
Between winter and summer months, there’s always something you can do to make life at home a little better (and affordable). You can start on the smaller projects while it’s still cold outside, and once the warmer weather rolls in, you can hit the bigger projects. And at that point, half the work is done! Which renovations will you get started on now, and which ones will you take on in the warmer months?