Photo source: homeenergyteam

If you are like many homeowners, you may cringe as you open your energy bill each month. With the rising costs of energy in many areas coupled with the need to use energy throughout the home on a regular basis, you may regularly see your energy costs rising. In some cases, high energy bills can simply be burdensome, and in other cases, they may be unmanageable. The good news is that there are several home improvements that you can make that will help you to improve energy efficiency in your home and lower your energy costs throughout the year. When you are making plans to complete your next home improvement project, thing about these energy efficient ideas.

Update Your Home’s Insulation

Your home’s insulation adds an important layer around the exterior of your home. While hidden from view, it is instrumental in keeping your climate-controlled air indoors and the external air out of your home. This has a dramatic impact on energy efficiency. Over time, some types of insulation can deteriorate or fall out of place inside the walls. Pests and rodents may also eat it, reducing its benefits. Updating your home’s insulation with quality materials will have a dramatic impact on energy efficiency in your home throughout the year.

Restore Your Home’s Roof

While insulation keeps climate controlled air inside the home, the roof is also critical in this function. It also can radiate heat from the sun away from the home for an additional benefit. When the roof is not in quality condition, it is far less effective in this area. Restoring the roof can yield great results, and there are several quality materials that you can use such as metal, wood shingles and shakes. Repainting a roof with a reflective coating is also a great idea that can yield cost-effective results.

Install Solar Panels

If you have a larger budget available to work with, you may consider installing solar panels on the roof of your home or in a large area of your yard that receives ample sunlight each day. Some homeowners will start with a small solar system to partially offset energy costs, and they may add onto the system over time. Others will install a full system that has the ability to produce all of the energy that the home uses on a regular basis.

Update Your Hot Water Heater

Another smart idea is to update your home water heater. If you have an outdated hot water heater, there is a good chance that it is not as energy efficient as many of the newer models on the market today. This is a rather affordable upgrade to make, and some of these models may even help you to reduce water consumption as well. For example, a tankless water heater may help you to conserve both energy and water in some cases.

Replace Your Appliances

If your budget allows, replacing older appliances can result in a considerable reduction in your energy costs. The appliances that use the most energy in a home are typically the HVAC system and the clothes dryer. Therefore, if you only have a limited amount of funds available, consider updating these appliances first if they are older in age. Other appliances that may need to be replaced, if your budget permits, are the washing machine, the refrigerator and the dishwasher. You may also update your electronics, such as the television and other major energy consumptive items. The newest models on the market are generally designed to be highly energy efficient in comparison to previous models.

High energy bills can be a burden to deal with, but there are options available to help you lower energy costs. These ideas each can provide you with long-term results that equate to lower energy bills throughout the year and a more eco-friendly home. Consider moving forward with several ideas to begin seeing immediate results in your energy costs.