Try These Home Improvements

Feeling the Financial Drain of Utility Costs? Try These Home Improvements

Oftentimes, homebuyers will receive electric, water, and gas bills without even considering how to cut back on costs. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average yearly cost per household for electricity, oil, and gas is over $1,500 dollars. In addition, according to the Herald Sun Australians are currently paying more than ever before for less water. With that, the best solution for any homeowner is to realize that through incorporating a few easy home improvements, one can save a great deal of money. To make things easier, below are the top home improvement suggestions that yield the best results.

Make the Switch

With bigger homes and with more gadgets and appliances that are being used, energy bills tend to skyrocket. One of the biggest culprits of wasted electricity is outdated light bulbs. Switching from incandescent lights to more energy efficient options can save you as much as 50% a year on your electricity costs. The best home improvement options for lighting falls under ideas such as incorporating more natural lighting into your home, use LED light bulbs, and even switching your regular outdoor lighting for halogen solar powered light. Furthermore, another home improvement tip to cut costs is to paint your home in lighter colors. Light paints reflect light much better and reduce your need of using electricity.

Appliances

While keeping your outdated appliances can save you money in removing the cost of buying a new product, you might want to reconsider. Home improvements come in varying degrees, and one simple improvement that will save you money is to purchase energy efficient appliances which can be a television, kitchen appliance, or even laundry machines. When looking for energy efficient appliances, the Australian government uses an energy rating system. For the best and most efficient products, choose products that have received a high star rating. The rating system also applies to gas products.

Hot Water System Upgrade

Most homes’ currently use electricity to heat the water in their home. A more pocket-savvy option is to switch from an electric water heater system to a gas water heater system. Gas instantaneous hot water heaters have gained a great deal of popularity in the past few years. Their compact style and their ability to provide a reliable and continuous stream of hot water are some of the major benefits that cannot be found with a traditional electric water heater. Therefore, due to the reliability and continuity, you can be sure that you’ll have enough hot water for multiple uses such as filling up your bath tub or washing clothing using hot water. In addition, unlike an electric water heater that you need to monitor and remember to turn off, the gas water heater is fully automatic and shuts down when a certain hot water threshold is met.

Garden Improvement

While most garden irrigation systems run on a timer to save water, these systems do not have an automatic shut off option when it rains. Therefore, if your water system is on when it is raining, you are immediately wasting both money and water. To prevent this from happening, consider upgrading your garden with a system that has a rain sensor. In addition, it is also a good option to use a drip water system and to time your system for the evening hours when water is cheaper.

Efficient Windows and Doors

You probably run your air conditioning during the sweltering hot summer months. However, before you do, you should consider whether or not the system is running optimally. This means checking that the device is not working harder than it needs to. This usually occurs when you have air leaving your home through poorly built windows and doors. Therefore, a great home improvement that you can make is to check and reseal your windows and doors. This also applies during the winter when you heat your home. Most of the energy will escape through cracks and crevices, making your system run more than it needs to.

Overall, home improvements come in many forms. When looking at the above options, you are probably considering which of the above can save you the most money. For starters, the most energy inefficient product on this list is an electric water heater. Thus, the most savvy move that you can make is to get a professional to install a new gas water heater to upgrade your home’s water system. The next best options are switching your lighting, sealing windows and doors, and changing your appliances. You’ll not only love the new efficiency of your home, but you’ll also appreciate that you won’t suffer from the massive financial drain that inefficient home’s produce.

 

Try These Home Improvements

Quick Facts About Hydro-Fracking

Fracking’s caught a lot of flak, but give it some slack – do you have the facts behind the fracks?
Now that we’ve got your attention, it’s time to set the record straight about fracking, one of the more contentious environmental issues around these days...
http://realworldenergy.com/quick-facts-hydro-fracking/

Energy Modeling – The Future of Real Estate Construction

Historically, so much of building a building, whether it has been a house, hospital, or commercial office, has been about the building being structurally sound with proper plumbing at minimal cost. All other factors, like the building being energy efficient were an afterthought, and a problem that would be dealt with after construction was completed. What’s happened over time is that architects have found that designing buildings to be energy efficient right from the start has huge long term benefits on keeping energy and operational costs down, and saving the owners of the building sometimes millions of dollars on an annual basis.

Because every factor of a construction project is different, including the building materials used, the infrastructure, the weather of the geographic area, and the people that will occupy the building, there has to be a fast and effective way to create a blueprint in order to design the most cost effective and energy efficient building possible.

What is Energy Modeling?

Energy modeling allows architects and building engineers to make educated decisions of every aspect of a building to improve energy efficiency without compromising design or stability of the building. Whether they want to know the material to use on the roof, the best lighting system to maximize workplace moral and minimize energy bills, or how electricity costs will be impacted by having X number of people in the building at a time, they can make accurate cost and maintenance predictions with various levels of confidence based on average temperature and weather conditions of the area, and based on average human interactions with their environment. As you constantly tweak different variables, you can eventually design a building that meets the owners needs best. Because businesses hate unpredictability, energy modeling is also appealing in that it can give building owners an accurate forecast of cost many years down the road before any construction begins.

What Buildings Use Energy Modeling?

All buildings can use energy modeling simulations to become more sustainable and use less energy over an extended period of time. Whether it’s a home, hospital, church, or office building, all structures can benefit from energy modeling. Most new homes are constructed using information gathered from energy modeling based on their geographic location, and even older homes can use materials like windows and roof shingles designed with the help of energy modeling.

Because there are hundreds of variables that can influence the design of a building, a little bit of help is necessary when huge sums of money are at stake. Nearly all companies that wish to build a new office space or manufacturing facility turn to professional environmental engineers that provide energy modeling and simulation to help them design energy efficient buildings that are tailored to their specific needs.

What Role in the Future Will Energy Modeling Play?

Because millions of existing structures in the United States were built with little to no concern for energy sustainability, many related professional services are tailored towards making existing buildings more energy efficient. However, as governments around the world have providing more tax benefits to buildings that have green building certifications, such as LEED in the United States, and building owners realize the long term cost benefits of using buildings with energy efficient designs, environmental engineering and energy modeling could play an essential role in upcoming real estate developments.

Mike Hall works with PM Environmental, which provides energy modeling services as well as other environmental engineering services.

 

Energy Modeling – The Future of Real Estate Construction

6 Reasons Why Green Energy Is Important

 

Imagine a planet that has clean air and lustrous greens. It is soothing and captivating, right? It helps ease the mind away from the stress and anxiety of the world. But, with the way humans abuse this planet—that would turn into just a pipe dream for our children and our grand-children’s children. We need to act now and leave a healthy planet not just for ourselves but for others. Green energy, also known as renewable energy, is important because our whole existence depends on it. Whether you’re just an ordinary Joe or a guy with a Ph.D you know that keeping the environment healthy is important. But, that’s not the only thing that we can get if we switch to cleaner and greener energy. Here is a bucket list of reasons why we should act now towards getting our energy as green as possible.

 

Economy

Most of the green energy initiatives are spend on materials and appliances that are now certified to be more energy efficient. Factories have shut down their production of incandescent bulbs following a ban. Homes are slowly switching their lamps to more eco-friendly ones. This means that factories would need to produce more LED lamps or solar-powered lamps to replace the less efficient incandescent bulbs. In the long run this would have an impact to the economy. More people buying newer lamps mean that the sales of lamp makers would increase. The demand would be high as supply tried to catch up. Factories need more workers to reach the demand. In turn, this would mean a decrease in the unemployment rate. More people would have purchasing power as a result and help form a more robust economy as a result. Not to mention more taxes for the government too.

 

Savings

Benefits are not greatly appreciated if they are not personal. You can get personal with the benefits of green energy in the form of savings around the home. Green energy helps you save on your electric bill. LED lights and compact fluorescent lamps help by giving off more light with less power consumption. This means you will have lower electricity bills around the house. These savings will then be channeled to other needs of the family.

 

Defense

The military will love green energy. This is the reason why the US Department of Defense has spent about 300 percent more on developing battlefield technology to become less dependent on fuel. Gas stations are scarce but the sun is everywhere. Better batteries and being able to tap the power of the sun for defense can spell the difference between freedom and tyranny—victory or defeat.

 

Transportation

Green energy will change the way we get our rides. Mass transports will be less dependent on energy based on coal and oil and will tap other sources of energy like the sun or even batteries. Electric cars will eventually become cheaper.

 

Health

Health is perhaps the most underrated benefit of green energy. Green energy spends less and as a result helps bring down the use of coal and oil. This means that pollutants would less likely to impact the air. Toxins are in the air that we breathe and it is not a pretty sight. If you have been avoiding tobacco so as not to get sick or suffer from too much stress and anxiety, might as well kiss that thought goodbye.

 

Food

Green energy reduces the need to use coal and oil. This means that there would be less chances of acid rain. The byproduct of the use of non-green energy is a sulfur oxide that gets suspended in the air and eventually returns back to the ground via rain. This contaminates the rivers and lakes. Eventually, acidic water will find its way to the water table that may damage our crops and other edible vegetation which can cause harm to the body and impact the quality of food supply.

 

Pollution has become severe in most places that it is a normal sight for people to sport face mask. And that’s not all, green energy helps bring down CO₂ emissions that would lead to global warming. We are seeing plenty of cases of skin cancer because the sun rays have been too harsh today compared to say 50 or 60 years ago. Now it is no longer fun to stay outdoors for too long. That is why we need to get green energy going.

 

 

 

About the Author:

 

As a health advocate, Ryan Rivera also loves to tackle issues that concern the environment.  He believes that green energy can greatly spare us from the many adverse effects of pollution that surround us which may lead not only to anxiety but to other health problems as well. You can check out his Calm Clinic Google+ account for more interesting information that concern your overall health.

 

 

 

6 Reasons Why Green Energy Is Important

How Sludge Can Save The World

Sludge. It’s slimy, filthy, smelly and disgusting – but that’s just what most people think.

On the surface, sludge appears as useless waste in slimy, saturated form, but underneath all these seemingly unpleasant features, sludge is actually quite beneficial, and can even be considered as contributory to helping the earth conserve and preserve resources.

What is Sludge?

But what exactly is sludge? Essentially, sludge is what remains after industrial wastewater treatment or sewage treatment (apart from effluents or treated wastewater). During these treatment processes, wastewater recovered from domestic as well as industrial processes are collected and the solids are separated from as much of the liquid as possible, forming the slurry we know as sludge.

Because of its highly varied composition and the many processes it undergoes including anaerobic decomposition, sludge is packed with all kinds of things, including numerous nutrients, metals, pathogenic organisms and various other chemicals.

Also known as biosolids or compost, sludge is not considered a pollutant though some studies have shown that it can be potentially harmful to human health due to the pathogens, metals and other chemicals present within it.

How Sludge Supports the Environment

Despite essentially being made up of waste, sludge is highly beneficial and can be a very valuable resource that can help save the world in more ways than one. While it’s long been used as landfilling material, sludge is now gaining more recognition as the following:

• All-natural fertiliser – According to a study with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, common sewage sludge generally contains most of the nutrients considered vital to plant growth. These nutrients include nitrogen, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium, potassium, sulphur, copper, zinc, nickel, chromium and selenium. These nutrients are released slowly in sludge, and with the addition of sludge soil becomes more able to hold and absorb nutrients. Sludge also helps lessen erosion and natural soil runoff. The application of sludge as plant fertiliser then proves to be most beneficial for it not only enriches the earth and supports long-term and healthy plant growth, it also conserves organic matter; and the bacteria and nutrients present within sludge help to complete the nutrient cycle.


• Source of sustainable power – Another developing use for processed sludge nowadays is as fuel for energy production. In the US as well as in Sweden various groups are actively making more use of sludge as a source of sustainable power by turning it into steam, using it in place of coal, and producing electricity, biogas and other such fuels. This has been proving most efficient in some areas of the world, as these processes, particularly steam production, require less drying of sludge and therefore less energy. Studies have also shown that processed sludge or biosolids had lesser levels of contaminants than coal, making it a better choice for incineration. Because of these developments, more wastewater treatment plants are being set up and working together with communities and governments.

With the amount of wastewater produced and treated every year resulting in hundreds of tons of sludge, it is definitely the ideal time to consider the usefulness of sludge. Though many are still apprehensive about the secondary uses of sludge because of the harmful elements still present in it as well as the many stringent rules regulating its use, modern treatment methods and technologies are constantly being developed to ensure that the reuse of sludge produces limited to no harmful effects to the environment. With these developments, sludge will slowly but surely become a vital resource, quite literally turning waste into valuable and useful materials that can help save the earth.

 

By Debra Wright

Debra Wright is a creative and innovative blogger and online marketing specialist. She uses her wordsmith skills to share her ideas, thoughts, and tips to other people about topics that fascinate her, such as environmental issues. Follow Debra on twitter @debrawrites…

How Sludge Can Save The World

5 Common Characteristics of Eco Friendly Bathroom Designs

Image credit: Wikimedia

One of the best things you can do to make your household sustainable is to redesign the bathroom to be eco-friendly. The bathroom is where you use the most water. You use a range of cleaning products regularly. A bathroom is a small enclosed space that has a big impact. Having a green bathroom will make you and your environment healthier. Here are five common characteristics of eco-friendly bathroom designs.
Reduced Water Use

The best way to make your bathroom more eco-friendly is to reduce the amount of water running down the drain. If your bathroom hasn’t been retrofitted with a low-flow shower head, do that first. An old-fashioned shower head delivers 2 1/2 gallons per minute. A low-flow shower head can cut that amount in half.

Another waste of water is leaky faucets. A sustainable bathroom is one in which all leaks are fixed promptly. Even a dripping faucet adds significantly to the amount of water wasted if left unfixed.
A High-Efficiency Toilet

One-quarter of household water use comes from flushing the toilet. Installing a low-flow toilet is a bigger financial commitment than replacing the shower head, but doing so will cut down on water use significantly. An old toilet can use as much as seven gallons per flush. A high-efficiency toilet can reduce that amount by two-thirds.

If a new toilet isn’t in your budget at the moment, you can reduce water use by displacing some of the water from the tank. Fill a plastic soda bottle with sand or gravel and set it in the tank. Be careful not to interfere with the flushing apparatus. The tank will fill with less water and use less water for each flush.
Eco-Friendly Tile

Many products are now made using some or all recycled materials. When you design your eco-friendly bathroom, look into the kind of tile you are planning to use. Companies now manufacture a variety of tiles from recycled materials. You can get ceramic tile that’s made from 50 percent recycled materials. Glass tiles are being made from up to 100 percent pre- or post-consumer recycled glass. You can even get shower cork tiles made from old wine-bottle corks.
Green Building and Bath Products

An eco-friendly bathroom contains sustainable products. The “new” smell that comes from paint or other building materials indicates the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs like formaldehyde and paraben are toxic. Paint the walls with low-VOC paint. Instead of a vinyl shower curtain, invest in one made of hemp or linen. There are also shower curtains that are made with a chlorine-free vinyl replacement.

Cut down on paper products. Buy recycled toilet paper. Eliminate paper towels entirely. Replace them with rags. The best rags are bar towels, which work for any use and can be washed over and over again.

Use hand and bath towels made with sustainable cotton that is chemical and pesticide free.
Homemade Cleaning Products

Green cleaning goes without saying. Use one of the many sustainable brands out there, or make your own cleaning products. Clean glass and chrome with a little distilled vinegar in water. The surfaces will be shiny and streak-free. Add a little baking soda to the mix, and this becomes a good way to clean and whiten grout. Apply the cleanser and let it sit for ten minutes. Then scrub. As always, you want to check and make sure cleaners are safe for specific types of surfaces (carpet, wood, glass, etc).

Fill a spray bottle with water and add a dozen drops of tea tree oil, lavender oil or citrus oil. Spray the shower tiles after every shower. Clean the sink and tub with this natural disinfectant. You can also use rosemary or eucalyptus essential oils for their antibacterial properties. Eucalyptus is good for the lungs.

 

This contribution comes from Build Guardian, a custom home builder in Idaho Falls.

 

5 Common Characteristics of Eco Friendly Bathroom Designs

Best Ways To Save Energy

 

From Pinterest

Saving energy has never been so important . Energy prices are at an all time high – saving energy will not only reduce the amount of emissions released into our environment but it will also help you save on your energy costs each month.

There is no need to make any drastic changes just yet. There are plenty of ways that you can lessen your carbon footprint and have a bit of extra cash in your account each month just by making some small yet effective changes.

If you’re looking for ways on reducing your energy bills and saving the environment at the same time, then here’s a list of the 5 best ways to save energy to get you started.

 

 

Be efficient with heating

It may surprise you to know that keeping your heating on for longer periods of time at a lower temperature is more energy efficient than using big blasts of heat at a high temperature – which actually uses more energy.

You could install a programmable thermostat, this will control the heating as and when you need it keeping the temperature at a comfortable level. If you’re prone to feeling cold then try and wear more clothes around the house an extra jumper, some woolen socks or an extra blanket on the bed could stop you from feeling tempted to crank up the heating.

 

Energy saving light bulbs

LED lighting is becoming more and more popular amongst homeowners  – LED’s light bulbs and lamps can save you hundred of pounds per year in energy costs. LED lightbulbs may set you back more in the beginning but as a long term investment they could save you hundreds. Switching to LED lighting makes financial sense, LED light bulbs can last up to 50,000 hours of continued use, they lower energy consumptions and decrease carbon emissions.

 

Be wise with your washing

Turning down to 30 degrees is an easy way to shrink those bills as 90% of a machines machines energy usage is from heating the water. Only use your tumble dryer in an emergency, tumble dryers are the second biggest energy user after the fridge – hang your clothes outside or hang your clothes on a clothes airer they may take longer to dry but the money you will save is well worth the wait.

 

Be clever when cooking

It easy to plan ahead when cooking – cook two meals at the same time to get the most out of your cooker, you have more than one shelf so you may aswell use then all. Try and wash your dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher every day, or be sure to fill the dishwasher before turning it on.

Be sure to use energy efficient appliances in your kitchen, Energy Star appliances use up to 10-50% less energy than their counterparts.  Make sure you turn all your appliances off when you’re not using them, in some cases you could unplug them – used be surprised how many appliances use energy even when “switched off”.

 

Insulate insulate insulate!

The government now has a scheme that offer rants to help pay for insulation in your home – especially if you have cavity walls. Insulation can save you up to 15% on energy bills which with or without the grant can save you money in the long run. Loft insulation is also important as heat rises and most of the heat is lost through the loft space.

Best Ways To Save Energy

Quick tips for making your first home eco friendly

Quick tips for making your first home eco friendly

 

Moving into your first home is an exciting time – and often (especially during those first few months) budget can be a bit of an issue! Usually, with a new home, lots of things need doing, fixing and adjusting – so there may not necessarily be room in the budget for big eco friendly adjustments such as solar panels.

So, with first-time buyers and new home movers in mind we’ve put together some fantastic tips and tricks for saving energy and becoming more eco friendly on a budget. These little tips and trick can be done cheaply – but can also make a huge difference to household bills and energy friendly ratings.

So here we go….

 

1. Insulate your attic with recycled materials

It’s amazing how much heat can be lost through poorly insulated walls and attics – so make sure you’re has been insulted properly to save yourself energy in the heating department. You don’t need to hire a professional to insulate, it can be done over an afternoon by yourself – using old recycled materials you may already have around the house too. For a step by step guide on how to do it, take a read of this Wiki How article where there are suggestions of materials to use and lookout for too.

 

2. Change your light bulbs

We all know that a eco friendly light bulb is better than the alternative – not only does it last longer (saving you money) but it uses up less energy too. However, if you really want to do it like a pro, instead of just picking up any eco friendly bulb next time you’re in the supermarket – take a look at more specialist retailer online – where you can compare and contrast the bulbs, and where about in the house they’re going to work best, this is how you’re going to save the most money and energy possible.

 

 3. Have a window garden for herbs and spices

Not only to window gardens and balcony gardens look cute and adorable – they can save huge amounts of plastic and waste. Stop buying herbs and spices every week from the shops – and grow your own where possible!

 

 4. Buy second hand and reuse furniture

It’s not always necessary to buy furniture new from shops like Ikea. Instead head up to your local charity shop and see if you can re-use or repurpose anything they have in there instead. Whilst researching this article I found a great Pinterest board, dedicated to inspiring creative repurposing – so take a look there for inspiration!

 

5. Add thick curtains, instead of blinds

Blinds look great and are very fashionable, but they don’t keep the heat in a house very well – so it may be worth investing in some thick curtains during the winter months. They will be worth the investment – as they’ll save you a lot of money of electricity and heating bills whilst you have them up. They can actually work to keep rooms cool too in the summer – so you can avoid those big air con bills!

 

 6. Buy an eco-kettle

For many families – the kettle is used more than anything else in the house (not surprising really, is it!) so if you’re like me, and you use your kettle a lot too, maybe an investment in an eco friendly kettle would be a good move. There are many affordable eco-friendly on the high street, a quick Google search will show you.

 

 7. Dry your clothes outdoors or on radiators

Ditch that tumble dryer right now – as it’s going to be making your energy bills huge! In the winter, dry your clothes on a clothes dryer, hung next to a radiator. In the summertime, install yourself a washing line and hand your clothes out to dry outside. You’ll find it’s actually a really quick way of drying things, especially on a sunny day!

 

Quick tips for making your first home eco friendly

Are You Losing 50 Percent of Your Heat?

Windows are Responsible for Almost 50 Percent of Heat Loss in a Home

 

Becoming energy-efficient is a goal that is shared across the world. As more people, businesses and governments become of aware of ways to save energy, the need to produce more energy lessens.

 

Governments dedicate money, time and people to creating committees and organizations that will work towards finding ways to save energy as well as lower the costs of the energy that is being created. As government bodies work towards saving energy, they are committed to educating people on doing their part to conserve. It is not only good for the planet, it is good for the consumer’s wallet.

 

Energy-efficient appliances and window treatments work to reduce the costs of running a household. According to the Department of Energy in the United States, 13 percent of the overall cost to run a household is spent on appliances. Over the years, the department has worked to establish a grading system that allows manufacturers to add an ENERGY STAR blue label to those appliances that are energy efficient.

 

Australia has begun to implement their Smart Grid technology that allows them to collect data about usage, distribution, storage and suppliers of energy. This technology will better help the government plan for future needs based on historical data. This type of planning is proactive and is designed to best make use of resources available for the future growth and expansion of areas. This type of knowledge is helpful when creating or rebuilding a power grid for a community. The data will show where the most consumption is and how best to compensate for the usage.

 

Manufactures of autos have been working towards making their vehicles more fuel-efficient. There are strict guidelines that governments put into place to lower the emissions on vehicles.

 

Companies who build windows are designing windows with double glazing to reduce noise and create a protective barrier from cold and heat. When using double glazing, the window is best suited for energy-efficiency. The window is double-paned with argon gas inserted between panes. This sets up the best thermal boundary for the home. One pane will be a low-E pane, which means that low levels of heat will be emitted through the pane. The pane can be coated with a solar control to keep the heat out of the home in the summer.

 

Homes lose almost 50 percent of their heat through the windows, and they allow for 87 percent of the heat to come inside the home. Since every climate is different, the homeowner must decide whether they need more or less heat within the home at any given time of the year. Windows are created with different levels of glazing, and homeowners should know what level they need to make their home the most energy-efficient.

 

In order to make the entire home energy efficient, some companies like Truglaze from Australia use window seals of NASA grade rubber. These seals further prevent leakage around the window frames.

 

Since homes lose a large percent of their heat through windows, homeowner should see a savings on their energy bill after installing energy-efficient windows.

Are You Losing 50 Percent of Your Heat?

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